Short form video apps, Moj and ShareChat’s parent company, Mohalla Tech has raised $266 million as part of its Series G round at a valuation of $3.7 billion at the end of 2021.
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.
The Series G funding is Mohalla Tech’s third round with $913 million cumulatively raised last year.
The latest round of funds will go towards developing capabilities on priority areas such as social and live commerce and growing its AI/ML team across markets.
Since January 2021, the company has grown to over 2000 employees and added several new features. The company has focussed on becoming a 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 in annualised creator earnings by the end of 2023.
Ankush Sachdeva, CEO & Co-founder, Moj, and ShareChat said in a 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.”
He 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.”
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.”
Founded in 2015, Mohalla Tech has now raised over $1.177 billion across eight fundraising rounds with US$913 million raised this year alone.
India is touted to have more than 650 million users consuming short form videos (SFV). Last year’s Indian government ban on Tik Tok has spawned several homegrown solutions to satisfy the country’s need for this format. According to a report titled , ‘Online Videos in India— The Long and Short of It’, released by management consulting firm, Bain & Company — short form video content is the future.
