 "ShareChat's valuation cut to $1.5 bn, lays off 200 employees: Reports")
ShareChat has laid off 200 employees after the social networking company’s valuation was cut from $4.9 billion last year to $1.5 billion, said a report by the Economic Times (ET).
With layoffs, the company is aiming to streamline costs and achieve profitability in the next 4-6 quarters. According to a report by TechCrunch, Google and Tamasek-backed ShareChat is in the final stages of securing $50 million in new funding but its valuation has been cut. Data from the intelligence platform Tracxn shows that the eight-year-old company has raised $1.4 billion yet.
In January, ShareChat laid off 20 per cent of its workforce, impacting around 500 employees. Later in the same month, ShareChat's co-founders Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan stepped down from executive roles at the company.
Investors in ShareChat include Tiger Global, Snap, Twitter, Lightspeed, SAIF Partners (now Elevation Capital), and industry leaders like Pawan Munjal and Ajay Shridhar Shriram.
ShareChat was valued at $1 billion in 2021 and given the unicorn status. That year it collectively raised $913 million. It was the highest funding among all companies that became unicorns in 2021.
However, of late it has been struggling to maintain profitability despite launching a series of new initiatives. The new initiatives include a fantasy sports app and a live audio chat service. However, in the financial year ending March 31, its revenue remained below $65 million.
Before the January layoffs, the company had 2,200 employees. After the current round of layoffs, the total number of employees is expected to fall to around 1,500.