[Funding] Meesho raises USD 300 Million from Softbank; valuation passes USD 2 Billion

Social commerce platform Meesho has announced a fundraise of $300 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund II. Existing investors Prosus Ventures, Facebook Inc., Shunwei Capital, Venture Highway and Knollwood Investment also participated in the round. With the inclusion of the fresh funds, the company's valuation is now $2.1 billion from around $700 million in 2019.

“We focus on expanding our vision from focusing on enabling aspiring women entrepreneurs to create Meesho as a single ecosystem that will enable all small businesses to succeed online,” said Vidit Aatrey, founder and CEO. “In the last one year, we have seen tremendous growth across small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to move their businesses online.”

About Meesho

The 5-year-old startup connects manufacturers with re-sellers. The re-sellers eventually sell these products to users through social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. It offers services such as payments and logistics to these re-sellers which enables ease of transactions and sales and has over 45 million customers. IIT Delhi batchmates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal founded the platform to simplify e-commerce for all small businesses in India.

The company helps build a platform that is pro-small businesses with policies. Its tools help even the informal seller to list and do business on Meesho. It empowers business owners to reach customers through multiple channels - the entrepreneur network, direct Meesho consumers, seller owned storefronts and partnerships. Meesho has grown multifold over the last few years and has provided a significant disruption in the e-commerce landscape.

From Softbank

“Globally, SoftBank has always been excited to back founders that provide unique solutions for the local market. By using the power of AI-ML, Meesho has created a platform for many small business owners; to sell to the next cohort of internet users,” said Munish Varma, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.

Sumer Juneja, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers said, “We have been closely tracking Meesho for the last 18 months. We have been impressed by their growth, daily engagement metrics; focus on unit economics and ability to create a strong team. We believe Meesho provides an efficient platform for SME suppliers and social resellers to onboard the e-commerce revolution in India and help them provide a personalized experience to consumers.”

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