BENGALURU: Social media platform ShareChat on Thursday announced that it has raised a total of $520 million and reached $5 billion in valuation.
It raised $255 million from Google, Times Group, and existing investors, adding to the $266 million raised earlier in December 2021. This fundraising comes at a time when start-ups are struggling to close rounds.
ShareChat, which turned unicorn last year, has collectively raised $913 million in 2021. ShareChat parent company Mohalla Tech runs short video platforms Moj and TakaTak, besides the ShareChat app, which together cater to over 400 million users.
ShareChat said that it has built diversified monetisation avenues beyond advertising in areas like virtual gifting and video commerce. Virtual gifting is witnessing a $50 million ARR (annual recurring revenue), which is set to more than double by year-end.
Ankush Sachdeva, CEO & Co-founder, ShareChat and Moj, said, “We are excited to announce the closing of our funding round and adding Google and The Times Group to our cap table."
"The coming year will be about capitalising on the scale and building robust revenue models," he added.
Founded in 2015 by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan, ShareChat has several social media brands under its portfolio, such as ShareChat App, Moj, and TakaTak.