Prosus raises stake in Meesho to 14% in FY22; hails its B2C ‘strategy shift’

Netherlands-based investment group Prosus NV (earlier Naspers) now owns nearly 14 per cent in homegrown e-commerce marketplace Meesho. The investor made an “additional investment” amounting to $134 million in Meesho in September 2021, as per its FY22 annual report.

Prior to that, in April 2021, Prosus had participated in Meesho’s $300 million funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. “Over the past two years, we have invested $162 million in Meesho, including a follow-on round in August 2021 and a secondary transaction in November 2021. We currently hold a 14 per cent stake,” Prosus stated in its report.

“Meesho has seen tremendous growth in the past year with its strategy shift to add a B2C business line in addition to its original reseller-based model… The group continues to account for its interest in Meesho as an investment in an associate on account of its significant influence on the board of directors,” it added.

Meesho’s last major fund-raise, which came in September 2021, saw the company raise $570 million at a valuation of $4.9 billion led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and B Capital Group. It also saw participation from existing investors, including Prosus Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and Facebook. Other new investors included Footpath Ventures, Trifecta Capital, and Good Capital.

The Bengaluru-based unicorn, which offers access to online shopping to users from the smallest of Indian towns and cities, has scaled up to 100 million transacting users annually. “As of March 2022, Meesho had average daily orders of approximately 2.8 million, 3.5x the number in March 2021,” according to the Prosus report. “Monthly app users in March 2022 reached 123 million, an 811 per cent increase year on year,” it added.

The investor also shared that Meesho has helped create over 17 million entrepreneurs across India by enabling individuals to build their own small businesses. “Homemakers and women on career breaks make up more than 70 per cent of these entrepreneurs,” it revealed.