Media and e-commerce group Naspers confirmed today it has led a $125m funding round for India-based social commerce marketplace Meesho that included social media operator Facebook.
Growth equity firm SAIF Partners, venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Capital, RPS Ventures and Venture Highway also contributed to the round along with private investor Arun Sarin. It lifted the company’s overall funding to about $190m.
The Economic Times reported in June this year that Meesho had entered discussions with Naspers over a $120m round that was expected to value it at between $600m and $650m.
Meesho has built an online platform where businesses can link up with a network of 2 million independent resellers who can distribute their products to their social circle. It has resellers present in some 700 Indian towns and cities and will use the cash to expand further into rural areas.
Facebook invested a reported $25m through the round in June. Shunwei Capital, RPS Ventures, Sequoia India, SAIF Partners and Venture Highway had joined DS Partners and Y Combinator in the company’s $50m series C round in November 2018, investing at a $200m to $250m valuation.
Ashutosh Sharma, head of India Investments for Naspers’ corporate venturing unit Naspers Ventures, said: “Globally, Naspers identifies big areas of consumer spend that have not yet been significantly disrupted by technology and India e-commerce certainly fits the bill.
“We were attracted to Meesho because the team have built a uniquely Indian solution that utilises the reach and scale the internet enables, and harnesses and makes it available for small sellers to better serve customers no matter where they live, for the benefit of all.
“The phenomenal growth they are already experiencing shows that Meesho has hit a sweet spot in the market and is well-poised to serve the next 500 million online shoppers in the country.”
