Meesho raises $570 mn, valuation rises to $4.9 bn
Aims to reach 100-mn monthly transacting users by December ‘22
Social e-commerce start-up Meesho on Thursday said it has raised $570 million, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and B Capital Group, a venture capital firm co-founded by Facebook Co-founder Eduardo Luiz Saverin. Existing investors Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures), Softbank Vision Fund 2, and Facebook also participated in this round. Other new investors include Footpath Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Good Capital, and others. Following the fund-raise, the company’s valuation more than doubled to $4.9 billion in less than five months.
In April this year, Meesho became the latest startup to enter the hallowed unicorn club after raising $300 million in a fresh funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2, valuing the firm at $2.1 billion.
Meesho aims to reach 100 million monthly transacting users by December 2022. It expects to utilise the fresh round of funding to grow its technology and product talent 2.5x, increase its roster to over 50 million products, and become the platform of choice for customers, entrepreneurs, and sellers from all corners of India.
Meesho is also looking to expand its groceries and fast-moving consumer goods offerings with Farmiso (Meesho Grocery), its community group buying (CGB) business to over 200 cities. By making online grocery shopping affordable for first-time users across India’s tier II markets, the company is enabling them to shop from a wide selection of groceries at ticket sizes as low as $1-2.
“The next wave of growth in India’s digital consumerism will undoubtedly come from Bharat. We’ve always focused our efforts on enabling entrepreneurs from tier Ii-plus markets to expand their business and, in turn, uplift small economic pockets in the country,” said Vidit Aatrey, founder and chief executive officer, Meesho, adding, “The new round brings us a step closer to realising our mission to democratise internet commerce for all, increase regional participation in the digital economy, and add momentum to local businesses.”
India’s unorganised retail sector, estimated to be $792 billion, is set for the next wave of growth, with digitisation enabling rapid expansion and greater reach across the country. With a vision to enable 100 million small and mediumsized businesses, including individual entrepreneurs, to succeed online, Meesho is democratising internet commerce by bringing a range of products and new customers online. What started as a reseller-focused platform
enabling millions to sell online, has now become a single ecosystem connecting sellers to consumers and entrepreneurs.
In just five months since the last round of funding, Meesho recorded 2.5x growth in order volume and added a range of new product categories to its roster, including sports and fitness, pet supplies, and automotive accessories. The company intends to go deeper into India’s underserved markets, becoming the preferred e-commerce destination for the next billion users in the country.
We have evaluated e-commerce opportunities across emerging markets and are excited about Meesho’s focus on strong unit economics and a consumer-first approach,” said Kabir Narang, founding general partner at B Capital Group.
A testament to our skyrocketing pace of growth - our monthly transacting users steadily grew 2.8x, while monthly orders rose 2.5x since our last fund-raise,” said Aatrey in a tweet thread on Thursday morning.
Facebook had invested around $25 million in Meesho in 2019, which provides resellers, who largely comprise housewives and small businesses, with a platform to sell their products across social networks like Whatsapp and Facebook.