Meesho is a social e-commerce platform based in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It was formed in December 2015 by IIT Delhi grads Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal.

In late 2015, IIT Delhi students Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal founded Meesho, which stands for “Meri eShop” (my shop in English). It’s India’s first social commerce network, allowing small enterprises and individuals to trade for free from the comfort of their own homes. Meesho was one of three Startups in India chosen by Y Combinator in 2016.

How does the Meesho journey begin?

Vidit Aatrey (Founder & CEO) of Meesho chose to leave their Job at InMobi and begin with the startup journey. Then he founded Meesho with his Co-founder and CTO Sanjeev Barnwal who was working with Sony corporation back then. They both were batchmates (2008-12) and came up intending to build a platform to help the MSME sector (Micro. Small and Medium Enterprises). So, as social commerce was struggling to maintain the space in India, Meesho guided the way and revolutionized the Industry.

Meesho’s founders quit their secure employment to create something on their own. They began by going by the label FASHNEAR. They appeared to be attempting to create a platform for fashion, similar to what Zomato, Swiggy, and Grofers did for food and grocery, respectively. They intended to use our app to sign up for many retailers in various locations. Prospective customers might choose things from these stores and have them delivered to their homes by a delivery person. They could choose what they wanted, pay for it, and return it back if they didn’t need it.

How FASHNEAR turned into Meesho?

They realised that the “Fashnear” marketing concept was failing because customers were much more concerned with sales than with the fact that their items were local. Whereas an online business can sell its products 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the physical retailers with which they were partnering could only provide end-of-season discounts. Nevertheless, understanding the industry from the ground up and learning how to engage with store owners are both advantages.

When they went to the nearest market in Koramangala, the owner was very enthusiastic about the new concept since he informed us that he’s already selling his wares online through Facebook and WhatsApp groups, where he constantly updated images. These customers would make an order, and one of his employees would deliver it and collect the money. They were enthralled by this basic yet powerful concept, which was bolstered by his business plan.

After that, they worked on a model and software to bring this company proposal toward the next level. Meesho was founded in this manner.

Unique business model of Meesho

  • Commission -The commission’s Meesho charges the sellers, how they make profits. When a reseller makes a sale on the Meesho platform, the seller of that product will be charged a 10-20% commission. The commission-based business is similar to those of E-Commerce sites like Amazon, Flipkart, and others.

Note: Commission is not collected from specific customers (Resellers), but rather from registered businesses (Sellers) who market products through the marketplace.

  • Rank Push – Every day, the number of merchants on the Meesho Platform grows. Meesho makes money from sellers that want their products to be featured at the top of the product page. It can provide an additional money stream.
  • Selling of data – Data, as we all know in today’s environment, offers an income stream for Meesho. Meesho did not break any privacy policies, and they are only allowed to sell data that does not infringe any privacy issues.
  • Logistics – Meesho is aware of the high delivery charges and is working to reduce them as much as possible. Meesho can increase its revenue by utilising logistical technologies.

Meesho’s Success 

Meesho is the most recent addition to the Unicorn Club. They hit the $1 billion valuation milestone in under 5 years. They recently raised $300 million from Softbank Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of 2.1 billion dollars. Facebook, Shunwei Capital, Venture Highway, and Knollwood Investment were among the existing investors in this round. Meesho has raised a total of $515.2 million in 9 fundraising rounds.

According to CEO Vidit Aatrey, the social resale industry in India is anticipated to be worth $6-7 billion by 2020. The number of online purchasers is expected to reach $200 billion by 2025, with social commerce expected to be worth $70 billion.