ShareChat Secures $16 Million in Debt Funding from Singapore's EDBI, Expanding Debt Round to $65 Million
ShareChat, the Google-backed social media startup, has raised $16 million in debt funding from EDBI, a Singapore-based investment fund. This new investment increases the total size of ShareChat’s current debt round to $65 million, according to sources. The funds were raised through the issuance of convertible debentures.
EDBI’s investment marks its second venture into the Indian startup ecosystem, following its earlier investment in the home décor platform Livspace.
ShareChat plans to use this fresh capital to enhance its customer transaction businesses by developing new monetization features aimed at boosting its creator ecosystem.
In recent developments, ShareChat has also made headlines for downsizing its workforce, with around 40 employees being let go this week due to performance issues.
Founded in 2015 by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Singh, and Farid Ahsan, ShareChat is an indigenous social media platform that boasts 325 million monthly active users across its various platforms. The parent company, Mohalla Tech, operates two key platforms: ShareChat and the short video platform Moj. ShareChat itself has over 180 million monthly active users across India.
The company launched Moj in July 2020 and, in 2022, acquired the short video platform MX TakaTak from Times Internet for approximately $600 million, integrating it with Moj.
Despite these expansions, ShareChat has faced significant financial challenges amid the current funding slowdown and rising losses. Since 2023, the company has undertaken a cost-cutting strategy that included laying off around 800 employees through three rounds of layoffs and shutting down its fantasy app Jeet11 and live commerce business.
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