Twitter explored shopping for India’s ShareChat and turning Moj into a world TikTok rival – TechCrunch

Twitter just lately held talks to amass Indian social media startup ShareChat as the corporate explored methods to increase its presence on the earth’s second largest web market and construct a world rival to TikTok, three sources conversant in the matter informed TechCrunch.

The American agency, which is already an investor in Bangalore-based ShareChat, provided to purchase the Indian startup for $1.1 billion and had dedicated an extra funding of $900 million, two of the sources mentioned.

The talks are now not ongoing, two sources mentioned, requesting anonymity because the matter is non-public. TechCrunch couldn’t decide why the talks didn’t materialize right into a deal.

Two sources mentioned Twitter had expressed intention to take Moj, a short-form video app that ShareChat owns, to worldwide markets and place it as a rival to Chinese language app TikTok.

Twitter declined to remark and ShareChat didn’t reply to a request for remark.

India’s ban on TikTok final yr prompted scores of native startups and worldwide giants to strive their arms at short-form video format.

Moj, with over 80 million customers already, has emerged as one of many largest gamers within the class. Earlier this month, Snap inked a take care of ShareChat to combine its Digicam Package into the Indian brief video app. That is the primary time Snap had fashioned a partnership of this type with a agency in India.

With the buyout provide now not being entertained, ShareChat has resumed talks with different traders for its new financing spherical. These traders embody Google, Snap, in addition to Tinder-parent agency Match Group, the sources mentioned.

TechCrunch reported in January that the Indian startup was speaking to Google and Snap in addition to some present traders together with Twitter to boost over $200 million. A possible acquisition by Twitter extended the funding talks.

ShareChat, which claims to have over 160 million customers, affords its social community app in 15 Indian languages and has a big following in small Indian cities and cities, or what enterprise capitalist Sajith Pai of Blume Ventures refer as “India 2.” Only a few gamers within the Indian startup ecosystem have a attain to this phase of this inhabitants, which due to customers from even smaller cities and villages — known as “India 3” — getting on-line has expanded in recent times.

In an interview with TechCrunch final yr, Ankush Sachdeva, co-founder and chief govt of ShareChat, mentioned the startup’s marquee app was rising “exponentially” and that customers had been spending, on a median, greater than half-hour a day on the service.

Twitter, itself, has struggled to make inroads outdoors of larger cities and cities in India. Its app reached about 75 million customers within the nation within the month of January, in response to cell perception agency AppAnnie, information of which an trade govt shared with TechCrunch. It inked a take care of information and social app Dailyhunt to convey Moments — curated tweets pertaining to information and different native occasions — to the Google-backed Indian app.

The American social community has broadened its product providing up to now yr amid strain from activist traders to speed up progress.