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Time of India
9 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
ShareChat CBO Gaurav Jain steps down amid leadership shakeup
Amid a string of high-profile exits at vernacular social media platform ShareChat , Gaurav Jain , the chief business officer, is also set to leave the company. 'Today, we shared internally that I'll be moving on from ShareChat and Moj in the coming weeks," Jain said in a LinkedIn post on Monday. Jain, who heads ShareChat's monetisation efforts across functions, joined the company in 2022. Prior to this, he held leadership roles in companies like Google, Meta and Snapchat. Jain's departure will mark the third high-profile exit from ShareChat this year. On February 20, ET reported that Anurag Verma, the company's head of people and culture and Shashank Shekhar, senior director of content strategy and operations, left the company. In an interaction with ET, cofounder and chief financial officer Manohar Singh Charan said that Jain is currently serving his notice period and is in the process of finding his replacement. Live Events 'At a leadership level, this was discussed some time back, and we had kickstarted the process for finding his replacement, and that is at a very advanced stage now,' said Charan. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories The departures also come amid a period of workforce reductions at the Google-backed company. On January 16, ET reported that ShareChat had laid off around 30-40 employees, or 5% of its workforce, as part of cost-cutting measures and was aiming to reduce its employee count to 500 by March 2025. Prior to that, in August, it let go of about 40 employees following a $16 million debt financing round led by Singapore-based EDBI. Founded in 2015 by Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh, and Farid Ahsan, ShareChat competes with platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. In 2023, Singh and Ahsan left the company to launch General Autonomy, an industrial robotics startup that secured $3 million in funding from India Quotient and Elevation Capital in November of that year. For the fiscal year ended March 2024, Mohalla Tech, the parent company of ShareChat and Moj, reported an operating revenue of Rs 718 crore.
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Gaurav Jain steps down as chief business officer of ShareChat and Moj
In a significant development for the Indian short-form video and social media landscape, Gaurav Jain , chief business officer of ShareChat and its popular short-form video platform, Moj , has announced his decision to move on from the company. The news, shared by Jain himself in a LinkedIn post today, marks the end of a pivotal tenure focused on building the monetisation narrative for India's "Bharat" audience. Jain's departure comes after a period at ShareChat, where he was elevated to the role of chief business officer in November 2023, having initially joined the company in October 2022 as head of emerging business. During his time, he played a crucial role in shaping the business and revenue models for both ShareChat and Moj, with a particular emphasis on driving monetisation strategies for the burgeoning short-form video ecosystem. In his LinkedIn post, Jain stated, "Today, we shared internally that I'll be moving on from ShareChat and Moj in the coming weeks. This transition has been in the works for sometime, and I'll still be around for a bit longer before taking up a new challenge." Hinting at his future endeavors, Jain added, "As for what's next— I'm going from Bharat to Pan-Asian. More on that soon." This suggests a move to a broader regional leadership role, leveraging his extensive experience in monetising digital platforms across India and the APAC region. Before his stint at ShareChat and Moj, Jain held significant leadership positions at global tech giants. He served as head of APAC Business Expansion at Snap, where he was responsible for Snapchat's monetisation in India and emerging APAC markets. His career also includes impactful roles at Google's APAC agency business and Meta India. Under Jain's leadership, Moj and ShareChat have been actively working towards achieving profitability, focusing on engaging users from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with vernacular content. The platforms have successfully leveraged influencer marketing and micro-transactions as key revenue drivers, catering to diverse business verticals with tailored solutions.
The Hindu
05-05-2025
- The Hindu
Coimbatore police arrest Andhra native for cyber fraud
The cybercrime police in Coimbatore on Monday arrested a man from Andhra Pradesh on the charge of cheating a woman of ₹11.06 lakh in a part-time job-cum-investment scam. Vootla Ravi Teja, 34, from Kondapaturu in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, was arrested by a special team of the cybercrime police. According to the police, a 32-year-old woman from Coimbatore lodged a complaint earlier this year, stating that she was cheated of ₹11,06,839 by an unknown person, who promised her higher returns from online investments. The police said the woman joined a WhatsApp group after seeing an advertisement on an online part-time job on Instagram. She was asked to get in touch with a person on Telegram, who asked her to review links of advertisements shared via ShareChat. She was later lured into investment schemes and she paid a total of ₹11,06,839 in multiple transactions. Though her earnings were shown credited to an online valet, she was asked to invest more money to withdraw the amount. Suspecting fraud, she approached the police, who arrested the accused.
Mint
02-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Indian influencers to drive $1 trillion consumer expenditure by 2030: BCG report
The influence of India's creator economy on consumer spending is expected to almost triple to $1 trillion by 2030, a Boston Consultancy Group report released on Friday said. India is home to 5 million content creators whose videos influence up to $400 billion of consumer spending. That is, 20% of India's $2,000 billion overall consumer spending. However, as of yet, it impacts only 30% of consumers in India, the report added. That is because a large audience uses social media just for fun. The report said, '70% people watch content online 'to get entertained' and 'to get information', other reasons include 'develop new skills' and 'gain technical knowledge.'" Also read: Finfluencers rejoice at ASCI go-ahead for general advice and promotion on social media after Sebi scrutiny Simultaneously, the creator ecosystem's direct revenues are projected to expand to $100-125 billion in the next five years from $20-25 billion today. The report has found that the creator economy is largely a metropolitan phenomenon. Almost 65% of creators are from urban centres. However, it has also started picking up in Tier 2 and 3 cities. 'Our platforms of ShareChat and Moj have 75% of users and 80% of creators from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. We contribute to diversifying the creator and consumer profile for brands while empowering regional creativity in India. We have also pioneered new monetisation models such as microtransactions, which drive the majority of creator earnings on our platforms today," said Manohar Singh Charan, co-founder of Indian creator platforms Moj and ShareChat. The leading sectors in the creator space include lifestyle categories like fashion, entertainment, beauty and personal care. Also read: Gaming gets costlier! Microsoft hikes Xbox prices globally amid rising tariffs and costs: How much more to pay With this growth, brands are expanding their investment in influencer marketing. The report suggests that 70% of Indian brands plan to scale their influencer budgets by up to three times in the next two to three years. A prime example of this is India's largest FMCG brand, Hindustan Unilever. Mint reported earlier that HUL has broadened its influencer pool by almost 11 times. The increase in budgets will also help these companies deal with the challenges of maximising the return on their investment and the problem of influencers with fake followers. 'What began as a Gen Z and metro-focused phenomenon is now resonating across age groups and smaller cities, unlocking new avenues of influence and engagement," said Vipin Gupta, managing director and partner at BCG. Also read: April auto sales: SUVs race ahead while small cars lose momentum 'Categories like fashion, beauty, and entertainment are leading the charge, while emerging monetization models—such as live commerce and virtual gifting—are redefining how creators and brands drive value together," he added. Content platforms, which are at the centre of this growth, play a vital role. Mint reported earlier that YouTube invested ₹ 210 billion in India's creator economy in the past three years.
