Snapchat, Twitter-Backed Indian Social Media Unicorn Raises Another $145M

Indian social media startup ShareChat has raised $145 million in its latest funding round, it said in a statement late Monday, as reported by Reuters.

What Happened: The funding round was led by Singapore-government-owned Temasek Holdings and Moore Strategic Ventures and values ShareChat at $2.88 billion.

The startup told Reuters that the latest funding will help it “double down (on) its strategic priorities.”

ShareChat had earlier raised $502 million in a funding round that saw participation from Snapchat parent Snap Inc. SNAP and Twitter Inc. TWTR.

See Also: Alibaba-Backed Unicorn That Acquired Uber Eats India Opens 53% Higher After $1.3B IPO

Benzinga’s Take: ShareChat is looking to find its niche in the crowded Indian social media landscape by facilitating content exchange in about 15 local languages.

India is a linguistically diverse country, with the constitution recognizing 22 languages but much of the existing social media is focused around English or Hindi.

See also: How to Buy Snapchat Stock

The unique selling point for Indian startups is also the current regulatory environment. With ByteDance-owned TikTok banned in India and the country’s federal government clashing with Twitter and Facebook Inc. FB over regulatory compliance, local companies present lucrative investment opportunities for behemoths including global social media giants themselves.

Price Action: Snap shares closed 1.66% lower at $76.32 on Monday and Twitter shares closed 4.1% lower at $68.69.

Read Next: Snapchat Scores Exclusive Olympics Content In NBC Deal — Could It Replicate Previous Run's Success

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Posted In:
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!