The Business to Business (B2B) trade platform, Udaan which brings traders, retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers onto a single platform has recently announced to raise USD 280 million as a follow up to its latest Series D funding round. The funding round was led by multiple new and existing investors and as analysts and other market leaders speculate, the company is rising to tackle the big guns in the market- Amazon, Reliance Industries Limited and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
Founded back in 2016 by Amod Malviya, Vaibhav Gupta and Sujeet Kumar, Udaan is most likely to record a post-money valuation at USD 3.2 billion. This latest infusion of funds is a continuation of the company’s Series D financing round wherein it raised USD 585 million back in October 2019.
As mentioned in a report by Economic Times and confirmed by the company data on CrunchBase, Udaan saw participation from existing investors- DST Global, GGV Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tencent Holdings Limited and Altimeter Capital. Other than this, new investors that were recently added to the list of investors include Moonstone Capital and Octahedron Capital.
Udaan is all about making the business ecosystem easier in India by bringing all the components onto a single platform. Manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and traders make the Business-to-Business market much efficient and convenient. The ecosystem is known to sell approximately over 20 lakh products ranging from several different categories, right from apparels to electronics to grocery to fresh produce, according to CrunchBase. These components are the entrepreneurial pulse of the nation which Udaan, as a platform improves significantly.
As the COVID-19 pandemic situation in India worsens, more and more Small and Medium Enterprises adopt digital modes of communication and business. On being asked about the latest fundraise, Udaan mentions utilising them to capitalise growth in the Business to Business market in India. Furthermore, as reported by Economic Times, the company aims to improve and strengthen its supply chain infrastructure and expand its selection of products, enhancing the company’s SME financing capabilities.
Amod Malviya, co-founder, Udaan mentioned in a statement that COVID-19 has accelerated the digital evolution of the highly unorganised and fragmented retail industry in India. In the same breath, he also states that this pandemic has revealed the true essence and unique structure of the Indian economy with millions of mom-and-pop stores (Kiranas) and neighbourhood stores becoming the lifeline of the country in the times of these terrible crises where everyone is forced to stay home.
As the use of smartphones and internet increased during these past few months, technology has emerged as an extremely essential tool which companies and start-ups have realised and started to leverage for their advantage by removing the middle-men and directly dealing with the consumers.
