Alongside the much-discussed talks between Microsoft and TikTok, the American technology enterprise is all set to invest about $100 million in Indian social media app ShareChat.
The talks are in the early stages, and Microsoft’s investment will be nearly third of the value ShareChat is looking to raise in its latest funding round. The regional language app currently has a user base of over 140 million monthly active users. It is available in 15 languages, including Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Assamese, and Bhojpuri.
The Bengaluru-based social platform became so popular that even Twitter came onboard last year when the four-year-old company raised $100 million in its Series D round of funding.
Last month, ShareChat’s short video sharing platform Moj crossed 50 million downloads from Google Play Store in about a week since it was released. A large proportion of its active users hail from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with the majority of them relying on 2G networks.
The news of this investment comes at a time when Microsoft is aiming to acquire the global business of TikTok, including in India where the app is banned.
Microsoft is officially seeking to buy the TikTok operations in North America, Australia and New Zealand for a “reported figure of $50 billion”, according to The Financial Times.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders prohibiting transactions in the country with the Chinese companies that own WeChat and TikTok. The discussion between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the US President led to setting a date for closure of the deal around 15 September.
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