Udaan soars high, fetches $585 million in fresh funds

New Delhi : Udaan, the fastest Indian startup to achieve unicorn status, has reportedly fetched $585 million as fresh funds, valuing the online business-to-business marketplace at $2.5-3 billion.

The firm announced on Wednesday that the investments have been confirmed from Tencent, Altimeter Capital, Footpath Ventures, Hillhouse, GGV Capital and Citi Ventures. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global also invested in the round.

"Udaan's unique approach can enhance the capabilities of millions of kirana stores across India," Martin Lau, president of Tencent said in the statement. “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."

Udaan had become the fastest Indian startup to achieve a valuation of more than a billion dollars after it raised $225 million from DST Global and Lightspeed in 2018.

With fresh fundings, the company will now look forward to dig deeper in the market of India. 

"We plan to get deeper into the food category this year and also explore adding other categories such as electricals, industrial equipment," Vaibhav Gupta, co-founder of Udaan, quoted in a report by Livemint.

Udaan facilitates the purchase and sale of fashion products, groceries and electronics among manufacturers, brands and retailers. It was incorporated in June 2016 and launched later that year. Since then, the company has expanded its operations to 900 cities. It was founded by former Flipkart executives Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar and Gupta.