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YouTube on Wednesday said there has been over 100 percent growth in creator revenue in India, coming from features like Super Chat, Super Stickers, Channel Memberships, and Merchandise between February and May 2020.

The company, which has launched YouTube Shorts Fund – USD 100 million funds distributed over 2021-2022, said this will provide creators a new way to earn money and build a business on YouTube.

YouTube had introduced ‘Shorts’ – a short-form video experience – last year to take on platforms like TikTok. It had launched an early beta of Shorts in India in September last year with a handful of creation tools to test the feature.

In a blog post on Wednesday, YouTube said it has helped a growing community of Indian creators and artists to transform their creativity into viable businesses.

“Along with the YouTube Partner Programme, which is our unique business model that shares the majority of revenue generated on the platform with creators, YouTube has continued investing in new monetisation options for creators beyond advertising, including Merchandise, Channel Memberships, Super Chats, and Super Stickers,” it added.

YouTube noted that these revenue sources have had a “demonstrable impact” with over 100 per cent growth in creator revenue in India between February and May 2020.

Globally, YouTube has paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies over the last three years, and in the second quarter of 2021, it paid more to YouTube creators and partners than in any quarter in its history.

Under the latest initiative – YouTube Shorts Fund, the company will invite thousands of eligible creators each month to claim a payment from the Fund.

“This is the first step in our journey to build a monetisation model for Shorts on YouTube and any creator that meets our eligibility criteria can participate. We’re excited about what this means for creators in India. Not only does the Shorts Fund reward the next generation of mobile creators for their original contributions to Shorts, but it also offers them a new way to earn money and build a business on YouTube,” it said.

Creators can make anywhere from $100 to $10,000 based on viewership and engagement on their ‘Shorts’.