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Meesho turns unicorn, Swiggy raises mega round


Good morning!

What’s a better way to celebrate the arrival of the new fiscal than with big-ticket funding deals?

India now has a new unicorn as Meesho, a social commerce platform, raised $300 million in a new round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The company’s valuation is now at $2.1 billion. With this funding, the startup plans to build a single digital ecosystem for 100 million small businesses. 

meesho

(L-R): Sanjeev Barnwal and Vidit Aatrey, Co-founders, Meesho

This is the fourth Indian startup to enter the coveted billion-dollar club this year, following Digit Insurance, Innovaccer, and Five Star Business.

Over the years, Meesho has been targeting individual businesses owned and run by women entrepreneurs and homepreneurs who became successful and financially independent. The startup has enabled over 13 million individual entrepreneurs to start their own online business with no investment.

Swiggy has raised $800 million in a round led by Falcon Edge, Amansa Capital, Think Investments, Carmignac, and Goldman Sachs. A source has confirmed to YS that with this funding, the company’s valuation has now touched $5 billion.

Swiggy

Image Source: Shutterstock

This mega fund raise was after the startup launched Genie and Instamart that helped Swiggy complete 100 million orders till October 2020 after the coronavirus-induced lockdown led to a drop in orders. 

Last year, it also introduced Health Hub, a health food discovery feature, which offers around 90,000 healthy dishes, as consumers are becoming more health-conscious. 


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Before you go, stay inspired with… 

Vidit Aatrey

Vidit Aatrey, Founder and CEO, Meesho

“We wanted to give every small business in India their own online store…Today, millions of users are using Meesho to sell their products across several categories.”

Vidit Aatrey, CEO, Meesho


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