India-based social networking app developer ShareChat is set to raise $100m in a funding round led by social media platform Twitter with a commitment of more than $50m, the Economic Times reported on Friday citing unnamed sources.
Consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi is also expected to join the round, as are Shunwei Capital, Morningside Ventures and HillHouse Capital. ShareChat is targeting a valuation of $600m to $650m.
Founded in 2015 and owned by holding company Mohalla Tech, ShareChat provides a social networking app that is available in 10 Indian languages.
The funding will be used to bolster its monetisation plans, such as advertising and a move to integrate a commerce channel on the platform.
In September 2018, Shunwei Capital led a $99.2m funding round that featured Xiaomi, Morningside Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF Partners, Venture Highway and an undisclosed Cayman Islands-based fund.
Xiaomi had led the company’s $18.2m series B round in January 2018, investing alongside SAIF Partners, Shunwei Capital, India Quotient, Venture Highway and Lightspeed.
Lightspeed led a $4m series A round in November 2016, with participation from Venture Highway, SAIF Partners and India Quotient, after SAIF and India Quotient had supplied $1.4m in seed funding in July that same year.