Matrix, Falcon Edge lead $11 mn funding round in social commerce platform DealShare

Jaipur based Merabo Labs, owner of social commerce platform DealShare, has raised $11 million in seed and Series A rounds led by venture capital firm Matrix Partners India and hedge fund Falcon Edge.

Impact investor Omidyar Network participated in the round along with several angel investors, whose identities were not disclosed. 

Founded in 2018, DealShare offers grocery and home care products to middle and lower income consumers in Tier II and III towns. Merabo will use the capital raised in this round to expand into new markets, develop artificial intelligence based solutions and create an indigenous logistics network, according to a statement.

“We plan to strengthen and leverage the local economy and entrepreneurs through our flagship programs such as DealShare Dost (last-mile supply chain) and DealShare Dukaan (O2O store model),” DealShare founder and CEO Vineet Rao said.

Rao, a former Microsoft executive, founded the startup with Sourjyendu Medda, former sales head at Metro Cash and Carry, Sankar Bora, co-founder of Flipkart-owned Myntra, Rishav Dev, a former Grofers executive, and Rajat Shikhar, former chief product officer at Foodpanda. 

The startup claims over 300,000 customers on its platform with a network spread across major cities in Rajasthan and Gujarat. It plans to launch operations in Maharashtra by the end of this month. It claims to process more than 15,000 orders per day.

The social commerce segment is populated by a number of players across multiple categories. Gurugram based AM Marketplaces, which owns fashion focused social commerce platform Limeroad, is a fairly established player in the space. It last raised $30 million in 2015 in a Series C round from US-based hedge fund Tiger Global Management, Matrix and Lightspeed Venture Partners. 

Other players include are reseller apps GlowRoad and Meesho. Since being founded in 2017, GlowRoad has raised a total of $24.3 million from individual investors and venture capital firms. In August, Meesho raised $125 million from South African internet conglomerate Naspers.