ShareChat acquires hyperlocal information platform Circle Internet

ShareChat has acquired Circle Internet, a provider of hyperlocal information platform for Indian internet users.

Circle provides local information to Indian language internet users across tier-2 and 3 cities, and has presence in 120 districts across Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Kerala. The deal size was undisclosed. The platform was launched in 2018, and brings a network of over 1,000 volunteers to contribute towards the hyperlocal content ecosystem.

Manohar Charan, VP - Corporate Development and Strategic Finance, ShareChat, said: “ShareChat is growing faster than the industry, and we are investing in our capabilities to serve diverse content needs of the new users that we add to the platform. The acquisition will help us penetrate deeper into geographies and nurture a thriving hyperlocal content ecosystem that will understand and serve the latent content needs of the next billion internet users more effectively. Circle’s hyperlocal expansion playbook complements ShareChat’s wide user base to create a strategic advantage and enhance our operational muscles to boost a community-powered content ecosystem”

Circle App will continue to be independent and drive more community-driven engagements, added Charan.

With the acquisition of Circle’s business, the existing 15-member team has joined ShareChat. Shashank Shekhar, CEO and Cofounder, Circle, was heading content operations at ShareChat before he started Circle. In his new avatar, he will be heading the overall content strategy for ShareChat.

Circle was founded in 2018 by three IIT-ians Uchit Kumar, Gaurav Agrawal, and Shashank Shekhar and was backed by SAIF Partners and Venture Highway. Over two million hyperlocal content was created on the platform since inception, contributed by both users and verified creators.

ShareChat has around 130 million monthly active users, and available across 15 Indian languages.