DealShare, a social commerce startup and e-tailer, has raised Rs 70 crore ($9.2 million) from venture debt provider Alteria Capital.
“We believe DealShare is poised to play a pivotal role in bringing e-commerce to the masses in India to serve their recurring shopping needs.
The company also empowers regional brands to participate in the e-commerce revolution and connect directly to the end consumer,” said Ankit Agarwal, partner at Alteria Capital.
DealShare had last month raised Rs 25 crore from another venture debt provider InnoVen Capital. The development came after grocery-focused DealShare raised $21 million in a round led by private equity firm Westbridge Capital in December 2020.
DealShare, operated by Merabo Labs Pvt Ltd, was founded by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, Rishav Dev and Rajat Shikhar.
The company sources products directly from local manufacturers and suppliers. Every item on its platform is offered at a discount. Its services are targeted at middle and lower-income people in smaller cities and towns.
Alteria Capital was founded in 2017 by Vinod Murali and Ajay Hattangdi, who were top executives at InnoVen. Alteria Capital has made at least 25 investments in startups such as Dunzo, Lendingkart and Faasos parent Rebel Foods.
Earlier this year, it invested Rs 90 crore (about $12.3 million) in digital payments firm BharatPe.
Venture debt has become an integral part of a startup’s funding cycle in India over the past couple of years as it rarely involves stake dilution by founders and provides companies with more time to grow.
The social commerce space has recorded several transactions in the last couple of years.
For instance, Fashnear Technologies, which runs social ecommerce platform Meesho, raised $300 million in a growth funding round early this month, valuing the company at $2.1 billion. The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
The social commerce space faces competition from influencer-led ecommerce platforms such as Bulbulshop as well as from content-led commerce models like short video app Trell.