ShareChat raises $145 Mn at a valuation of $2.88 Bn

Mohalla Tech, which operates social media app ShareChat and short video sharing app Moj, has raised $145 million as an extension of Series F led by Temasek, Moore Strategic Ventures and Mirae-Naver Asia Growth Fund.

According to the company, this is an additional investment beyond the $502 million raised in April this year and it has raised the new tranche at a valuation of $2.88 billion. The Bengaluru-based company, which has raised $911 million to date, was valued at around $2.1 billion three months ago.

The additional infusion will help ShareChat to double down its strategic priorities of building AI Feed, attracting and incentivising its creator base, said the company in a press release. It has also hired senior executives in tech in recent months in the UK and the US.

“With a monthly active user base of 160 million and 50+ million strong creator community, Moj in a year has grown into India’s number one short video app. To strengthen our leadership position, we will continue to invest in our AI capabilities, scaling our global AI org, building advanced editing tools and helping our creators monetize on the platform,” said Ankush Sachdeva, CEO & Co-founder, Moj and ShareChat.

The company further claims that Moj has become India’s number one short video app with the highest monthly active users with an average user time spent of 34 minutes every day, scoring over 4.5 billion views daily. 

Since the ban on TikTok along with other Chinese-linked apps in India, Moj has emerged as one of the top players in the short video sharing space. According to Sensor Tower data, Moj has amassed close to 200 million downloads since its launch in July last year. MX TakaTak, a similar app by MX Player, has recorded more than 200 million downloads during the period. Dailyhunt’s Josh stood at third place with close to 180 million downloads.

While these short video apps have been able to maintain the momentum in the absence of TikTok, they are yet to churn revenue. For ShareChat, it had recorded revenue from operations for the first time in FY20. According to Fintrackr, it registered around Rs 9.4 crore from its operations during the fiscal year with expenses soaring to Rs 715 crore and a total loss of Rs 676 crore.