Global investment firm Fidelity has reduced the valuation of its stake in the e-commerce platform Meesho to $3.5 billion. This marks the second valuation cut within a month by the investment firm.
In its previous move, Fidelity adjusted the company's valuation from $5 billion to $4.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
TechCrunch reported that the recent valuation adjustment resulted from a secondary sale transaction late last year, valuing Meesho at $3.5 billion.
In response to Fidelity's filings, Meesho's spokesperson stated, "Based on Fidelity filings, the number of shares held and the current number of total outstanding fully diluted shares, the valuation is assessed at $3.5 billion."
The spokesperson added, "The increase in the number of outstanding shares, notably due to the ESOP pool expansion, could have contributed to this valuation shift."
In September 2021, Fidelity led a $570 million funding round for Meesho, joined by B Capital Group, a venture capital firm co-founded by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Luiz Saverin. Notable investors in Meesho include Meta, Peak XV, Prosus Ventures, B Capital, and SoftBank.
Reports indicate that Meesho's current gross merchandise value (GMV) run rate exceeds $5 billion. The company became the first e-commerce unicorn to post consolidated profit after tax in the second quarter ended September 2023.
In the first half of FY23-24, Meesho reported a narrowing of losses to Rs 141 crore and a 37 per cent year-over-year increase in revenue to Rs 3,521 crore.
Fidelity's investment history with Meesho includes a $42 million investment in Meesho's Series F round in October 2021. Fidelity's latest investment in Pine Labs was in July 2021 when the Singapore-registered company raised $600 million.
The firm also slashed the valuation of Noida-based business-to-business fintech PineLab, now valued at $3 billion, down from $4.7 billion as of August 31, 2023. the fintech had previously achieved a valuation exceeding $5 billion in 2022 following a $150 million funding round led by Alpha Wave Global.
