Facebook invests in Meesho showing that it will enter online e-commerce sooner than later

• Global social media giant Facebook invested an undisclosed amount in Indian startup Meesho.
• Meesho is a marketplace for resellers and connects them with customers via social media channels.
• This is the first time Facebook has directly picked up equity in an Indian startup.

Facebook invested an undisclosed amount in an Indian social commerce startup Meesho. This is the first time that the global giant picked up equity in an Indian startup.

Meesho is a marketplace for resellers, and connects them with customers via social media channels like WhatsApp and Facebook.

“With this investment in Meesho, we want to fuel a business model that can result in rapid job creation and the rise of a female entrepreneurial class in India," Facebook India head Ajit Mohan said in an interview.

According to reports, Facebook was interested in Meesho because of the startup’s growing reach in Tier II and III cities, and the fact that 80% of resellers on the platform are women.

“Over the last 4 years we've grown from our humble beginnings, to a community of more than 15,000 suppliers and 20,00,000 resellers throughout India. We share a common goal with Facebook - to enable the community and help small businesses grow,” Meesho founder Vidit Aatreywrote in a blog post.

The startup was also a part of the global accelerator program Y-Combinator. It had earlier raised a funding of $65 million from Sequoia India, DST Partners and Shunwei Capital.

Prior to this investment, Facebook had acquired Bengaluru-based Little Eye Labs which has a software tool for analyzing the performance of Android apps.

“Facebook is an ally for India’s economic growth and social development. We are excited about India and its rapidly rising Internet ecosystem,” Mohan added.

See Also:
Zuckerberg claims that WhatsApp has the power to 'cannibalise' public social platforms
Facebook will now pay you if you give access to your phone’s data