The Indian startup ecosystem is certainly enjoying its time right now as investors are putting millions of dollars in them in hope of earning future in this competitive yet a massive market. After Byju’s, Swiggy, and PolicyBazaar, e-commerce startup Udaan has suddenly reached the evaluation of $1 billion after getting a funding of $225 million from Russian investor Yuri Milner and Lightspeed Global Growth. Here is its story of success.
About Udaan
Udaan is a B2B e-commerce platform, designed for small & medium businesses in India. Its aim is to bring Indian traders, wholesalers, retailers, and manufacturers together to a single platform.
The minds behind Udaan
Udaan was launched 26 months ago by 3 ex-Flipkart employees; Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya and Sujeet Kumar. Sujeet Kumar was senior operations executive at Flipkart running the logistics unit Ekart and WS Retail, Vaibhav Gupta handled product management and finance. Amod Malviya, was the Chief Technology Officer.
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Investment timeline of Udaan
- The very first investment came from Lightspeed, two years ago when they invested $10 million into it.
- In February this year, it raised funding of $50 million from Lightspeed and Apoletto Asia, which is backed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, founder of DST Global.
- Udaan was expecting more funding after December from new investors. But existing investors pitched in with $225 million of fresh funding.
The growth
With Udaan, the founders are looking to disrupt the B2B market in India, which is expected to be around $700 Bn by 2020.
As per reports, Udaan is making revenues of around Rs 300 to Rs 400 crore every month, and this has helped the startup to raise the valuation 12-times in the last one year. Udaan claims to have 1,50,000 buyers and sellers.
It is expected that new categories such as home and kitchen, office supplies, industrial goods, and fresh fruits and vegetables will be added soon.
Also Read: Here’s How Swiggy Became India’s Fastest Unicorn Startup
The growth of Udaan also tells us the story of Indian startup ecosystem as a country which was relatively inactive and slow in terms of growth in 2015-2016 has suddenly picked up the speed which is looking to beat all the other markets with its momentum.
