ShareChat valued at $2.1 billion in $502 million fundraise

ShareChat said on Thursday it has raised a new financing round that values it at over $2 billion, joining four other local startups in attaining the unicorn status this week.

The Indian social network said it has raised $502 million in a new financing round led by Tiger Global that valued ShareChat at $2.1 billion. Snap and Twitter also participated in the round, said ShareChat.

The startup began engaging with investors for the new financing round about 10 months ago, and explored a full buy out deal with Twitter, which didn’t materialize, TechCrunch reported earlier.

ShareChat, which claims to have over 160 million users, offers its social network app in 15 Indian languages and has a large following in small Indian cities and towns, or what venture capitalist Sajith Pai of Blume Ventures refer as “India 2.” Very few players in the Indian startup ecosystem have a reach to this segment of this population, which thanks to users from even smaller towns and villages — called “India 3” — getting online has expanded in recent years.

This is a developing story. More to follow…