Social networking platform ShareChat expects its apps, ShareChat and Moj, to turn profitable by April, company’s chief business officer Gaurav Jain said.
Speaking to FE on the sidelines of the India Digital Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, Jain stated that while the company might still report losses in FY25, it is optimistic about achieving overall profitability by FY26.
“Our standalone ShareChat app has been profitable for 3-4 months now,” Jain said. “At a corporate level, which includes both ShareChat and Moj, profitability is just around the corner. It could happen in March or April.”
Moj, ShareChat’s short-form video app, offers features like audio chat rooms, photo and video posts, status updates, microblogging and blogging.
Together ShareChat and Moj boast over 325 million active users across 15 Indian languages.
In FY24, ShareChat reported a 41.4% reduction in losses, bringing them down to ₹1,898.94 crore from ₹3,240.83 crore in FY23. Operating revenue grew 29.9%, reaching ₹718.1 crore from ₹552.73 crore the previous year.
Jain said the company has been able to “turn the tables” on monetisation on both the models it follows. It provides monetisation options through advertisement and micro-transactions. The advertisement model allows creators to offer ads on their videos.
Under the micro-transactions business, the users can send money to creators when they are live on the platform.
According to Jain, influencer marketing has played a major role in helping the company improve its finances. “A lot of brands utilise Moj and Sharechat for their influencer marketing. It is a very high margin business,” he said.
FE on Wednesday reported that ShareChat will cut its workforce by 5% by the end of this month under its annual appraisal cycle. Jain said these are not permanent job cuts but to replace bottom performers and these positions will be subsequently filled with replacements.
The short-form video market in India has faced challenges, particularly since TikTok’s 2020 ban. Dominated by Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, the market remains competitive.
Jain, however, believes there is room for growth. “The short-form video market in India will reach 1 billion users by 2030, creating opportunities for 4-5 major players to coexist,” he said.
Founded in 2015 by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Farid Ahsan, ShareChat has secured investments from prominent firms, including Twitter (now X), Alkeon Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, Elevation Capital, and Tencent.