Fidelity cuts fair value of Meesho, Pine Labs

Funds managed by financial services giant Fidelity have marked down the valuations of ecommerce marketplace Meesho and fintech firm Pine Labs, according to filings made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

As per the filings, Fidelity’s funds have set Meesho’s fair value at around $4.1 billion as on October 31, 2023, down from around $5 billion two months earlier. Meesho was valued at $4.9 billion after it raised $570 million in 2021.

Pine Labs' fair value was cut to $3 billion from $4.7 billion as on August 31. The Peak XV Partners-backed company was valued at over $5 billion after it raised $150 million in 2022.


On January 4, ET reported that US-based investor Invesco had cut the valuation of Pine Labs to $3.9 billion as of October 31.

Crossover funds, which invest both in publicly traded and privately held companies, periodically review the valuation of their portfolio companies. Among various factors, revisions in valuations by investors in privately held firms often reflect the changes in their public market counterparts.

Pine Labs chief executive Amrish Rau refused to comment on the development.

Responding to an email query, a Meesho spokesperson said: “Funds attribute value to their portfolio investments, taking into account multiple factors. We would not be able to comment on the specifics, however per share price changes are not fully indicative of valuation changes and should be looked at in conjunction with the number of shares.”

On January 2, ET reported that angel investors and early institutional shareholders of Meesho were in talks with investors to sell their stake in the Bengaluru-based company. These discussions were happening for a transaction at a valuation of $3.0-3.5 billion.

In October, India-focused investment firm WestBridge Capital bought a stake in Meesho from Venture Highway, one of its early investors, at a valuation of around $3 billion in a secondary transaction.

For the year ended March 2023, both Meesho and Pine Labs posted narrower losses. Meesho’s net loss reduced 48% to Rs 1,675 crore, while its operating revenue grew 77% to Rs 5,735 crore.

Pine Labs, which operates in the merchant payments space, reported total revenue of Rs 1,588 crore in FY23, up 56% from the year before. Its loss narrowed to Rs 227 crore from Rs 259 crore.

According to information sourced from Tracxn, Meesho has so far raised more than $1 billion, while Pine Labs has raised $1.6 billion.