Udaan, a B2B marketplace with a vision to “transform the way trade is done in India leveraging technology”, has raised $120m as it eyes going public.
According to a report from Deal Street Asia, the round was backed by investors Lightspeed India Partners and GGV Capital.
The company also counts Microsoft, Nomura, Samena Capital, DST Global, Altimeter Capital and Tencent among its investors.
Established in 2016 by former Flipkart employees Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta, Udaan aims to bring traders, wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers together on a platform to find clients, suppliers and products across categories.
The Bengaluru-headquartered also aims to help merchants secure working capital. The startup currently serves more than 3 million retailers and small and medium-sized businesses.
The round brings the total raised by Udaan over the past four quarters to $350m.
Following the round of funding, the company reportedly is looking to make its public market debut over the next 12-18 months.
According to Udaan, it 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
Aditya Pande, Udaan chief financial officer, said in an email, “Despite the funding related challenges being experienced by the larger start-up ecosystem, this fund raise reflects the confidence of investors in our business model and their endorsement of the journey to unit economics, driven by great progress in evolution of our business model and cost efficiency, that we initiated last year.
“These steps have not only helped us achieve positive unit economics last quarter, but also improved efficiency in the system, with huge cost benefits, which is key to building a sustainable business, and being public market ready in 12-18 months.”
At the start of this year, Udaan raised $200m via convertible note financing and an additional $50m as debt in a funding round in which new and existing investors participated.
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