ShareChat parent raises $266 million at $3.7 billion valuation

ShareChat was launched by three IIT Kanpur alumni- Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan and Bhanu Singh in 2015

Mohalla Tech, which owns short video app Moj and ShareChat, has raised $266 million at a valuation of US$ 3.7 billion, in the round led by Alkeon Capital in its Series G round.

The investors who participated in the round include Temasek, Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV), Harbourvest and India Quotient. This is the third round of funding for the startup in 2021.

The company has raised a total funding of $913 million this year on the back of the strong growth its platform Moj witnessed since the TikTok ban in June 2020. In the earlier rounds, it raised $145 million in July, and $502 million in April, led by Tiger, Snapchat and Twitter.

The latest round of funding will help build deep capabilities on priority areas such as social and live commerce, growing its AI/ML team which is now over a 100 people strong and spread across the US, Europe and India, the company said in a statement.

The company has over 2000 employees, and added several new features as it focuses on building its products to be the leader in the Indian short video and social media space. “With social and live commerce initiatives, the company hopes to reach a target of US $ 100 million annualised creator earnings by the end of 2023,” the company said.

Ankush Sachdeva, CEO & Co-founder, Moj and ShareChat said, in the statement, “Moj and ShareChat have been growing at an explosive pace. Both our products have been leading the market with the highest monthly active user base, a very active creator set and amazing new partnerships to delight our community. This fresh funding will further strengthen our position and help us deliver immersive social experiences to our community.”

Founded in 2015 by three IIT Kanpur alumni- Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan and Bhanu Singh, ShareChat was one of the early players in regional language content. It launched Moj in June 2020, after the TikTok ban, and has seen significant growth in the segment, along with DailyHunt’s Josh. So far the company has raised $1.177 billion across eight fundraising rounds. ShareChat and Moj have a user base of 340 million.

With the growth, company was also in talks to acquire its rival MX TakaTak, which was first reported by Mint.

Deepak Ravichandran, General Partner at Alkeon Capital said, “In one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic internet markets in the world – with an estimated 600M+ (mostly mobile) internet users – Sharechat is already entrenched as the largest and most engaging social and digital media platform. We are excited to partner with and support Sharechat’s best-in-class management team as they pursue their robust product roadmap and build on their ambitious vision.”