Social e-commerce startup DealShare is reportedly in talks to raise up to $200 million in a fresh funding round at a valuation of about $1-1.2 billion. Separately, Tencent Holdings is in advanced talks to lead a $20-25 million funding round in Pocket FM.
DealShare in talks to raise up to $200m
Social e-commerce startup DealShare is in talks to raise another $150-200 million in a fresh funding round at a valuation of about $1-1.2 billion.
According to a report in Entrackr, new and existing investors including Tiger Global and Alpha Wave Incubation are likely to participate in the round.
Only last month, the company had mopped up $144 million in a funding round led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global, and co-led by WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation, and Z3Partners to build its team and expand globally, starting with the UAE. The total funding raised by DealShare currently stands at about $183 million.
Founded in 2018, DealShare targets the middle-income demographic, focusing on 500 million new-to-internet users. It claims to have onboarded 3 million customers and delivers about 1 lakh orders a day.
Tencent may lead funding in Pocket FM
Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is in advanced talks to lead a $20-25 million funding round in Gurugram-based Pocket FM, which operates an eponymous vernacular audiobooks platform.
Existing investors Times Internet’s Brand Capital and Lightspeed may also join the financing, according to a TechCrunch report. The investment is likely to value the three-year-old startup between $75 million and $100 million.
Founded by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Rohan Nayak and Nishanth Srinivas, Pocket FM is an online marketplace for audiobooks and podcasts. The platform offers over 10,000 hours of audiobooks and podcasts, with both free and paid versions in Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali.