Jaipur-based social commerce startup
on Thursday said it raised an additional $45 million as part of its ongoing Series E funding round from a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).To date, DealShare has raised a total of $393 million in funding, valued at $1.6 billion.
The unicorn will use the funds from its Series E round to power product innovation and technology to support its rapid growth and expanding customer base.
Founded by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, and Rajat Shikhar in 2018, the rapidly growing social commerce company caters to the 500 million new-to-internet and value-seeking users.
It offers high-quality, low-priced essentials coupled with a gamified, fun-filled, and virality-driven shopping experience, making it easy for first-time internet users to experience online shopping.
Commenting on the fundraising, Vineet Rao, Co-founder and CEO, DealShare, said, “We are thrilled to welcome ADIA as a shareholder as part of our next phase of growth. The support we have been receiving from the investor community is very encouraging. It is a testimony of the confidence in DealShare’s vision, business model, and an acknowledgement of the growth we have been exhibiting. In a span of just three years, we have scaled to over 10 million customers and over 100 cities across 10 states.”
He added, "We aim to democratise online shopping for Bharat users... This will be supported by building our teams across the country and hiring new tech talent at all levels.”
In January 2022, DealShare had raised $165 million in the first close of its Series E fundraise. The company welcomed Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital, Unilever Ventures, and continued commitments from its existing commitments investors, Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global (Falcon Edge).
Sharing DealShare's growth plans, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer Sourjyendu Medda said, “We are in touching distance of hitting $1 billion of gross revenue run rate with just three years in operation. We are likely to hit $3 billion of gross revenue run rate in the next 12 months. We will be tripling our geographical presence, investing heavily in acquiring top-notch tech talent, and building world-class supply chain infrastructure to aid this growth, along with the continued focus on capital efficiency and path to profitability. We are targeting operational profitability by the end of this year.”
Hamad Shahwan Al Dhaheri, Executive Director, Private Equities Department at ADIA, said, “India’s ecommerce ecosystem is developing rapidly, and DealShare is addressing an underserved and growing segment within it. This investment aligns with our approach of backing innovative businesses with differentiated business models to execute on their growth strategies.”
Edited by Suman Singh