Benzinga | Jul 27, 2021 11:13AM EDT

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. (NYSE:SNAP) and Twitter Inc. (NYSE: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. (NASDAQ: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.

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