ShareChat Eyes Up To $400 Mn IPO In FY28

Social media unicorn ShareChat is looking to raise up to $400 Mn through an initial public offering (IPO) planned for next fiscal year. 

Manohar Charan, the cofounder and CFO of ShareChat parent Mohalla Tech, told Bloomberg in an interview that the startup is targeting a public listing over the next four to five quarters. 

“Our unit economics has now turned positive. We will aim to list over the next four or five quarters,” Charan was quoted as saying.

Mohalla Tech, which also operates short video platform Moj and subscription-based microdrama app QuickTV, became operationally profitable in Q1 FY27, the CFO added.

According to Charan, the startup’s platforms command about 65 Mn monthly microdrama viewers, with users consuming more than 700 Mn episodes every day. 

Inc42 has reached out to ShareChat for further details on the business performance and IPO plans. The story will be updated on receiving responses. 

The operational profitability and the proposed IPO mark a turnaround for ShareChat, which spent the past few years restructuring its business after the funding boom of 2021-22 ended. 

During this period, the startup carried out multiple rounds of layoffs, slashed costs, exited unviable product bets and overhauled its business model to improve unit economics.

Earlier this year, Charan told Inc42 that ShareChat’s revenue crossed the ₹1,000 Cr revenue mark in FY26, with nine consecutive months of positive cash flow.

The startup is said to be currently running at an annualised revenue pace of up to ₹1,400 Cr. 

In FY25, ShareChat narrowed its adjusted EBITDA loss by 72% to ₹219 Cr from ₹793 Cr a year ago, driven by cost optimisation. However, its operating revenue remained nearly flat at ₹723 Cr as against ₹718 Cr in FY24.

The startup has changed its strategy over the past few years to focus on sustainable growth within a niche vernacular ecosystem, rather than compete with global giants like Meta and YouTube. 

It has also been aggressively pulling the plug on pilot projects which fail to show results. Last month, Mohalla Tech announced that it was shutting its social discovery platform Vibely, days after Apple removed the app from its App Store over alleged content moderation concerns.

Founded in 2015, Mohalla Tech has raised over $1.2 Bn in total funding to date from marquee investors like Lightspeed, Tiger Global, Temasek, Tencent, among others.

With its IPO plans, ShareChat has joined the ever-growing list of Indian startups preparing to to hit the public markets. Startups like Aye Finance, Turtlemint, Shadowfax, Amagi and Fractal have made their stock market debuts so far this year, while several others are awaiting regulatory approvals.

Earlier this week, hospitality unicorn OYO’s parent PRISM filed its updated DRHP after getting SEBI’s nod for its IPO last month. Lending tech startup Fibe also filed its draft papers for up to ₹750 Cr IPO this week.

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