Temasek joining Mohalla funding round at US$5b value

[HONG KONG] India's Mohalla Tech, the startup behind social media platform ShareChat and short-video app Moj, is seeking to raise fresh funds at a valuation of US$5 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The Bangalore-based firm is in advanced talks with Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and Indian digital media group Times Internet for the series H round, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The company could raise at least US$200 million, the people said.

Alphabet's Google is also weighing participating in the fundraising, the people said.

Both ShareChat and Moj specialise in content in over a dozen Indian languages, offering differentiation from other platforms appealing to India's increasingly saturated English-speaking user base.

Deliberations are ongoing and details such as funding size may change, the people said. Representatives for Alphabet, Mohalla Tech and Temasek declined to comment, while a representative for Times Internet didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The funding would mark a rapid increase in Mohalla Tech's valuation. The firm raised US$266 million at a valuation of US$3.7 billion in December, the company said. The investment was led by Alkeon Capital with participation from firms including Temasek.

The startup, which was founded in 2015, also counts Lightspeed Ventures, Snap, Tiger Global and Twitter among its backers.

Mohalla Tech agreed last month to acquire short- video platform MX TakaTak from the Times Internet-backed MX Media.

The combined Moj and MX TakaTak platform will have 100 million creators, over 300 million monthly active users and nearly 250 billion monthly video views, according to a press release. BLOOMBERG