Mohalla Tech, the parent entity of the vernacular social media platform ShareChat and short video entertainment app Moj, has raised around $49 million in debt from existing investors.

The company has passed a board resolution to issue 4,895 Series I debentures at an issue price of $10000 each to raise $49 million, regulatory filing with RoC shows. Existing investors including Temasek, Lightspeed, HarbourVest, Moore Strategic, Rimco and Alkeon invested in the debt round. In a move to retain and reward its employees, ShareChat has also announced bonus ESOP grants that will double ESOP holdings of all its current employees.

The fresh funding comes at a time when ShareChat was looking to raise $50 million in a down round to the tune of $1.5 billion. The firm was valued at $5 billion during its last fundraise in June 2022.

According to startup data intelligence platform Entrackr, ShareChat has raised around $1.8 billion from investors including Twitter (now X), Alkeon Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Tencent, among others.