Indian TikTok clone Josh gets Google, Microsoft backing in $100 mln fund raise

BENGALURU: The Indian parent of a TikTok copycat has raised more than $100 million from investors including Alphabet Inc’s Google and Microsoft , months after the Chinese-owned short-video app was banned in the country.

The app, Josh, is one of several home-grown short-video platforms that have sprung up since India blocked the wildly popular TikTok in June amidst a border crisis with China, attracting global investor interest in applications filling the gap.

Bengaluru-based VerSe Innovation, which owns Josh, is valued at more than $1 billion following the investment, it said in a statement.