Times Internet’s MX TakaTak and ShareChat’s Moj revealed a strategic merger to create India‘s largest short-form video platform — a country where TikTok is still banned.
The combined MX TakaTak-Moj platform will have 100 million creators, more than 300 million monthly active users (MAU), and nearly 250 billion monthly video views.
Times Internet, the digital arm of giant Indian media conglomerate the Times Group, operates MX Media Co., the parent company of MX TakaTak and popular streaming platform MX Player. Both platforms will be controlled by ShareChat, a social media and social networking service developed by India’s Mohalla Tech. MX Media and its shareholders will become strategic shareholders of ShareChat.
While numbers were not disclosed, the deal is worth $900 million in a cash and equity mix, PvNew understands. MX TakaTak will continue to function as a separate platform for now, but the two platforms’ creator base, content supply and recommendation algorithms will be integrated.
“In the coming months, the experience of users and creators will converge enabling creators from both platforms to reach the most extensive set of audiences in India,” the companies said in a statement. “This will provide users access to unique features including best-in-class camera creation tools with Snap filters, live commerce, and a vast music library.”
In June 2020, the Indian government banned Beijing-headquartered ByteDance’s immensely popular short video app TikTok, which was attracting 200 million MAUs, over ongoing border tensions with China. Following this, similar apps mushroomed in India with Moj and MX TakaTak among the first to race off the blocks.
Moj launched in July 2020 and emerged as the largest Indian short video app, with over 160 million MAUs and over 50 million creator communities in 15 Indian languages. The company has been investing heavily in social and live commerce and growing its Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning team which now numbers over 100 people across the U.S., Europe, and India. MX TakaTak also launched in July 2020 and reached 150 million MAUs, across 10 languages.
Ankush Sachdeva, CEO and co-founder, ShareChat and Moj, said: “We at ShareChat are building India’s largest content ecosystem which has been on an unprecedented growth trajectory. MX TakaTak is a popular platform and this merger further solidifies our position in the short video ecosystem. With this development, we aim to build the largest original content platform on Moj along with the largest community of users across India.”
MX Media CEO Karan Bedi said: “As India’s largest digital entertainment platform, MX has always strived to build superior world class products, and TakaTak is no exception. This combined with Moj’s AI and execution capabilities makes the combined business a truly world class short video platform. MX has created two ‘unicorns’ within one business, unlocking significant value for our shareholders, and will now continue to double down on OTT [streaming], with significantly increased financial resources.”
