Analysis: Meesho raises a $570m round

India-based online reselling platform Meesho raised a $570m in funding round, featuring social network operator Facebook, telecoms group SoftBank and internet group Prosus, at a $4.9bn valuation. The round was co-led by investment and financial services group Fidelity and investment firm B Capital Group, featuring Footpath Ventures and Trifecta Capital within the syndicate as well.  SoftBank participated through its Vision Fund 2, while Prosus, which was formed by media and e-commerce group Naspers, via its corporate venturing unit, Prosus Ventures.

Founded in 2015, Meesho has developed and runs an e-commerce platform that lets small businesses and entrepreneurs sell products to consumers through social media. The platform handles the administrative side of selling through services including supply chain management, payment processing and logistics. Meesho claims to have helped more than 15 million entrepreneurs start their own online businesses in India.

Meesho is part of the broader e-commerce space, which has seen much interest from corporate venture investors over the past decade, as the GCV Analytics bar chart below shows. The number of corporate-backed rounds in this space has remained stable at 50 or above per year over a good part of the decade, with occasional peaks in total estimated dollars. However, this year so far has been a breakout, with 92 such rounds by the end of September, worth an estimated total of $8.46bn. This implies that there is likely an upward pressure in valuations along with much deal making at the same time. The covid-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated the development of the e-commerce sector.