Facebook to buy stake in Indian e-commerce start-up Meesho

Published June 13, 2019
Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India, leaves after an interview with Reuters in Mumbai, India on June 13. — Reuters
Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director, Facebook India, leaves after an interview with Reuters in Mumbai, India on June 13. — Reuters

Facebook is buying a stake in Indian e-commerce start-up Meesho, Ajit Mohan, the head of the United States tech giant's Indian business said on Thursday, looking to deepen its reach in one of the world's biggest internet markets.

Meesho, a digital platform on which re-sellers of everything from jewellery to mobile phones reach prospective customers via social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, already has about two million entrepreneurs focused on India's smaller towns and cities, the vice-president and managing director at Facebook India told Reuters.

“It reflects the new India that is showing up on the Internet,” Mohan added.

He declined to disclose the value of Facebook's investment in Meesho or the size of the stake it is acquiring.

The investment will help the e-commerce platform to further its “efforts to enable independent entrepreneurs to build businesses and grow their customer base via social channels”, Meesho said on its website.

Meesho, founded by two engineering graduates in 2015, has raised more than $65 million in funding and counts Shunwei Capital and DST Partners among its backers.

Mohan said Facebook's investment will help Meesho to maximise its impact on a central plank of India's economic growth agenda by supporting job creation through entrepreneurship.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Kurram atrocity
Updated 22 Nov, 2024

Kurram atrocity

It would be a monumental mistake for the state to continue ignoring the violence in Kurram.
Persistent grip
22 Nov, 2024

Persistent grip

PAKISTAN has now registered 50 polio cases this year. We all saw it coming and yet there was nothing we could do to...
Green transport
22 Nov, 2024

Green transport

THE government has taken a commendable step by announcing a New Energy Vehicle policy aiming to ensure that by 2030,...
Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...