“Tough times build tough teams. Back in 2016, we were capital-starved and still a bit away from PMF. But that tough time led to the Meesho culture we feel proud of and are preserving even today.”
Meesho, which translates as “my shop,” was co-founded in December 2015 by Vidit Aatrey, an IIT Delhi grad. Vidit has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and right after completing his degree, he wanted to build a social commerce network with Indian roots that enables no-cost home-based businesses for small companies and individuals.
To present, Meesho has shipped orders from more than 100,000 registered suppliers to more than 26,000 pin codes in over 4,800 locations. brings e-commerce to India by generating over Rs 500 crore in revenue for business owners and serving clients in more than 4,500 Tier 2+ cities.
Inception
Meesho began its journey in December 2015 with the help of two IIT Delhi graduates. They founded Meesho, a social commerce platform that enables users to resell products utilising their social networks such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and others.
Vidit Aatrey, the founder and CEO of Meesho, made the decision to leave his position at InMobi and launch his own business in 2015. Then he co-founded Meesho with Sanjeev Barnwal, its founder and CTO. They both graduated from the same class (2008–12) and had the same concept to create a platform to support MSMEs (Micro. Small and Medium Enterprises).
The Bangalore-based startup wants to create an ecosystem where anyone can launch a business without needing to invest money. Along with boasting over 2 million resellers, the business also claims to have over 20,000 Meesho suppliers from over 500 towns. Sellers can make money with Meesho by adding a gross margin to every transaction. Meesho operates on a commission of roughly 10-15%.
Meesho was first launched in 2015 under the name FASHNEAR. Similar to Swiggy or Zomato, FASHNEAR operated on the same principle. Customers were able to purchase clothing and fashion accessories from local stores through FASHNEAR, which dealt with fashion-related commodities. Customers could order from these local stores using the FASHNEAR app, and delivery people were available to deliver the goods. Local businesses that offer clothing and accessories could register with the app.
However, the founders immediately began to identify several problems with the FASHNEAR business model. Consumers’ lack of care for purchasing clothing from local stores was one of the biggest problems they identified. Furthermore, rather than selling their goods locally, the shop owners hoped to boost sales by selling their goods online in other parts of the nation. Vidit and Sanjeev were motivated to develop a better business model through these issues. Fashnear was renamed “Meesho” before the end of 2015.
Challenges
When Meesho first started off, online retailing was getting more and more popular, but there were challenges including a lack of supply, transportation, alternative transaction methods, and so on.
Vidit claims that because they have always supported the expansion of small businesses, they have never kept any inventory in their own warehouses. Nevertheless, procuring supplies was difficult because of the lockdown brought on by COVID-19. Things were still difficult, despite the government slightly easing restrictions on transportation.
Major Wins
More than 13 million entrepreneurs are allegedly connected to Meesho through their platform. The fact that women make up the majority of business owners is noteworthy.
Apart from that, till now, some of the awards he has received are Fortune 40 Under 40 (2021), Economic Times 40 Under 40 (2021), Forbes 30 Under 30 (2018) (India and Asia list), Entrepreneur 35 Under 35 (2019), India’s Most Innovative Company (2020) by Fast Company, Young Turk Startup of the Year (2020) by CNBC (awarded by Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman), First Startup Investment by Facebook in India, Linkedin Top Startup (2019) and (2020), Y Combinator Top Companies (2019).
