Indian social media platform ShareChat will reportedly be receiving $100 million in investment from US tech giant Microsoft, which could make India’s next unicorn. (1)
ShareChat claims to have seen a sudden spike in their growth rate with over 500k new users registering on the platform per hour, days after the ban of TikTok and Likee in India.
ShareChat’s existing investors are expected to join Microsoft in the funding round for ShareChat, allowing the platform to become the next unicorn.
The company’s last funding round was led by Twitter when it raised over $100 million, pegging the company’s valuation at $650 million. Other investors who participated in the funding round include Shunwei Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF Capital, India Quotient, and Morningside Venture Capital.
Microsoft’s $100 million investment would only be one-third of what the Indian social media startup is looking for.
The company expects to reach $1 billion valuations by 2021.
Indians shifting towards homegrown platforms
ShareChat’s Moj has seen a massive rise in its userbase since its launch since users have now shifted towards homegrown video platforms since the government banned Chinese apps in India, promoting made in India.
Earlier, the ByteDance owned short video platform TikTok planned on shifting its headquarters abroad due to the banning of Chinese applications in India, one of the largest markets for the Chinese platform.
According to the recent reports, US tech giant Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok’s US, New Zealand, Australia, and India business. However, if this doesn’t come through, ByteDance might sell TikTok India to foreign investors or Indian buyers.
