ShareChat (Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd), India’s largest homegrown social media company, said it has expanded its convertible debentures round to $65 million, to accommodate new investment from EDBI, a leading Singapore-based global investor.
These additional funds will be utilised to invest further in the company’s advertising tech stack and expand the consumer transactions businesses with investment in newer monetisation features for the creator ecosystem.
Currently, the ShareChat app is operationally profitable for the past several months, while the Moj app is close to operating break-even.
In April this year, ShareChat raised $49 million via convertible debentures in the funding round led by existing investors Lightspeed, Temasek, Alkeon Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures and HarbourVest, amongst others.
According to media reports, Sharechat is closing a $16 million fundraise, while laying off about 5 per cent of its workforce (around 30-40 employees) after a bi-annual performance review.
“The fact that ShareChat could attract new investment from a sovereign fund like EDBI is a significant positive sign,” said a person familiar with the matter.
“Attracting new investors of this calibre in today’s cautious private investment environment reflects that the market is taking note of the company’s progress towards building a profitable business,” the person said.
ShareChat runs India’s largest short video platform, Moj in addition to the ShareChat app, which collectively cater to over 325 million users. ShareChat said it has democratised social media in India by offering content in over 15 Indian languages.
Through its multilingual approach and diverse ad formats, the company has worked for more than 200 advertisers in the country including HUL, Maruti, P&G, Hero and Samsung.
Over the past couple of years, ShareChat said it has rapidly grown its monetising avenues, including virtual gifting where it stands as the market leader by a huge margin.
First Published: Aug 03 2024 | 5:50 PM IST
