India: Udaan enters unicorn club with $225m funding from Yuri Milner’s DST, Lightspeed

Photo: Reuters

By Pramugdha Mamgain

September 3, 2018

Udaan, an online marketplace for businesses, has raised $225 million (Rs 1,575 crore) from Russian internet billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global and Lightspeed Global Growth at a valuation of $1 billion, reported The Times of India.

At this valuation, Bengaluru-based Udaan has become one of the fastest Indian startups to enter the unicorn club, a moniker used for privately held startups that are valued at $1 billion or more.

The development comes more than six months after the startup raised $50 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners US. The round also saw participation from funds associated with Milner. That time, Udaan had fetched a valuation of $200 million. The latest round has seen it’s valuation surge almost five time in less than a year.

In November 2016, Udaan, had raised $10 million in Series A funding from Lightspeed India and Lightspeed US.

Udaan was launched in November 2016 by Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, and Sujeet Kumar, former senior executives at Flipkart, and became fully operational last year. It is an end-to-end marketplace that connects businesses in consumer goods, fashion and electronics, offers logistics services and also started lending early this year.

Udaan is one of the many startups trying to tap India’s B2B e-commerce market potential. The overall B2B market size is expected to be around $700 billion by 2020, according to an April 2016 report by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Deloitte. Other startups operating in the space include Just Buy Live, Power2sme, and Moglix.

Also Read:

Lightspeed India raises $175m for second fund

India: B2B marketplace Udaan raises $50m from Lightspeed, others

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW