Ecommerce Platform Meolaa Bags Funding To Expand Operations

SUMMARY

Meolaa said it would use the funds to hire key leadership team members across primary functions

The ecommerce platform also plans to grow its headcount to 35 members in the next quarter

The Bengaluru-based startup offers a platform for brands to sell their products and aims to bridge the gap between sustainability and lifestyle

Ecommerce platform Meolaa on Tuesday (April 18) said it has raised funding in a seed round led by Dr. Ranjan Pai of Manipal Education and Medical Group. However, it didn’t disclose the funding amount.

The startup said it would use the fresh funds to expand its operations and reach new customers. Meolaa aims to use the funds to hire key leadership team members across primary functions, including category, marketing, logistics & customer support, and product & engineering.

It also plans to grow its headcount to 35 members in the next quarter.

Founded in 2022 by Ishita Sawant, the Bengaluru-based startup offers a platform for brands to sell their products and aims to bridge the gap between sustainability and lifestyle.

Meolaa operates as a D2C sales platform that helps brands and sellers self-manage their business and interact with customers directly. The platform claims to have onboarded over 750 brands and over 50,000 products across 6 major verticals. It had a team of 20 members and a user base of 3 Lakh as of March 2023.

Earlier, the ecommerce startup bagged pre-seed funding from Dale Vaz, who recently stepped down from the position of CTO of Swiggy, Sixth Sense Ventures founder and CEO Nikhil Vora, Lighthouse Funds founder Sachin Bhartiya, among others.

Commenting on the fundraise, Meolaa founder and CEO Sawant said, “His (Pai’s) extensive experience in investing in and advising successful startups will be a tremendous asset to us as we look to scale our business and build a strong leadership team. Meolaa is committed to providing consumers with an innovative, personalized, and sustainable shopping experience, and we believe that Dr. Pai’s support will help us achieve our goals.”

Helped by rising internet and smartphone penetration, the ecommerce industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the country over the last few years. The pandemic provided a further boost to the industry. India’s ecommerce industry is expected to be a $400 Bn opportunity by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 19% between 2022 to 2030.

While Walmart-owned Flipkart, Amazon, and Meesho are among the dominant ecommerce players in the country, the government launched the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) last year to democratise ecommerce in the country.

Recently, PhonePe launched a consumer-centric shopping app Pincode, built on the ONDC platform, to grab a share in the fast-growing ecommerce market. Meanwhile, Axis Bank also plans to launch a grocery delivery ecommerce platform on the ONDC.