DealShare to invest $100 mn for scaling operations, hire 5,000 people

DealShare on Wednesday said it plans to invest USD 100 million (about Rs 736.3 crore) to scale its operations and hire about 5,000 people across various functions over the next six months, as the social commerce firm looks to rapidly scale its operations. The company, which had recently raised USD 144 million from Tiger Global, WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation and others, also announced its formal launch in Delhi-NCR.

“We plan to invest USD 100 million over the next six months – majorly in rapidly scaling operational capabilities, social virality and gamification led demand generation, AI-driven product and technology capabilities, strengthening sourcing network and aggressive hiring across various functions to scale rapidly,” DealShare founder and CEO Vineet Rao told PTI.

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Despite the COVID-19 induced harsh conditions, the company’s customer base has grown significantly, and it is currently at a GMV (gross merchandise value) run rate of USD 400 million, he added. “Currently, we are present in almost 900 pin codes across 5 states and over 45 cities. By the end of the year, we will hit a GMV ARR (annual run rate) of over USD 1 billion, covering more than 100 cities across 10 states,” Rao said, adding that the company currently has over 4 million users.

GMV is a term used in online retailing to indicate the gross merchandise value of the products sold through the marketplace over a certain period. Rao said the company plans to expand its headcount from over 1,000 now to more than 5,000 in the next six months. These people will be hired across roles like operational excellence, product and technology, data scientists, expansion marketing, sourcing and private brands and setting up distribution, among others.

The company is also expanding its network of warehouses with the addition of 200 new ones by the end of this year. DealShare currently has 40 warehouses across 45 cities. The social commerce player already has a presence across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Talking about DealShare’s expansion in Delhi-NCR, Rao said the company has onboarded over one million users in four months, and as it augments its services across the region, DealShare is confident of quickly grabbing “up to 5 per cent market share in this region in the next one year”.

“We postponed the formal announcement as the second wave of the pandemic was going on and there were a lot of factors to be taken into accounts, and moreover, it was a pilot phase as we wanted to see if the model needed some alterations but to our surprise, we got a commendable response from the customers of NCR and that is when we thought to go at it at full force,” he explained.

The company is clocking a GMV ARR of USD 60 million in Delhi NCR. DealShare provides its customers with a sharp and curated assortment of products, ranging from grocery to essentials that are required for daily use at highly competitive price points. Rao said the company’s customer base is growing at 50 per cent month-on-month and exuded confidence in reaching 10 million customers by the end of this year. Since its inception, DealShare has been working with more than 1,000 indigenous brands. In Delhi-NCR, DealShare has associated with more than 200 manufacturers.