Bangalore-based social commerce startup Meesho has raised $50 million in a Series C funding round. The startup that helps resellers and brands build businesses using social media said it will use the fresh funds on product innovation, increase technology team and for expanding into more categories and markets.
The company informed that C funding round was lead by Shunwei Capital, DST Partners and RPS Ventures. Existing investors – Sequoia India, SAIF Partners, Venture Highway and Y Combinator also invested in this round.
The startup that currently has about 350 employees was founded by IIT-Delhi alumni Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in 2015.
Meesho business is based on an alternate distribution channel model in which it takes the help of housewives, young mothers, aspiring entrepreneurs, students, teachers promote the online businesses using WhatsApp, Facebook and other social media channels.
“We have witnessed 10x growth over the last 6 months and have made significant progress in improving the experience of our sellers and consumers,” said Aatrey. “With this new round of funding and the strong team we’ve built at Meesho, we are confident we will continue to create value for our resellers and suppliers, and reach end consumers not served well by traditional e-commerce models.”
“Social commerce is finally enabling everyone – women and men across all age groups to become micro-entrepreneurs. Women can now start their businesses online without any investment. Sequoia India is excited to lead the investment in Meesho, a company that in many ways has enabled tens of thousands of women to take control of their own destiny by starting their own businesses and earning an independent income,” said Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors.
“We first invested in Meesho a little over a year back, and have been really impressed by the pace at which the company has grown. This has been made possible by the quality of the leadership team that Vidit has built, and his relentless focus on customer experience. We are thrilled to continue backing them, and welcome all the new investors to this partnership,” said Mukul Arora, Managing Director, SAIF Partners.
