Indian eCommerce Company Udaan Notches $340 Million in Series E to Ready IPO

Indian B2B eCommerce firm Udaan has raised $340 million as it prepares to go public.

The company plans to use the new funding to bolster its supply chain and enhance partnerships with vendors, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (Dec. 14).

The Series E round “fully funds our business plan,” said Vaibhav Gupta, Udaan CEO and co-founder and chief executive officer. “It enables our continued journey of growth and profitability, positioning us well to be public-market ready in the next 12-18 months.”

According to Bloomberg, Udaan is aiming to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) in 2025, although it still hasn’t determined whether to do so in India or overseas.

Udaan was founded in 2016 and serves a number of different categories — lifestyle, electronics, home and kitchen, staples, fruits and vegetables, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, toys and general merchandise, per 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 says. “It is a one-stop shop for all business requirements in the B2B space.”

The company last year raised $120 million and said at the time it was targeting an IPO in 12 to 18 months.

As noted here earlier this year, eCommerce sales in India are projected to hit $135 billion by 2025, a number that’s three times the amount of sales recorded in 2020.

This year has seen Amazon and Walmart up their eCommerce efforts in the country, with Walmart taking the lead over its rival thanks to its investment in Flipkart, the eCommerce platform the company purchased in 2018.

Flipkart’s market share last year was 48% to Amazon’s 26%, with Flipkart taking in $23 billion in gross sales in India during 2021, versus $18 billion to $20 billion for Amazon.

News of Udaan’s planned IPO comes weeks after payments company PayU announced it plans to go public in India during the latter half of 2024.

And this news follows a report from October that PayU was seeking regulatory approval for an IPO worth at least $500 million, which could value the firm at between $5 billion and $7 billion.