Indian social commerce firm nets $45m more in series E money

DealShare, an India-based social commerce firm, has raised US$45 million as part of its series E round from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Photo credit: DealShare

This is in addition to the US$165 million it raised for the same round last month, when it secured a coveted spot in the unicorn club after its valuation reached US$1.6 billion. The Tiger Global-led round saw participation from Alpha Wave Global, Kora Investment, DF International Partners, and Twenty Nine Capital Partners.

According to the startup, the latest round brings its total funds raised to date to US$393 million, and it currently stands at a valuation of US$1.7 billion.

Middle East and SEA in sight

DealShare founder and CEO Vineet Rao told Tech in Asia that the company is preparing to expand its footprint overseas. It plans to start with markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. It will soon set up an office in Abu Dhabi.

The company plans to tap into Southeast Asia as well. Rao revealed that DealShare will initially roll out in Indonesia before expanding to other neighboring markets.

Rao did not give a concrete timeline for the international rollout, but he said it may take up to six months as the company is setting up a team for this purpose.

Moving toward profitability

Rao said that DealShare is aiming to break even in India by the end of the year.

“We are finalizing our plans to identify key areas of investment that will help drive to operational profitability,” he added.

Rao’s optimism is based on the fast-paced growth the company has recorded in recent months. He revealed that DealShare was managing about 200,000 square feet of warehousing at the beginning of last year, which has now grown to about 2.5 million square feet.

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The firm currently has 10 million registered users, which it is hoping to increase this by up to 4x soon. The company is handling an average of nearly 400,000 orders daily across 130 cities in the country.

Rao added that the company is aiming to achieve a US$1 billion annualized run rate (ARR) by March. This will be significantly higher than the nearly US$50 million ARR the company had at the beginning of 2021.

“We are likely to hit US$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 a continued focus on capital efficiency and path to profitability,” Sourjyendu Medda, DealShare co-founder and chief business officer, said in a statement.