Udaan is a business-to-business e-commerce player that secured $340 million in a series E financing round. It was led by M&G PLC, which is a London-based global investment management firm. The existing investors Lightspeed and DST Global also took part in this round.
The overall funding is a mixture of fresh equity investment and the conversion of the already-going convertible notes into equity, as per the firm.
Udaan aims to use the funding to boost the customer experience as well as market penetration. Also to forge strategic vendor partnerships and work on the supply chain and overall credit capabilities, according to a statement.
Udaan has raised around $350 million in debt funding in the past two years. Also, the latest investment is going to come from Temasek-backed EvolutionX Debt Capital. In October 2022, a Bengaluru-based company captured $120 million in convertible notes from its existing shareholders and bondholders.
The Series E round can enable Udaan to achieve operational profitability in the upcoming 12–18 months. Udaan has already spent around eight quarters focusing on fine-tuning the business strategy and completing the profitability targets, according to the company.
The company also expects to be ready for the public market listing in a few months. ‘The Series E round can boost the balance sheet and can easily fit the business plan. It can allow a continued journey of overall growth and profitability. This will position us to be ready for the public market in the upcoming 12–18 months, according to Vaibhav Gupta, the co-founder and CEO of Udaan.
The funding is going to come after the company restructures its business unit, followed by the exit of Gaurav Bhalotia, the chief technology officer.
About Udaan
Udaan was founded in 2016. It was founded by Sujeet Kumar, and Amod Malviya, including Vaibhav Gupta. They were former Flipkart executives.
Udaan is a B2B e-commerce platform with around 3 million+ retailers listed in categories like electronics, home, kitchen supplies, lifestyle, etc. It supplies groceries and various other products to sellers, who can easily sell the products to customers.
The company was able to raise around $1.5 billion plus debt and equity from investors like Tencent Holdings, DST Global, Lightspeed, etc. Also, they implemented a regionally operated cluster-led approach in the last 12 months. The company is aiming to improve operational efficiency, as per Udaan.
In FY23, the company’s losses narrowed to 33% YoY to Rs. 2213 crore, while operating revenue jumped to 43% to Rs. 5609 crore in comparison to the last year
