Udaan raises US$ 280 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tencent, others
- IBEF
- January 7, 2021
On Wednesday, Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce giant Udaan said it had raised US$ 280 million (~ Rs. 2,048 crore) in funding from current and new investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Tencent.
In addition to two new investors - Octahedron Capital and Moonstone Capital, existing investors from Udaan - Lightspeed Venture Partners, DST Global, GGV Capital, Altimeter Capital, and Tencent - participated in the latest funding exercise.
With the latest infusion of capital, Udaan has earned a total of US$ 1.15 billion to date. Although the company did not reveal the valuation information, sources said that after this deal, the valuation exceeded US$ 3 billion.
Additional funding for the company's series D round is the new capital infusion. In October 2019, Udaan confirmed it would raise US$ 585 million in the Series D funding round.
The funding shows the enormous potential of the Indian b2b eCommerce industry and the market-fit of the business model of Udaan to the Indian commercial market. The funds raised will be deployed in India to continue the establishment of B2B e-commerce in the market, expanding out to more and more small businesses across the nation and offering e-commerce benefits to them.
The continuous growth of the range of goods and categories available on Udaan, the enhancement of user experience, the advancement of the technology platform, the expansion of SME funding capabilities and the strengthening of the supply chain infrastructure would be some of the primary areas of investment.
Founded in 2016, Bengaluru-based Udaan operates across categories, including FMCG, pharma, toys, lifestyle, electronics, fruits and vegetables, home and kitchen, staples and general merchandise. It allows small producers, farmers and brands to market and sell their goods, across the country.
Its network links over 3 million B2B users to over 25,000 sellers in 900 cities.
Udaan co-founder Mr. Amod Malviya said, “COVID-19 has accelerated the rapidly expanding and unorganised Indian trade/retail industry's already rapid digital-led evolution. At the same time, the pandemic also displayed the Indian economy's specific framework, with millions of kiranas and community stores being our nation's lifeline.”
He added, “The funding represents the highly transformative and fundamental long-term value creation potential provided by the Udaan platform for the lives and enterprises of Indian MSMEs, which are significant job creators and shape the foundation of India's economy.”
Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.
Partners
