Exclusive: Udaan raises $300 Mn in ongoing Series D round

B2B e-commerce marketplace cum lending platform, Udaan’s Singapore-based parent entity has raised about $300 million in the ongoing Series D round. California-based hedge fund Altimeter Capital has put in $100 million while existing investors DST Global and Lightspeed Venture Partner have invested $100 and $45 million respectively in the fresh financing round.

According to share allotment returns filed by Trustroot Internet in Singapore, Footpath Ventures has poured in about $32 million. Footpath Ventures Spv I is a cayman island based fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of USA. 

The investment firm manages a Pooled Investment Fund and works out of New York City. 

New investor GGV Capital has also invested $15 million via its Singapore arm - GGV VII Investment Pte. Ltd. Hillhouse Holdings contributed $7 million in the ongoing round. It looks like the Chinese investment management firm, along with other investors, likely to put more capital soon in the Bengaluru-based firm.

Lightspeed India also participated in the Series D round with $5 million.

About a month ago, Economic Times had reported about Udaan was in talks to raise about $500 million in Series D round at an estimated pre-money valuation of $2.2 billion. 

Entrackr couldn't ascertain the valuation of Trustroot with the available documents. 

Udaan is a marketplace that connects retailers to buy directly from large manufacturers across multiple categories such as staples, apparel, pharmacy, FMCG and electronics. Besides procurement, the company touches crucial pain-points for retailers - logistics, working capital requirements via - Hiveloop Capital.

Hiveloop Capital, the NBFC entity of Udaan, has secured the license in November 2018 to disburse loans to its retailers and sellers. Until June 2019, it had disbursed loans to more than 1 lakh businesses and the cheque sizes varying between Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh.

With 20,000 suppliers and a million retailers, Udaan claims to deal in 1.5 million products across 500 plus brands. It is estimated to be clocking $1.3 billion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) annually. 

Almost a year ago, the company had raised its $225 million Series C round from DST Global, Lightspeed. So far, it has raised about $585 million total risk capital across four institutional rounds.

Moreover, in a separate filing in India with Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Udaan has received Rs 72 crore from Trustroot Internet. It allotted 1,00,315 Series D CCPS shares to the holding entity at the price of Rs 7,177.39 each.

Udaan competes with companies such as Jumbotail, Moglix, Metro Cash & Carry, Ninjacart, ShopKirana amongst a few others. Reliance could be a strong contender, which is also slated to enter the wholesale procurement segment with Jio Prime Merchant. 

With inputs from Gaurav Tyagi.