E-commerce startup DealShare raises $45 million from ADIA
Sourjyendu Medda, co-founder and chief business officer, said DealShare is on track to hit $1 billion of gross revenue run rate with just three years in operations, and is likely to hit $3 billion of gross revenue run rate in the next 12 months.
Social e-commerce start-up DealShare on Monday announced a $45-million fundraise as part of its Series E funding round from a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Abu Dhabi government.
The fresh funding from ADIA comes just two weeks after the start-up raised $165 million in its Series E round led by Dragoneer Investments Group, Kora Capital and others last month. DealShare was valued at above $1 billion in that round, marking its entry into the unicorn club.
Its total funding to date stands at $393 million. The company will use the funds from its Series E funding round to fuel product innovation and technology.
Founded by Vineet Rao, Sourjyendu Medda, Sankar Bora, and Rajat Shikhar in 2018, DealShare operates a social commerce platform of curated products sourced from multiple suppliers, including large manufacturers, local brands, and distributors at highly competitive prices. It lists products across categories like groceries, FMCG, perishable goods, personal care, fashion, and others.
DealShare’s unique selling proposition is its focus on low-priced essentials sourced from local or small-scale brands rather than big manufacturers, coupled with a gamified user interface, making the shopping experience easier, especially for first-time internet users.
Currently, it caters to about four lakh orders daily. Since its inception, the company’s focus has been to procure products from local manufacturers and provide them with a platform to digitise their business and scale their local brands. At present, DealShare has partnered with over 1,000 local and regional brands.
“We are thrilled to welcome ADIA as a shareholder as part of our next phase of growth. In a span of just three years, we have scaled to over 10 million customers and over 100 cities across 10 states. We will be utilising the funds from our Series E round to strengthen our customer base and technology capabilities,” Vineet Rao, co-founder & CEO of DealShare, said in a statement.
Sourjyendu Medda, co-founder and chief business officer, said DealShare is on track to hit $1 billion of gross revenue run rate with just three years in operations, and is likely to hit $3 billion of gross revenue run rate in the next 12 months.
“We will be tripling our geographical presence, investing heavily on acquiring top-notch tech talent, and building world class supply chain infrastructure to aid this growth along with continued focus on capital efficiency and path to profitability. We are targeting operational profitability by the end of this year,” added Medda.