According to the company’s filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, DealShare, a Jaipur-based social commerce startup owned and operated by Merabo Labs Pvt Ltd, has joined the coveted unicorn club after raising nearly $130 million (Rs 968.67 crore) in its Series E funding round from Tiger Global Management, Alpha Wave Global (managed by Falcon Edge Capital), and others (MCA).
Unicorns are private enterprises with a market capitalization of more than $1 billion. DealShare joins the ranks of Fractal Analytics, Darwinbox, and LEAD as the fourth unicorn of 2022. Since January of last year, the company has become the 48th unicorn.
DealShare is valued at $1.63 billion, according to an estimate. News platform Entrackr first reported the update .
The company issued 42,983 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) to investors for a cash consideration of Rs 2,25,363 each as part of the deal.
Tiger Global Management’s affiliate Internet Fund VII Pte Ltd led the round with a $39 million investment, followed by Alpha Wave Ventures LP with a $31 million investment. Kora Investments put up $27.4 million as well.
The cash will be used for the company’s growth and expansion, according to the regulatory filing.
Tiger Global, WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation, DST Global Partners, Matrix Partners, and Alteria Capital contributed $144 million to the company’s Series D fundraising round in July of last year. The brand was valued at $455 million then.
During a fundraise in July of last year, the company stated that it hoped to have a presence in as many as 100 locations. DealShare also said that by the end of 2021, it will be growing from 20 warehouses in five states to 200 across ten states.
DealShare is a groceries, necessities, and home care marketplace founded in 2018 by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, and Rajat Shikhar. The company uses a community group buying approach to target middle- and lower-income communities. Users in tier 2 and lower cities can utilise the site to buy products at reasonable costs from a local network of micro-entrepreneurs in their own language.
The company claimed to have over 1,000 micro-entrepreneurs who place group orders and assist with last-mile delivery as of July 2021.
DealShare raised $9.2 million in venture debt from Alteria Capital in April 2021, just a month after raising Rs 25 crore from another venture debt provider, InnoVen Capital. The startup raised $21 million in a round headed by private equity firm Westbridge Capital in December 2020.
After Meesho, DealShare has become India’s second social commerce unicorn. Meesho, which is owned by FashNear Technologies Pvt Ltd, became a unicorn in April of last year after raising $300 million from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which valued the firm at $2.1 billion at the time.
