ShareChat raises $255 mn from Google, Times Group, others; valued at $5 bn

Home-grown social media company ShareChat on Thursday said it has raised USD 255 million in funds from Google, Times Group, and Temasek, and reached USD 5 billion in valuation with its multi-tranche funding round.

In the first part of the round, ShareChat had raised USD 266 million in December 2021 from Alkeon Capital, Temasek, HarbourVest, Moore Strategic Ventures, and India Quotient.

ShareChat (Mohalla Tech) in a statement said it has closed multi-tranche funding round through which it raised a total of USD 520 million and reached USD 5 billion in valuation.

Mohalla Tech is ShareChat's parent company. ShareChat runs India's largest short video platforms Moj and TakaTak, besides the ShareChat app, which together cater to over 400 million users.

"In the first part of the round, ShareChat had raised USD 266 million in December 2021 from Alkeon Capital, Temasek, HarbourVest, Moore Strategic Ventures and India Quotient," it said.

In the final tranche of this round, post the acquisition of MX TakaTak, ShareChat added Google and Times Group as new investors, while Temasek participated yet again, adding USD 255 million, it added.

ShareChat, which achieved unicorn status last year, has collectively raised USD 913 million in 2021, marking "the highest funding among all companies that became unicorns during the year".

ShareChat has, over the past year, focused on rapidly monetising its various platforms and seen its revenue surge.

"The company has built diversified monetisation avenues beyond advertising in areas like virtual gifting and video commerce," the statement said.

Moj, since its launch in July 2020, has grown to become a popular short video app with over three times daily active users and two times daily time spent per user compared to its nearest domestic competitor, the statement informed.

Commenting on the latest funding round, Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and Co-founder, ShareChat and Moj, said: "We are excited to announce the closing of our funding round and adding Google and The Times Group to our cap table. We are also happy and grateful to see Temasek reaffirming its faith in us for the third time in a year."

The coming year will be about capitalising on the scale and building robust revenue models, Sachdeva added.