What is Udaan? Udaan Review

Creation Origin

Udaan was founded by former top Flipkart executives Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya and Sujeet Kumar, Kumar, Malviya and Gupta were the former president of operations, former chief technology officer and former senior vice president of business finance at Flipkart respectively. The three of them left Flipkart to start Udaan in 2016. It is estimated to have an annual GMV value of $1.2 billion.

Operational Model

Udaan connects 150,000 manufacturers, wholesalers, traders and retailers in India, enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to do business directly with manufacturers. They can deliver goods to more than 500 cities in India and can also pick up goods directly in more than 80 cities. Udaan currently sells mainly electronic products and consumer goods. The company plans to cover industrial products, fresh fruits and vegetables, and office supplies in the near future.

Udaan buys directly from large manufacturers across multiple categories, including apparel, electronics, pharmaceuticals and fast-moving consumer goods. Besides acting as a trading platform for retailers and wholesalers, it has started underwriting loans for these small businesses after obtaining a non-banking financial company (NBFC) license.

Financing

At the end of 2016, the company received a $10 million Series A investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

In early 2018, the company received another $50 million in Series B funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Yuri Milner, Russia's most influential technology investor and entrepreneur.

In September 2018, Udaan, the "Indian version of Alibaba 1688", completed a US$225 million Series C investment, with investors including DST Global Solutions (lead investor) and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

In September 2019, Udaan, the "Indian version of Alibaba 1688", completed a US$300 million Series D financing round. Other investors who previously participated in the Series D financing round included DST Global, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Footpath Ventures and Hillhouse Capital Management.