Bengaluru-based social media app ShareChat on Wednesday said it has acquired HPF Films, a video production company specialised in digital content.
The acquisition will help ShareChat and its short video platform Moj to strengthen their efforts towards building a better content ecosystem, establishing a stronger creator fraternity, and augmenting their advertising solutions for brands, a company statement said, without disclosing the amount spent for the new acquisition.
Started in 2018, HPF Films has ideated and produced over 3,500 titles across different formats including web-series, digital ads, short films, and documentaries for more than 20 brands like Meesho, OKCredit, ixigo, and Ola among others.
Some of these include shows like Zindagi Express, Ishq Mohalla, The Dating Scientist, What The Goat and Stones & Wounds.
HPF Films – which has been profitable since its inception – has developed video production and content capabilities across 12 Indic languages. It currently owns over 100 channels across multiple digital platforms with a network of over 120 collaborating artists, the statement said.
HPF’s strength on the creative side will also help ShareChat in creating innovative, high performing advertising solutions for the brands looking at engaging with the platform’s audiences, he added.
“As ShareChat continues on the aggressive growth journey, it is important for us to invest and build capabilities required to sustain growth on a large base,” Manohar Charan, VP – Corporate Development and Strategic Finance, ShareChat, said in a statement.
“This acquisition will help us build a framework for our creators and nurture them to evolve as influencers on the platform.”
With the acquisition, a 25-member team from HPF Films has already joined ShareChat and will be contributing towards content operations, digital marketing, creative solutions and creator management for both ShareChat and Moj.
“We started HPF Films to address the growing demand for digital video content. Today, snackable video has emerged as the preferred content format on smartphones, and we have proven capabilities to contribute to the ecosystem,” HPF Films COO and co-founder Navin Lalwani said.
He added that HPF Films will assist the creators on ShareChat and Moj for better content creation through workshops and training, and strengthen the content operations and ad solutions.
ShareChat presently has over 130 million monthly active users, while Moj has over 50 million monthly active users.