WestBridge Capital, an investment firm, has secured a stake in the e-commerce unicorn Meesho through a secondary transaction, acquiring it from Venture Highway, one of Meesho’s early and long-standing supporters.
In a statement, the early-stage venture fund, Venture Highway, revealed that it sold a portion of its stake in the e-commerce startup, generating a return of over 50 times its initial investment.
The firm initially backed Meesho during its seed round more than eight years ago. Subsequently, this seed-stage investment firm continued to support the company through various funding rounds.
Venture Highway stated that it retains a substantial portion of its overall ownership in the unicorn, even following the secondary stake transaction.
“We have closely witnessed how the company disrupted and transformed India’s online ecommerce landscape with its unparalleled vision. We continue to remain excited for the company’s success, especially, on its mission to democratise internet commerce for everyone,” said Neeraj Arora, founding partner at Venture Highway.
Established in 2015, Venture Highway has made more than 60 investments through its various funds and is presently actively investing from its third fund. Some of the prominent names in its portfolio include Moglix, Sharechat, BetterPlace, Chalo, and Ivy Homes.
According to a report from the previous month, WestBridge Capital was exploring the acquisition of a stake in Meesho at a discount ranging from 20% to 25% compared to its prior valuation. The investment firm’s portfolio encompasses startups such as DealShare, Adda247, and Rapido.
Established in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho is supported by prominent investors including SoftBank, Peak XV, Fidelity Investments, Prosus & Naspers, and Meta.
“We are very impressed by Meesho’s strong focus on providing superior value to a large base of Indian consumers. This has resulted in them making rapid strides in the fast-growing Indian ecommerce market,” said Sandeep Singhal, managing partner and cofounder at WestBridge Capital.
Fidelity Investments, an investor in Meesho, recently raised the valuation of its stake in the company to $43.24 million as of July 31. In 2021, this investment firm injected approximately $42 million into Meesho’s $570 million funding round, valuing the startup at approximately $4.9 billion.
Amidst a period where technology startups are intensively pursuing profitability, Meesho announced its achievement of becoming profitable in July 2023.
In FY22, the company disclosed a net loss of INR 3,247.8, representing a significant 550% year-on-year (YoY) increase.