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Meesho wasn’t always taken seriously. In fact, jokes and memes mocking its affordability flooded the internet. But instead of being discouraged, founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal turned the mockery into motivation—and built one of India’s most valuable startups.
In 2015, IIT Delhi grads Vidit and Sanjeev launched a hyperlocal fashion delivery app—Fashnear. It didn’t work. The duo even stood outside stores trying to attract customers. Though the idea failed, it gave them critical insights into India's retail market.
Vidit Aatrey hails from a middle-class family in Meerut. Alongside his IIT mate Sanjeev Barnwal, they decided to try again—this time by supporting small sellers using social media. They saw potential in what others ignored.
The idea: empower home-based entrepreneurs, especially women, to sell products using WhatsApp and Facebook. They created a simple, commission-free platform—and Meesho was born in late 2015. Their dining table became their office.
As Meesho grew, so did online jokes calling it “too cheap to trust.” But instead of fighting the image, they embraced it. Affordability became Meesho’s USP—helping it win millions of price-conscious shoppers in smaller towns.
In FY2023, Meesho’s user base grew by 32 per cent, ahead of Amazon’s 13 per cent and Flipkart’s 21 per cent. It became India’s most downloaded shopping app, hitting 145 million installs, and reached customers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities like no one else, as per Data.ai .
Meesho allows over 1.1 million sellers to offer products in 700+ categories—without paying commission. That’s how they keep prices low. In 2022, they crossed 100 million monthly orders. The business model clicked.
In 2019, Facebook invested Rs 200 crore. By 2021, Meesho became a unicorn with 1 billion dollars valuation, as per media reports. From being the butt of jokes to becoming a top shopping platform—Meesho’s journey proves that belief beats ridicule.
(Images credit: @RohitKYT/X, @thefaadguy/X, @CA_vkchangani/X, @Investclubsv/X
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