BENGALURU: Social buying platform DealShare said it has raised $11 million (Rs 78 crore) in two investment rounds led by Matrix Partners and Falcon Edge, along with participation from the partners of DST Global and Omidyar Network.The company, whose model mirrors that of China’s Pinduoduo, focuses on group buying of grocery and home merchandise targeted at middle and lower income consumers in smaller cities and towns.
DealShare CEO Vineet Rao said that because of the lack of tools for collective buying, Indian consumers living in tier 2 and smaller cities have long been missing out on the negotiating ability they possess owing to the huge population. “DealShare solves this unique problem through its app. The latest funding will also give us the impetus to strengthen our assetlight, low-cost and highly efficient logistics model,” he said.
Several other companies in the social commerce segment are quickly gaining ground and raising investments to shore up their presence. WMall is raising $10 million from Chiratae Venture Partners and existing investor SAIF Partners, and Mall91 is closing in on an $8 million round led by GoVentures, the investment arm of Go-Jek, according to people aware of the matter said.
The Jaipur-based company, founded by Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, Rishav Dev and Rajat Shikhar, plans to use the capital for geographic expansion as well as developing artificial intelligence based solutions and growing an indigenous logistics network. According to the company, it is growing 50% month-on-month and services more than 15,000 orders per day.
Tarun Davda, MD, Matrix India, said: “It is still day zero for ecommerce in India. The DealShare team, with its deep understanding of consumer buying behaviour and a unique model, caters to the largest chunk of consumers in India, the middle and lower income households.”
No comments:
Post a Comment