Google in talks to back social commerce startup Meesho
The investment is part of Meesho's recent financing round and values the Bengaluru-based company at $4.9 billion.
Meesho cofounders Sanjeev Barnwal (left) and Vidit Aatrey
Google is in talks to invest $50-$75 million in social commerce startup Meesho, multiple people in the know told ET, as the internet search giant continues to bet on promising Indian startups including hyperlocal delivery player Dunzo and InMobi's lock screen platform Glance.
The investment is part of Meesho's recent financing round and values the Bengaluru-based company at $4.9 billion.
In September, Meesho raised $570 million from US-based asset manager Fidelity and Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital. Google’s investment will take the round size to over $600 million.
ET was the first to report on September 24 that Meesho was in talks to close a new funding round which would onboard Fidelity and B Capital.
Google’s latest investment will take Meesho’s total financing to over $900 million so far this year, including $300 million that it raised from SoftBank Vision Fund II in April.
Google has made a slew of investments in India through Google Capital and most recently from its $10 billion India Digitization Fund which it announced in July last year. Its video sharing platform YouTube acquired video social commerce startup Simsim in July.
Meesho is expected to use the fresh capital to become a consumer-facing e-commerce entity that can compete effectively against dominant players Amazon India and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
Founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho began its journey as a reseller platform in the social commerce space, where its large base of women resellers sold products in the low-end, unbranded and long-tail ecommerce segment.
After SoftBank’s capital infusion, Meesho’s intentions to compete in the big league became clear and it has since then been aggressively spending on advertisements and reaching out to consumers directly.
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