ShareChat

India's booming short-form video market is just about getting started, with demand for engaging local content and uptake in smaller locations fuelling growth, Manohar Singh Charan, Chief Financial Officer of homegrown social media platforms ShareChat and Moj said. Differentiated services with regional relevance are driving sustained business momentum and yielding new opportunities for brands to connect with audiences, he added. In an interview with PTI, Charan said the company is on the brink of being EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) positive at a consolidated level. Mohalla Tech is the parent entity of the social media app ShareChat and the short video app Moj. He said hiring will be "cautious", geared to selective and specialised roles as the company gets into the profitability zone. The Google-backed company is also looking to rope in a few more marquee investors before it goes for an IPO in a 24-month timeframe. Charan said the company, i

Homegrown social media company ShareChat on Tuesday said its adjusted EBITDA losses fell by 67 per cent year-on-year to Rs 793 crore in FY24, amid 33 per cent growth in revenue. The company further said it is on track for a cash breakeven by March 2025. With improved financial metrics, the company expects to start investing back into growth and is on "actively" lookout for inorganic opportunities through acquisitions. Organic growth will happen through the expansion of the user base and increasing revenue per user. ShareChat has social media brands such as ShareChat app and Moj under its portfolio. While the company is sufficiently capitalised for now, it is looking at "adding more people to cap table ahead of preparations for IPO journey". It is eyeing timelines of 18-24 months for a possible IPO, depending on market conditions. "We will try and do one more funding round before we do IPO...possibly next year... but we don't need capital so we will time it based on interest in the

Home-grown social media firm Mohalla Tech, which owns ShareChat platform, on Sunday said it has raised Rs 134 crore, or USD 16 million, through debt bonds from Singapore-based investment firm EDBI. With this fresh fundraise the company has expanded its ongoing convertible debentures round to USD 65 million. "ShareChat expands its convertible debentures round to USD 65 million, as Singapore-based EDBI joins the round," the company said in a statement. In April this year, ShareChat raised USD 49 million via convertible debentures in the funding round led by existing investors Lightspeed, Temasek, Alkeon Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, and HarbourVest, amongst others. The company has also retrenched 5 per cent of its staff after mid-year performance review of the employees. When contacted, the company spokesperson said ShareChat launched its mid-year performance cycle and as a usual practice, some employees are impacted on the basis of performance. "This accounts for less than 5

The additional funds will be invested in company's advertising tech stack

The new funds will be utilized to bolster the company's robust monetisation plans and propel it on its path to break-even and beyond, said Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and Cofounder, ShareChat and Moj

Homegrown social media company ShareChat on Monday announced it has raised USD 49 million (about Rs 407 crore) by way of convertible debentures from existing investors Lightspeed, Temasek and Alkeon Capital, among others. The capital raise will help the company invest further in its ad targeting technology as well as in continuing the growth of consumer transactions business on ShareChat Live and Moj Live, according to a release. "ShareChat (Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd)...today announced the closure of its USD 49 million funding round via convertible debentures led by existing investors Lightspeed, Temasek, Alkeon Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures and HarbourVest, amongst others," the release said. ShareChat app is already operationally profitable, and short video app Moj is expected to achieve operational profitability over the next few months, it said. As the company marches towards profitability, it announced an organisation-wide ESOP bonus programme that will double the ESOP ownershi

The director of machine learning at social media platforms ShareChat and Moj says consumers and companies will adapt to such misinformation

This is the second such move this year for the Indian regional social network

Company sacked 20% of its workforce in January, impacting around 500 employees

Customer sentiment is significantly higher than last year when 19% of Indians said they would spend over Rs 10,000

This move coincides with news of the government's preparation of the Digital India Bill (DIB) which aims to supersede the Information Technology Act, 2000

This comes a week after Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd, the parent company of homegrown video-sharing platforms ShareChat and Moj, laid off 20 per cent of its workforce, comprising around 500 employees

This comes amid the current funding crunch in the Indian start-up ecosystem

Rebel Foods, which has brands like Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story, has also reportedly cut its headcount

Indian startups raised $24 billion last year, a third lesser than in 2021, according to Venture Intelligence

As companies seek to impress people in all parts of the country, there is a demand for expertise in local dialogue

The short-form video market can provide the country with a monetisation opportunity worth $19 billion by 2030, according to a report by management consulting firm RedSeer

Social media company raises $255 mn from Google, Times Group and existing investors

ShareChat (Mohalla Tech) in a statement said it has closed multi-tranche funding round through which it raised a total of USD 520 million and reached USD 5 billion in valuation.

A BS analysis shows no Indian app has been able to garner as many unique visitors as TikTok did before it was banned