Mohalla Tech, the parent company behind short video platform Moj and messaging platform ShareChat, has raised $266 million as part of its Series G round at a valuation of $ 3.7 billion.
The investment has been led by Alkeon Capital with participation from new and existing investors including Temasek, Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV), Harbourvest and India Quotient.
This is the third round of funding for the startup in 2021. Founded in 2015, Mohalla Tech has raised over $1.177 billion across eight fundraising rounds with $913 million raised this year.
The latest round of funding will help the company build deep capabilities across priority areas such as social and live commerce. It will also help the company grow its AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) team which currently includes over a 100 people and is spread across the United States, Europe and India.
Strengthening the position
Ankush Sachdeva, CEO & Co-founder, Moj and ShareChat said, “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.”
He further added, “It is heartening to add reputed names like Alkeon Capital and others to our cap-table while existing investors have also chosen to increase their investments in us at our new valuation. This is a reflection of their belief in our long term vision and a shared desire to democratise social media for India.”
The company’s short video platform Moj has one of the highest monthly active users bases, with an average user time spent of 34 minutes every day, garnering over 4.5 billion views daily.
ShareChat, the Indic language social media platform, clocks an average user time spent of 31 minutes daily. Moj and ShareChat together have a user base of around 340 million.
The funding raised so far has been significant for both Moj and ShareChat to “continue their growth journey, differentiate and deliver immersive social media experiences,'” it said.
Since January 2021, the company has grown to over 2000 employees and added several new features. With social and live commerce initiatives, the company hopes to reach a target of $100 million annualised creator earnings by the end of 2023, it said.
Deepak Ravichandran, General Partner at Alkeon Capital said, “By leveraging multiple apps, a best-in-class AI recommendation engine, and local language content, ShareChat is building the leading social media platform in India.”
“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,” added Ravichandran.
