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Bengaluru-based Udaan raises $585 million in Series D funding
Last updated on Oct 03, 2019, 07:30 pm
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Udaan, a Bengaluru-based B2B start-up by former Flipkart executives, has raised $585 million in Series D funding round.
The investment, which is company's biggest till date, has taken its valuation to nearly $2.8 billion.
The funding comes from Tencent, Altimeter Capital, Hillhouse Capital, GGV Capital, Footpath Ventures, and Citi Ventures, along with existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global.
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Quote
Here's what Tencent's President said on the investment
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Commenting on his latest investment, Martin Lau, Tencent's President, said, "Udaan represents a powerful example of how technology can empower the business of small merchants, improve the efficiency of industries and bring benefits to consumers." Notably, Udaan is one of the fastest start-ups to achieve unicorn status (valuation = $1 billion).
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Udaan
What exactly does Udaan do
![What exactly does Udaan do]( "What exactly does Udaan do")
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Udaan was founded by three IITians and former Flipkart executives, Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta, in 2016.
The company is an e-marketplace that helps small businesses by connecting retailers with wholesalers.
The start-up works across categories including electronics, pharmacy, home and kitchen products, clothing, and footwear.
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Investment
A look at the previous investments
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Now, with the latest round of investment, the total funding raised by Udaan since 2016 comes to $870 million.
To recall, the company's last round of funding had happened in September 2018 wherein it had raised $225 million in Series C round from investors including DST Global and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Meanwhile, its total valuation now stands at around $2.5-3 billion.
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Future plans
What Udaan plans to do with the fresh funds?
![What Udaan plans to do with the fresh funds?]( "What Udaan plans to do with the fresh funds?")
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Presently, Udaan connects 25,000 wholesalers to approximately 3 million retailers across the country.
Talking about company's future plans, co-founder Vaibhav Gupta said "We will continue to focus on growing the marketplace - adding more buyers, sellers, bringing in more categories on the platform and investing around building capabilities in fulfilment, delivery, lending, marketing, category management and core technology."
