Google Makes Social Commerce Push with Meesho Investment

Search engine behemoth Google and social commerce company Meesho are exploring the details of a possible $50 million to $75 million investment by the former, according to media reports on Friday (Oct. 22).

Google’s investment is part of Meesho’s latest fundraising round and could push the Bengaluru, India-based company to a $4.9 billion valuation.

Google’s investment is part of its pledge to invest $10 billion in India. The company also has invested in Indian startups like Dailyhunt, Glance and others.

Meesho became a unicorn — a private company valued at more than $1 billion — in April when it raised $300 million in a fundraising round led by SoftBank Group that pushed its valued to $2.1 billion, up from its 2019 valuation of $700 million after a $125 million funding effort.

The company has delivered orders from more than 100,000 registered suppliers to more than 26,000 customers in more than 4,800 cities, generating over 500 crore (almost $77.5 million) for individual entrepreneurs.

Meesho onboarded more than 100,000 sellers through initiatives including free ad credits and zero return shipping charges. It currently has 250,000 sellers on its platform. The company, which recently launched an eCommerce platform, also switched to a 0% commission model to attract more sellers.

The company is focusing on growing its grocery sector, dubbed Farmiso, through an online offering that it hopes to roll out in more than 200 cities across India.

Related: Snapchat Says Social Commerce Reliant on Augmented Reality

Social commerce is expected to exceed $36 billion this year across the U.S., which is only about one-tenth of the social commerce sales projected in China. More than 14% of retail eCommerce sales in China come from social channels, compared to about 5% in the U.S.