The funding, which included a combination of fresh equity investment as well as the conversion of existing debt (convertible notes) into equity, will strengthen udaan’s balance sheet. With this exercise, udaan’s business is fully funded and on course to achieve its objective of becoming profitable in the next 12-18 months.
udaan plans to use these funds to further strengthen customer experience, market penetration, strategic vendor partnerships, and to reinforce long-term capabilities of supply-chain & credit, with the sole objective of building a sustainable business serving the needs of millions of shopkeepers/ kiranas across the country.
Over the last 12 months, udaan has seen validation of its multi-category cluster-anchored business strategy. The company is now reinforcing it with a regional cluster-led operating organisation that enables strong execution capabilities, while promoting ownership & accountability at the regional level, to drive sustainable growth.
The company has also achieved progress on its sustainability agenda with eight consecutive quarters of improving profitability.
Vaibhav Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, udaan, said in a statement, “Series E round strengthens our balance sheet and fully funds our business plan. It enables our continued journey of growth and profitability, positioning us well to be public-market ready in the next 12-18 months. The regional-operated design will not only get us closer to our customers, but also make our operations more agile and efficient. We are committed, as ever, to our mission to empower small businesses of Bharat, while unlocking a uniquely Indian and huge USD 100 Bn eB2B market opportunity.” Niranjan Sirdeshpande, (EMEA) Director, M&G Catalyst, said, “M&G is pleased to support udaan as it pursues a profitable growth strategy. We believe it has the right operational platform to be the trusted partner of scale to small businesses across India by empowering them with technology, financial inclusivity, and supply chain capabilities. Our investment strategy aligns with udaan’s ambition to simplify and increase efficiency in a congested B2B market.” Bejul Somaia, Partner, Lightspeed Venture Partners said, “We believe this financing puts the company on an extremely strong financial footing and on course to further improve profitability while empowering small businesses across Bharat.”
udaan’s aim is to bolster small businesses by empowering them with technology, financial inclusivity, and supply chain capabilities to compete and win in an increasingly tech and digital world.
Founded in 2016 with a vision to transform the trade ecosystem and empower small businesses by leveraging technology, udaan has operations across categories including lifestyle, electronics, home & kitchen, staples, fruits & vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys and general merchandise. The platform enables supply chain & logistics operations, focused on b2b trade and built on technology, for daily delivery across 1200+ cities and 12,500+ pin codes through udaanExpress.
