Udaan Raises USD 120 mn From Winter Funding

Udaan is a B2B e-commerce company, founded in 2016 by Amod Malviya and Sujeet Kumar.

It operates across various categories including lifestyle, groceries, electronics, FMCG, toys, kitchen supplies, pharma supplies, and other general commodities. The company has designed various tech tools keeping in mind the needs of Indian country’s businesses and caters to the needs of Indian brands, retailers, and manufacturers.

This unicorn company has raised USD 120 mn during the winter funding. This funding is in the form of convertible notes and debts from shareholders and bondholders.

The company is planning an IPO in 12-18 months’ time, which is delayed considering the timeline announced earlier.

Including this present round of funding, the finances of this company have crossed USD 350 mn. This is one of India’s largest structured instrument fundraises.

Microsoft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Ishana Capitals, Arena Investors, M&G Prudential, Kaiser Permanente, TOR, and Nomura are among the present investors of this company.

Udaan’s total worth is USD 3.1 bn after the last round of USD 280 mn in funding. This was calculated in January 2021 and includes both existing and new investors.

The company also expects USD 30-50 mn during the next tranche.

Udaan’s Chief Financial Officer Aditya Pande says that the unit economics of the company has improved by 10%. There are strong improvements in both gross margin and operating costs. He also says that the burn rate of the company is down 60%.

Pande also adds that, “Continued focus on customer-first thinking and initiatives on strengthening our value proposition for them has resulted in monthly buyer repeat rates increasing by 5% in the last two quarters.”

Udaan focuses on solving the core trade problems that India-based small or medium businesses face on a daily basis.

The funding news was revealed by an internal email that was addressed by Aditya Pande, the CFO of the company to the employees.