India's ban on TikTok has left an opening for a new start-up to fill in the void. ShareChat, a Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) backed social media platform, is showing promising results from its version of TikTok.
National security concerns were the reason India announced the ban on TikTok because of its ties to China. The weeks after the ban allowed for may other apps to take a chance at becoming the next viral internet sensation in the country, with Google's (NASDAQ: GOOGL) YouTube launching its Shorts competitor in the region, and Facebook's (NASDAQ: FB) Instagram expanding its market. Other start-ups like Daily Hunt's Josh and Times Internet's MX Player launched Taka Tak have also entered the space to fill the void left by TikTok. However, ShareChat's Moj became the dominant force among the other short video apps.
ShareChat caters to over 15 languages throughout the region which has allowed it to grow. The app has over 160 million active users which are up from the 60 million users from last year. Most users spent at least 31 minutes on the app. ShareChat has also racked up $40 million in funds from a variety of investors, including Hero Motorcorp, SAIF Partners, and Lightspeed India, and the investment firm India Quotient. ShareChat also announced plans to expand to add $14 million to its employee stock ownership plan.
"India could never have dreamt of having a homegrown social media platform, had ShareChat not embarked on the impossible in 2015. ShareChat's success has given immense hope to India's startup fraternity, and motivated entrepreneurs to take audacious bets in India's internet ecosystem," said Madhukar Sinha, partner at India Quotient, quoted by TechCrunch.
Ankush Sachdeva, co-founder, and CEO of ShareChat believes the funds could be used to improve technology to make Moj as a social media platform, with a portion also be used to establish music labels and grow the network of creators on Moj. ShareChat's primary source of revenue will come from advertising, similar to the models used by Facebook.
The startup has plans to eventually expand outside of India and explore other areas of social commerce.