DealShare, a Jaipur based social commerce startup, owned and operated by Merabo Labs Pvt Ltd, has joined the coveted unicorn club after raising almost $130 million (Rs 968.67 crore) as a part of its Series E funding round from Tiger Global Management, Alpha Wave Global (managed by Falcon Edge Capital) and others, according to the company’s filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
Unicorns are private companies with over $1 billion valuation. DealShare becomes the fourth unicorn of 2022, joining the likes of Fractal Analytics, Darwinbox and LEAD. The company also becomes the 48th unicorn since January last year.
According to VCCircle estimates, the fundraise values DealShare at $1.63 billion.
As a part of the transaction, the company allotted 42,983 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) to investors for an issue price of Rs 2,25,363 each for consideration in cash.
The funding round was led by Tiger Global Management’s affiliate Internet Fund VII Pte Ltd, which invested $39 million along with Alpha Wave Ventures LP investing $31 million. Kora Investments also invested $27.4 million.
According to the regulatory filing, the company will be using the funds for its growth and expansion. News website Entrackr first reported the development.
An email sent to DealShare did not elicit an immediate response.
In July last year, the company had raised $144 million as a part of its Series D funding round from Tiger Global, WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation, along with partners of DST Global, Matrix partners and Alteria Capital. The company was valued at $455 million then.
The company during the fundraise in July last year had said that it aims to have a presence in as many as 100 cities. DealShare had also announced that it will be increasing the number of warehouses from 20 in five states to 200 across 10 states by end of 2021.
Founded in 2018 by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora and Rajat Shikhar, DealShare offers grocery, essentials and home care products. The company targets middle- and lower-income groups through a community group buying model. The platform enables users in tier 2 and lower cities to purchase products at competitive prices through a network of micro-entrepreneurs in their community in local languages. As of July 2021, the company had claimed to have over 1,000 micro-entrepreneurs who place the group orders and help in last mile delivery.
DealShare in April 2021, had also raised $9.2 million in veture debt from Alteria Capital, a month after the platform had raised Rs 25 crore from another venture debt provider InnoVen Capital. In December 2020, the company had raised $21 million in a round led by private equity firm Westbridge Capital.
DealShare becomes the second social commerce unicorn in India after Meesho. Meesho, operated by FashNear Technologies Pvt Ltd, had joined the unicorn club in April last year after it raised $300 million led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which had then valued the company at $2.1 billion. The company is now valued at $4.9 billion. The company is also reportedly in talks with Google to raise funds.