Meesho, a number one e-commerce startup in India with about 150 million transacting customers, has secured $275 million in a brand new funding spherical, the corporate disclosed in a securities submitting.
The new funding is a component of a bigger financing spherical that’s prone to embrace secondary transactions and balloon to over $500 million, folks accustomed to the matter informed TechCrunch.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, which operates a social commerce platform, is being valued at about $3.9 billion within the spherical, the folks stated, requesting anonymity as deliberations are nonetheless ongoing. The startup, which has raised greater than $1.2 billion to this point, was valued at $4.9 billion when it final raised capital in September 2021.
There have been just a few buyers attempting to get into Meesho, together with WestBridge Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. WestBridge final yr purchased Meesho shares from Venture Highway, an early-backer. The firm counts Meta, Fidelity, Peak XV, Prosus Ventures, B Capital, and SoftBank amongst its backers.
Indian day by day The Economic Times first reported the brand new funding.
Meesho is among the many quickest rising e-commerce startups within the nation. It had run-rate GMV of greater than $5 billion, Bernstein analysts estimated earlier this yr.
Meesho has efficiently captured the eye of value-conscious Indians with its attractively priced, numerous and unbranded assortment of products. The startup’s worth proposition seems to be resonating effectively with low- to mid-income prospects, who type the majority of India’s consuming class.
With 440,000 annual transacting sellers and over 120 million listings, Meesho boasts one of many widest assortment of products throughout platforms, catering to the complicated and heterogeneous preferences of the Indian market, Jefferies wrote in a current word to its shoppers.
Traditional e-commerce platforms in India have primarily targeted on high-income customers and branded suppliers, leading to common order values (AOVs) effectively above ₹1,000 (about $12). In distinction, Meesho’s AOV is often beneath ₹350.
“Meesho’s algorithm prioritises listings by taking into account multiple factors including seller rating, product rating, customer reviews, customers’ past shopping behaviour, popularity of the product, etc. Hence, pricing also influences the discoverability of a product listing on the marketplace,” Jefferies analysts wrote.
“Meesho’s fulfilment charges are much lower than peers, which allows the platform to offer lower prices to customer vs. competition. In order to drive costs lower, Meesho follows an asset-light model and outsources the delivery. Meesho has nearly half the share of India’s annual 3PL e-logistics shipment,” the Jefferies word learn.
But the competitors is heating up. Amazon India not too long ago launched Bazaar, a “special store” that includes inexpensive and stylish trend and way of life merchandise.
