Social Commerce Platform DealShare raises $45 million led by ADIA & Others
DealShare, a social commerce platform, has raised $45 million from an Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) wholly owned subsidiary as part of a bigger fundraising round.
Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital, Unilever Ventures, and Alpha Wave Global are among the other investors in the $210 million round, which was first reported on January 28.
DealShare is currently worth more than $1.7 billion.
DealShare, which was founded in 2018 by Rajat Shikhar, Sankar Bora, Sourjyendu Medda, and Vineet Rao, provides daily necessities to the middle-income demographic through a community group buying strategy. The funds will be used to improve technology, product innovation, and hiring.
“We will be utilizing the funds from our Series E round to strengthen our customer base and technology capabilities,” Rao said in a statement.
“We aim to democratize online shopping for Bharat users with unmatched service and experience by developing innovative products and tech solutions. This will be supported by building our teams across the country and hiring new tech talent at all levels.”
For demand gathering, the ecommerce company uses the consumer-led virality paradigm of social commerce. This differs from Meesho's reseller-led business, which is primarily focused on the garment industry. Meesho, like Amazon and Flipkart, is increasingly aiming to sell directly to consumers.
“I think we had a very different thesis to social commerce,” Medda told. “We always believed social commerce will only work if it is deployed in the grocery space. We need virality among mass customers for social commerce to work. Only when the deals are meaningful to a bigger population will this happen."
According to Medda, the company has been able to keep fulfilment costs – warehousing and last mile delivery — to 5-6 percent of the order cost, compared to 20 percent or more for traditional e-commerce.
“The choices in electronics and fashion are large for virality to be created,” he said. “While everyone (other social commerce players) is getting into direct commerce we are the only sizable social commerce player in the country.”
He also stated that the cost of acquiring a customer is $1, as opposed to the industry average of $10.
“These big differentiators we will continue to retain,” he said. “We are possibly the fastest growing ecommerce company. We are already close to a $1 billion revenue run rate now. At the same time, we burn very little. We are very close to operational profitability.”
The company has raised $393 million in total, including the most recent round, to compete in a crowded grocery essentials market in non-metro locations. DealShare's exclusive financial advisor on the deal was Avendus Capital.
Tiger Global, Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital, Unilever Ventures, and Alpha Wave Global are among the other investors in the $210 million round, which was first reported on January 28.
DealShare is currently worth more than $1.7 billion.
DealShare, which was founded in 2018 by Rajat Shikhar, Sankar Bora, Sourjyendu Medda, and Vineet Rao, provides daily necessities to the middle-income demographic through a community group buying strategy. The funds will be used to improve technology, product innovation, and hiring.
“We will be utilizing the funds from our Series E round to strengthen our customer base and technology capabilities,” Rao said in a statement.
“We aim to democratize online shopping for Bharat users with unmatched service and experience by developing innovative products and tech solutions. This will be supported by building our teams across the country and hiring new tech talent at all levels.”
For demand gathering, the ecommerce company uses the consumer-led virality paradigm of social commerce. This differs from Meesho's reseller-led business, which is primarily focused on the garment industry. Meesho, like Amazon and Flipkart, is increasingly aiming to sell directly to consumers.
“I think we had a very different thesis to social commerce,” Medda told. “We always believed social commerce will only work if it is deployed in the grocery space. We need virality among mass customers for social commerce to work. Only when the deals are meaningful to a bigger population will this happen."
According to Medda, the company has been able to keep fulfilment costs – warehousing and last mile delivery — to 5-6 percent of the order cost, compared to 20 percent or more for traditional e-commerce.
“The choices in electronics and fashion are large for virality to be created,” he said. “While everyone (other social commerce players) is getting into direct commerce we are the only sizable social commerce player in the country.”
He also stated that the cost of acquiring a customer is $1, as opposed to the industry average of $10.
“These big differentiators we will continue to retain,” he said. “We are possibly the fastest growing ecommerce company. We are already close to a $1 billion revenue run rate now. At the same time, we burn very little. We are very close to operational profitability.”
The company has raised $393 million in total, including the most recent round, to compete in a crowded grocery essentials market in non-metro locations. DealShare's exclusive financial advisor on the deal was Avendus Capital.
