B2B e-com marketplace Udaan becomes fastest Unicorn, bags $225 Mn from DST, Lightspeed

B2B e-commerce marketplace that connects manufacturers, wholesalers, traders, and retailers has raised $225 million from Yuri Milner’s DST Global and Lightspeed Global Growth. With the back to back capital infusion, the two-year-old startup has become the fastest Unicorn of India as its valuation crosses $1 billion mark.

This is the third institutional round for the Delhi-based startups since its inception in 2016. Founded by ex-Flipster Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta, and Amod Malviya, Udaan had raked in $50 million Series B fund led by existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Yuri Milner, one of Russia’s most influential tech investor and entrepreneur.

Earlier in November 2016, it had raised $10 million in series A funding from Lightspeed India and Lightspeed US.

The valuation of Udaan has witnessed a four-fold increase as the previous two rounds (Series A and Series B) raised at a valuation of $40 million and $220 million respectively.

The exact financial details are yet to be announced.

Currently, Udaan is expected to deliver to 800 cities and execute pickups from 80-100 cities. It has 130,000-150,000 buyers and sellers on the platform and operates in the apparel, electronics, staples and fast-moving consumer goods categories.

According to an ET report, the firm is doing Rs 300-400 crore sales a month.

At Udaan platform, retailers and manufacturers can grow their network by exploring each other business profile, catalog, build connections powered by payments and logistics facility.

Besides, the company has also started underwriting loans for this small businesses.

While Foodtech, edtech and other startups in India took a long time to get the coveted status of Unicron, Udaan has taken a giant leap and proved the potential of the B2B wholesale marketplace where ShopX, Power2SME, OfBusiness, Jumbotail, StoreKing, and Snapbizz, are some notable players.

The development was first reported by TOI.