Meesho, an Indian social commerce platform with 150M transacting users, raises $275M
Meesho, a leading e-commerce startup in India with about 150 million transacting users, has secured $275 million in a new funding round, the company disclosed in a securities filing.
The new funding is part of a larger financing round that is likely to include secondary transactions and balloon to over $500 million, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, which operates a social commerce platform, is being valued at about $3.9 billion in the round, the people said, requesting anonymity as deliberations are still ongoing. The startup, which has raised more than $1.2 billion to date, was valued at $4.9 billion when it last raised capital in September 2021.
There have been a few investors trying to get into Meesho, including WestBridge Capital and Norwest Venture Partners. Last year, WestBridge bought Meesho shares from Venture Highway, an early backer. The company counts Meta, Fidelity, Peak XV, Prosus Ventures, B Capital, and SoftBank among its backers.
Indian daily The Economic Times first reported the new funding.
Meesho is among the fastest growing e-commerce startups in the country. It had a run-rate GMV of more than $5 billion, Bernstein analysts estimated earlier this year.
The company has successfully captured the attention of value-conscious Indians with its attractively priced, diverse and unbranded assortment of goods. The startup's value proposition appears to be resonating well with low- to mid-income customers, who form the bulk of India's consuming class.
With 440,000 annual transacting sellers and over 120 million listings, Meesho boasts one of the widest assortment of goods across platforms, catering to the complex and heterogeneous preferences of the Indian market, Jefferies wrote in a recent note to its clients.
Traditional e-commerce platforms in India have primarily focused on high-income consumers and branded suppliers, resulting in average order values (AOVs) well above ₹1,000 (about $12). In contrast, Meesho's AOV is usually below ₹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 note read.
But the competition is heating up. Amazon India recently launched Bazaar, a "special store" featuring affordable and trendy fashion and lifestyle products.
