Indian short video apps join unicorn club
ShareChat, Moj raise Rs 3.72k cr in funding
image for illustrative purpose
New Delhi: MOHALLA Tech, the parent company of leading short video app Moj and vernacular social media platform ShareChat, on Thursday said it has raised $502 million (about Rs 3,726 crore) in its series E funding round, taking the valuation to a little over $2.1 billion. The latest investment round was led by Lightspeed Ventures and Tiger Global, along with participation from Snap, Twitter and India Quotient and others.
Founded in 2015, Mohalla Tech has successfully raised over $766 million across six fundraising rounds, enabling ShareChat to substantially grow and differentiate itself by delivering a unique, tech-led social media experience. Moj, which was launched in July last year, has made huge strides towards leadership in the short video space.
Moj and ShareChat together have a 280 million-strong user community, according to the company.
"With ShareChat and Moj, we are well-positioned to build the largest AI-powered content ecosystem in India," said Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and Co-founder, ShareChat.
The company said the new funds will be utilised for doubling down on tech initiatives, supporting user growth, and improving platform safety features.
"With this infusion of capital, we would continue to aggressively grow our user base, build a world-class org in India and US and further strengthen our creator community, AI-powered recommendation engine and platform health," Sachdeva added.
With over 120 million monthly active users, Moj has emerged as India's leading short video destination.
ShareChat is also a leading Indian social media platform, with over 160 million monthly active users, that allows users to share their opinions, record their lives and make new friends.
"Moj is well-positioned to seize the opportunity presented by the growth of short video in India," said Scott Shleifer, Partner at Tiger Global. "ShareChat's rise to market leadership in India's social media category has been an accelerating journey involving category creation, world-class team building and product-led growth," added Dev Khare, Partner, Lightspeed India.
