Social Commerce Startup Meesho To Raise Funds From Fidelity, Others

Social commerce startup Meesho is reportedly in talks to raise a fresh round of funding worth between $550 Mn to $600 Mn at a valuation close to $5 Bn. According to a media report, the new round of investment will be led by US-based Fidelity. 

People aware of the investment told ET that Fidelity may pump in around $100 Mn, whereas B Capital along with other investors including SoftBank, Prosus Ventures will infuse the remaining amount. 

Founded by IIT-Delhi graduates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in 2015, Meesho became the first social commerce unicorn in April this year. The startup was among the five other Indian startups that achieved unicorn status.  Facebook-backed Meesho raised $300 Mn in a funding round led by SoftBank, along with participation from Prosus Ventures, Facebook, Shunwei Capital, Venture Highway and Knollwood Investment at $2.1 Bn valuation. 

Meesho claims to have over 13 Mn individual entrepreneurs on its platform and is catering to 45 Mn customers. To date, Meesho has delivered orders from more than 100K registered suppliers to over 26K pin codes across 4,800 cities, generating over INR 500 Cr ($68 Mn at current conversion rate) in income for individual entrepreneurs.

The startup is backed by marquee investors such as Elevation Capital, Sequoia, Shunwei Capital, SoftBank, and Venture Highway, among others. 

The development comes on the heels of Meesho filing criminal complaints against fraudulent users in Kolkata and Bengaluru. The startup has filed multiple criminal complaints against fraudulent users who have sent unconsented orders to its customers. The startup said it has filed complaints in both Kolkata and Bengaluru.

Meesho’s move to file criminal complaints came days after the startup was served a legal notice from a legal firm – BananaIP Counsels for sending a fraudulent parcel.  Legal notices were also sent to Shadowfax, the logistics partner and Manish Kumar Sharma, the sender of the parcel. Later, Meesho refunded the amount of the parcel that was sent to the legal firm’s managing partner. 

The startup pits against the likes of Simsim, Dealshare, Bulbul, Glowroad among others. In July this year, Google’s video-streaming platform Youtube acquired Simsim. 

In the same month, Dealshare also closed $144 Mn led by Tiger Global at a post-money valuation of $455 million. The financial round was also backed by a slew of other investors, including WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation, Z3 Partners, DST Global, Matrix Partners India and Alteria Capital.

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