Exclusive: DealShare turns unicorn; raises new round at $1.6 Bn valuation

Grocery and essentials focused social commerce startup DealShare has raised around $165 million in its Series E round that pushed the company into the coveted club of unicorns. This is the maiden round for DealShare in 2022.

DealShare has approved the allotment of 42983 series E CCPS to raise Rs 968.67 crore or close to $130 million, regulatory filings show. Tiger Global has invested $39.1 million in the round followed by Alpha Wave, Kora Investment, DF International Partners and Twenty Nine Capital Partners which put in $31.3 million, $27.4 million, $19.6 million and $11.7 million respectively.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, DealShare has raised the fresh funds at a post money valuation of $1.62 billion. Its valuation has ballooned over 3.6X within seven months. It was valued at $455 million during its Series D round in July 2021. With this round, the company has raised $348 million in total funding until now.

Six months ago, Entrackr had exclusively reported that DealShare will raise the next round led by Tiger Global at a valuation of over $1.5 billion. Following the fresh allotment of shares, DealShare’s co-founders’ collective holding has been diluted to 23.1%.

Jaipur-based DealShare is an inventory-led platform that manages the supply chain and logistics in bigger cities. Currently, it has a presence in 10 states and over 100 cities and is targeting to expand to 20 states and 300 cities and towns. The company claimed that it clocked about $700 million gross-revenue run rate in 2021. 

It also has an element of group buying akin to China’s Pinduoduo. Apart from selling to consumers, it also helps retailers to procure bulk inventory.

DealShare directly competes with CityMall, Meesho (via Farmiso) and a few others. To take on DealShare and CityMall, SoftBank-backed Meesho is also gearing up to expand the reach of its grocery deliveries. As per Entrackr’s sources, Meesho is bringing Farmiso onto its main app to open up the service to its regular customers.

DealShare is the fifth startup to gain unicorn status in 2022. Earlier this week, HR tech startup Darwinbox raised fresh funds at over $1 billion valuation. The list also includes edtech startup LEAD, analytics solutions provider Fractal and Baby and mother care brand Mamaearth.

Update: The story has been updated following DealShare's announcement which said that it has raised $165 million in the Series E round.