Weeks after raising $100M, investors pump another $180M into hot Indian startup MoEngage

Just over a month after securing $100 million, MoEngage, the customer engagement platform used by brands in 75 countries, has received an additional $180 million in a Series F round. A significant portion of this latest funding – roughly $123 million – was allocated to provide liquidity to existing investors and employees through secondary transactions.

Of that secondary allocation, $15 million went to a employee tender, providing liquidity to 259 current and former employees. The remaining $57 million from the round represents primary capital that will be invested directly into the business. ChrysCapital and Dragon Funds led the round, with participation from Schroders Capital, TR Capital, and B Capital. Several early investors, including Eight Roads Ventures, Helion Venture Partners, Z47, and Ventureast, sold their shares in the secondary transactions.

The deal values MoEngage at over $900 million post-money, according to a source familiar with the deal. The same source indicated that the startup is on track to reach $100 million in annualized recurring revenue this year, although MoEngage has not publicly confirmed these figures.

Raviteja Dodda, co-founder and CEO of MoEngage, stated that the new capital will be used to further invest in its Merlin AI suite. The company intends to expand its use of AI agents to help marketing teams improve decision-making and overall efficiency. MoEngage is also expanding its focus to product and engineering teams by integrating its analytics and transactional messaging tools into a more comprehensive offering. The company anticipates that this move will increase average contract values and broaden its addressable market.

Dodda explained that customer engagement extends beyond marketing teams, encompassing product and engineering teams who also need to understand customer behavior and data.

MoEngage also intends to use a portion of the new funding to pursue strategic acquisitions, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. The company is targeting software companies that either complement its customer engagement platform or can accelerate its expansion into these key markets. Smaller AI teams are also acquisition targets to strengthen MoEngage's AI capabilities.

Headquartered in both Bengaluru and San Francisco, the 11-year-old startup already generates over 30% of its revenue from North America, approximately 25% from Europe and the Middle East, and the remaining 45% from India and Southeast Asia.

The structure of this funding round, with its heavy emphasis on secondary transactions, reflects MoEngage's current late-stage position. This approach allows early investors and employees to realize liquidity without forcing the company into an immediate public listing. It also provides MoEngage with the flexibility to determine its next steps based on its business priorities rather than being driven by investor exit timelines.

Dodda said that this structure gives the company the opportunity to avoid feeling rushed into an IPO. While the company still aims to go public within the next few years, the timing will depend on market conditions and other relevant factors. MoEngage anticipates achieving positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) this quarter and is targeting a compound annual growth rate of approximately 35% over the next three years.

Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of fintech firm Zeta, a MoEngage customer, noted that the platform’s analytics and messaging tools have been instrumental in improving onboarding, activation, and cross-selling across key customer touchpoints.

The secondary component of the funding round also allowed some early investors to fully exit their positions. Ventureast, which initially invested in MoEngage in 2018, is one such example. Vinay Rao, a partner at Ventureast, told TechCrunch that the firm realized a roughly 10x return on its investment on a blended basis.

Rao also pointed out that MoEngage has maintained an India-based cost structure, unlike many global customer engagement companies that operate with cost structures geared toward the U.S. market. He believes this has enabled MoEngage to compete more effectively in the U.S. while simultaneously scaling its business.

To date, MoEngage has raised approximately $307 million in primary funding. Avendus served as the advisor to MoEngage for this transaction.