Startup funding: Udaan raises $340 million ahead of planned IPO in 2025

Udaan a B2B (business-to-business) e-commerce platform has raised $340 million in Series E financing. This signals a slow return of deal momentum amid tight liquidity conditions and a global economic slowdown. The fundraising comes ahead of Udaan's planned IPO in 2025.

Udaan Fundraising

As per Bloomberg, the Series E funding round was done through a combination of fresh equity and conversion of debt. Series E funding is the fifth major round of fundraising that a startup might go through. This round occurs late in the fundraising process, and usually takes place shortly before a company plans its initial public offering (IPO).

The funding round was led by M&G Plc and saw participation from existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global.

Also Read: Year ender 2023: Indian startup funding plummets by 73%, Here's why

As per Udaan co-founder and CEO Vaibhav Gupta the fund will help them in furthering their business plan and positions them well to be public-market ready in the next 12-18 months.

According to McKinsey & Co, Udaan's business is expected to increase to a $150 billion in sales in a decade. Udaan is planning an IPO in 2025, but it is still undecided if it will go public in India or overseas

Funding recovery

Udaan's fundraising is the third largest by a company in a single round for 2023. Fintech firm PhonePe raised $850 million this year, which included a single round of $350 million from General Atlantic in January and subsequent funding of $100 million in May

Eyewear startup Lenskart raised $500 million from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in March and $100 million from ChrysCapital in June. Ola Electric raised $380 million in October, although $240 million of this comprised debt.

As per Business Standard, in the last few weeks, there has been an improved momentum in fund-raising. For instance, Vegrow, a B2B fruit marketplace, raised $46 million in Series C and digital lender Aye Finance raised Rs 310 crore in Series F funding.