Encrypted messaging app Telegram will launch paid services in 2021, its Russian-born founder Pavel Durov said Wednesday. Durov explained that the growing company needed “at least a few hundred million dollars per year.”
“Telegram will begin to generate revenue, starting next year,” Durov said in a statement.“We will be able to launch countless new features and welcome billions of new users.”
Durov said he does not plan to sell the company and as a result, needs to look to create revenue using other means. He assured that the changes on the platform would be non-intrusive manner with most users not even noticing any changes. He also stated that features that are free currently, would continue to remain free. Some new features would be added for power users and business teams. These additional features would be paid for by premium users, while the regular users would continue to enjoy Telegram for free “forever”.
Telegram has attracted nearly 500 million active users since its launch in 2013.
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