The Bengaluru-based e-commerce startup is stuck between rapidly scaling the business and wanting a better valuation.
At a company-wide town hall a few months ago, disappointment awaited the employees of Meesho. Founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey broke the news suddenly. A big, promising investor had pulled out of the e-commerce startup’s latest funding round. Aatrey didn’t reveal who the investor was, just that it had unexpectedly backed out. As a result, there were going to be financial changes—budgets cut and targets revised—even as Meesho continued to look for money elsewhere.
For more than nine months now, the company has been on the road to raise money. Late last year, the idea was to raise a billion dollars at a valuation of $10 billion. This was an ambitious target, to say the least, given that Meesho had already announced two rounds in 2021:
In the end, the startup didn’t find many takers at $10 billion. Another wave of the pandemic early
Harveen is a co-founder at The Morning Context, and leads our Internet coverage, overseeing a team of reporters writing on startups and tech. She has previously worked as a media, consumer and tech reporter at The Ken and Mint. At The Morning Context, she writes on startups, venture capital, consumer and media businesses—from e-commerce to healthtech to streaming.
Editor, Internet
harveen@mailtmc.com
Mumbai