Telegram founder says company will become profitable next year

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the company hopes to achieve profitability next year with an eye on going public in the future.

Durov told the Financial Times in an interview that the chat app, which has more than 900 million users, is making “hundreds of millions of dollars” through ads and subscriptions. He noted that while global investors have offered money to the company at a valuation of more than $30 billion, Telegram aims to go public in the future.

“The main reason why we started monetizing is because we wanted to remain independent. Generally, we see value in [an IPO] “As a means to democratize access the value of Telegram,” he told the FT.

While Telegram is not considering raising a mega round, the company is open to investment in exchange for small equity.

Telegram launched a premium subscription two years ago and crossed the 1 million paid users mark within a few months. The company also provides advertising solutions for one-to-many channels and plans to launch ad revenue sharing with channel owners this month. Durov told the FT that advertising solutions are currently limited to certain geographic areas and the company commands agencies to spend between €1mn and €10mn. Telegram is looking to expand ad offerings globally this year and also make room for smaller ticket spenders.

Earlier this month, the company had announced that individual users can convert their accounts into business accounts by paying a subscription fee.

In addition to these solutions, Telegram has also experimented with blockchain-based projects through the TON Foundation. In December 2022, the company auctioned premium usernames using the TON blockchain to let people use the app without a SIM. In September 2023, Telegram added a self-custodial crypto wallet globally except the US

Durov previously said Telegram was looking to launch an AI-powered chatbot for customer service for business users. The company also plans to invest in AI to solve the moderation issues that often plague the platform.