Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the company expects to reach profitability next year, with an eye toward a future listing.
Durov said in an interview with the Financial Times that the chat app, which has 900 million users, makes “hundreds of millions of dollars” through advertising and subscriptions. He said investors from around the world are funding the company at a valuation of more than $30 billion, but Telegram aims to go public in the future.
“The main reason we started monetizing was because we wanted to maintain our independence. Generally speaking, what we see as value is: [an IPO] “as a way to democratize access to Telegram's value,” he told the FT.
Telegram does not intend to raise a large round, but is willing to accept investments in exchange for a smaller stake.
Telegram launched its premium subscription two years ago and within a few months had over 1 million paying users. The company also offers advertising solutions for his one-to-many channels and plans to start sharing ad revenue with channel owners this month. Durov told the FT that advertising solutions are currently limited to certain regions and the company requires agencies to spend between €1 million and €10 million. Telegram is expanding its advertising offering around the world this year to make room for smaller ticket consumers.
The company announced earlier this month that individual users can convert their accounts to business accounts by paying a subscription fee.
Apart from these solutions, Telegram has also been experimenting with blockchain-based projects through the TON Foundation. In December 2022, the company auctioned premium usernames using the TON blockchain to allow people to use the app without a SIM. In September 2023, Telegram added self-custodial cryptocurrency wallets worldwide except the US
Durov has said in the past that Telegram wants to launch an AI-powered chatbot for customer service for business users. The company also plans to invest in AI to solve moderation issues that often plague the platform.