In a sign of the growing competitiveness of the South Asian market, Indian social commerce firm, Dealshare disclosed on Thursday it was able to receive investments worth $144 million in new rounds of financing with high ambitions of not only entering the largely untapped Indian market but also of making inroads in other countries.
Indian E-Commerce Firm, Dealshare Raises $144 Million, Eyeing International Expansion
The new financing round, a Series D, was led by Tiger Global and valued the Indian startup at $455 million (post-money), up from the pre-money valuation of $50 million in Series C. WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation (a venture fund backed by ADQ, and managed by Falcon Edge Capital), Z3Partners, Partners of DST Global and Alteria Capital also participated in the new round, third in the last seven months and which brings the startup’s to-date raise to $183 million.
Dealshare, which had its humble beginnings as an e-commerce platform operating in Whatsapp, is attempting to reach the Indian populace residing in smaller Indian towns and cities, where other market giants such as Amazon and Flipkart do not operate. The startup says customers on their platform buy curated items in groups, which makes purchases “highly competitive” and affordable. The average cart size on DealShare is between $16 to $19, the startup said.
The community purchasing, they said, enables an “ultra-low-cost delivery mechanism” and ensures “best-in-class unit economics.” DealShare has amassed over 1000+ microentrepreneur partners who help it promote the community group buying model in the country.
“We plan to strengthen our network further and increase it to 5,000+ by this year-end. Along with this, we are planning to fuel the growth by building state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure-related assets, which will ensure efficiency,” said Sankar Bora, founder, and COO of DealShare.
Grifin Schroeder, a partner at Tiger Global, said in a statement,
“We are excited to partner with DealShare as they grow the Indian E-commerce market. DealShare’s unique approach combines discovery-led social sharing, group buying, and a gamified shopping experience with a simple consumer interface. They are well-positioned to power the next wave of Indian e-commerce growth,”
DealShare expects to break even in the next 12 months and will also expand to international markets, said Navroz Udwadia, co-founder and chief executive of Falcon Edge Capital. The expansion will start with the UAE, he added.