Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ( ADIA) has put its money in an Indian social commerce startup. The amount that DealShare got would help it expand globally.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ( ADIA) has invested $45 million in DealShare, bringing the total value of the Jaipur-based social commerce startup’s Series E financing round to $210 million. The investment values DealShare at $1.7 billion and brings the company’s total funding to $393 million.
DealShare, whose backers include Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Global, operates a so-called social commerce firm that serves clients in more than 100 Indian villages and towns where Amazon has made little to no inroads.
DealShare is “gamifying and socialising the parts of purchasing” to reach the masses, according to Rajat Shikhar, the startup’s co-founder and chief product officer.
According to him, these techniques include motivating customers to buy in groups and invite their friends, as well as “bargaining” on prices.
“We give very high engagement on the platform because we serve people who are not very tech-savvy and have traditionally not done online transactions,” he explained.
He added, DealShare has been able to significantly cut its customer acquisition and order fulfilment expenses. For this, the startup has incentivized users to refer their friends to the site. Customers on the site can also haggle rates with the system, mimicking a common practise in actual stores.
To make its service more affordable to clients, the business collaborates with local brands and manages its own ecosystem of in-house private labels, he said.
DealShare, which has been in business for three years, handles over 400,000 orders each day and is “on the verge of hitting $1 billion in gross revenue run rate.”
Vineet Rao, co-founder and CEO of DealShare, stated, “By producing novel products and technological solutions, we hope to democratise internet shopping for Bharat users by providing unrivalled service and experience. This will be aided by the expansion of our teams across the country and the hiring of additional tech talent at all levels,”
DealShare began its adventure on the day Walmart purchased Flipkart. The company began as an e-commerce platform on WhatsApp, offering hundreds of products to customers.
DealShare also plans to grow into many overseas countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain, according to the company.
Co-founder and chief business officer Sourjyendu Medda, stated, “We are expected to hit $3B of gross revenue run rate in the next 12 months.”
