Indian B2B Marketplace Udaan Raises $120M

Indian B2B marketplace Udaan has reportedly raised $120 million and aims to go public in 12 to 18 months.

This round brings the total amount of capital raised by Udaan to $350 million, Deal Street Asia reported Friday (Oct. 28), citing an internal memo by Udaan Chief Financial Officer Aditya Pande.

“Despite the funding-related challenges being experienced by the larger startup ecosystem, this fundraise reflects the confidence of investors in our business model and their endorsement of the journey to unit economics, driven by great progress in the evolution of our business model and cost efficiency, that we initiated last year,” Pande said, according to the report.

A Udaan spokesperson told PYMNTS via email that the content of this report is correct.

The company was founded in 2016 and serves a variety of categories — lifestyle, electronics, home and kitchen, staples, fruits and vegetables, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, toys and general merchandise, according to the company’s website.

“Udaan is solving core trade problems faced by small and medium businesses, that are unique to India, through its unique India-fit low-cost business model by leveraging technology and bringing the benefits of eCommerce to them,” the website said. “It is a one-stop shop for all business requirements in the B2B space.”

In April, the firm announced that Microsoft had joined its debt financing round.

Microsoft’s contribution brought Udaan’s total debt to $225 million through convertible notes. The company planned to use that funding to allow investors to flip their convertible notes into equity at a later time.

In March, Udaan formed a strategic partnership with supply chain software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm Unicommerce to provide inventory and order management to merchants selling lifestyle goods on Udaan’s marketplace, as well as others on Unicommerce’s centralized platform.