
Udaan closes latest funding round at $114 million led by UK's M&G, Lightspeed
Business-to-business ecommerce platform Udaan has closed a $114 million funding round led by existing investors M&G Prudential (UK) and Lightspeed Venture Partners, the company said in a press statement on Monday.
The round, executed at a flat valuation of $1.8 billion, includes the previously disclosed $75 million infusion from the two investors, which founder and CEO Vaibhav Gupta had announced during a townhall earlier this year, as first reported by ET in February.
Udaan's valuation had dropped by 44% in 2023 to around $1.8 billion, down from its peak of $3.2 billion following a funding round in January 2021 .
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Play War Thunder now for free
War Thunder
Play Now
Undo
The company has not officially commented on its valuation.
The Bengaluru-based firm said the fresh capital will be used to deepen its presence across key categories including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and hotel, restaurant, and café (HoReCa) segments. Udaan also plans to expand its private label brands, especially in the staples category.
Live Events
'This capital raise will also fortify Udaan's balance sheet, providing enhanced financial flexibility as the company advances toward its public market debut,' the company said in the statement.
Discover the stories of your interest
Blockchain
5 Stories
Cyber-safety
7 Stories
Fintech
9 Stories
E-comm
9 Stories
ML
8 Stories
Edtech
6 Stories
Gupta added that Udaan has been cutting costs aggressively.
'We have reduced our Ebitda burn by 40% every year for the last three years and are on track to achieve full group Ebitda profitability in the next 18 months,' he said.
In FY24, Udaan reported operating revenue of Rs 5,707 crore, showing flat growth amid major operational restructuring aimed at reducing losses .
As ET reported earlier, the company restructured its debt late last year but still carries around $100 million in debt, with repayment timelines having been pushed out .

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
55% employment to Kannadigas in group A, B in all industries: Patil
Dharwad: The state govt is committed ensure employment to Kannadigas in industrial sector and it has brought in a new policy regulating the industries setting up their units in Karnataka to reserve jobs for Kannadigas, said industries minister MB Patil. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Speaking to reporters in Dharwad recently, he said that as per the new policy, the industries have to reserve 55% of jobs for Kannadigas in A and B categories, while the reservation in group C and D is capped at 75%. The industries too have agreed to the concept and hence emphasis has been laid to provide more employment opportunities to Kannadigas, he said. Patil stated that the Global Investors' Meet has been a success. It attracted proposals worth Rs 10 lakh crore. "We expect at least 70% of these proposals turn into a reality and the department is constantly following up with the companies", he added. The govt, in a bid to correct regional imbalance and facilitate setting up of industries in tier-two cities, has launched 'Beyond Bengaluru' scheme. The GIM too has focussed on this policy. 75% of the proposals have been asked to look for land outside Bengaluru and 40% of them in North Karnataka. Therefore, there will be industrial boom in North Karnataka very soon, he added. On FMCG cluster in Hubballi-Dharwad, Patil acknowledged that the land prices have shot up and the govt has nothing to do with it. Many farmers whose lands were identified for acquisition have moved to the courts seeking better compensation. Based on the verdicts of the courts on compensation, the KIADB has fixed the final price. However, the department is in constant touch with firms willing to set up FMCG units, he added. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Patil said NIDAC has set up its plant at Belur Industries in Dharwad and the plant has come up with an estimated cost of Rs 600 crore. It will generate 800 direct and 900 indirect employment thus supporting 3,000 families. The company which manufactures batteries and convertors in collaboration with Japan and France has plans to expand its operation and will generate over 4,000 employment in next two years, he said. The product will be exported to US and other countries.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Tobacco market in Andhra Pradesh in crisis due to slump in global demand
Vijayawada: Poor demand in the global markets has induced serious crisis in tobacco market in Andhra Pradesh. In fact, the tobacco growers themselves put the traders in advantageous position by producing almost 40 percent surplus crop than the authorized stock. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Betting high on the prices fetched by the FCV (virginia) tobacco growers during the last season, hundreds of farmers swung into cultivation of black burley tobacco causing further crisis in the market. The state govt is virtually struggling to achieve balance between the growers' demands for high prices and the slow response from the traders to pick up stock. Virginia tobacco growers have been complaining about rejection of stocks in the auction platforms particularly in Ongole-I, Ongole-II and Vellampalli platforms in Prakasam district. In order to escape from the demands for high price, the traders are simply rejecting the stocks without offering any price. While the farmers are expecting a price of anywhere around Rs 300 per kg, the traders are ready to pick up the stock between Rs 220 and Rs 250 per kg. State govt held several rounds of discussions with the big exporters, cigarette manufacturing companies and requested them to pick up stocks to avoid further protests from the field. However, the situation did not ease as traders are still awaiting for export orders. CPI(M) state secretary V Srinivasa Rao demanded that the Centre must purchase stocks through state trading corporation (STC) or tobacco board. He criticized the state and Union govts for not responding to the tobacco growers' concerns. The tobacco board authorized a crop of 167 million kg for FCV during the 2024-25 crop season after taking feedback from the growers and traders. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Sensing trouble that farmers might go for additional crop, board chairman Yaswanth Kumar Chidipothu himself went around the tobacco growing districts and appealed to farmers to stick to the authorized stock. However, several farmers went ahead with the additional crop and the production touched almost 240 million kg, which is nearly 70mkg higher than the authorized crop size. Taking advantage of the situation, exporters and traders deliberately slowed down the purchase apparently to exert pressure on the growers. The growers too did not realise the situation in the initial weeks and sticked to their demand for a price above Rs 300 per kg. The stalemate led to almost no purchase situation in the auction platforms. After nearly 70 days of launching the auctions, just 52 mkg of stock was purchased, of the total expected production of 240 million kg. The growers are worried that it might take at least 4 to 5 months to pick up the authorized crop and another two months to pick up surplus stock. This means that auctions might not be going to be completed any time before Nov. Even as the FCV growers struggle to overcome the crisis, the cultivation of about 80 mkg of black burley, which is just a mixing stock, has deepened the crisis. While the white burley was almost picked up by the traders as per the bond, the black burley was left unattended.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
In a few months, Noida residents may hail a city bus ride every 10 minute
Noida: The Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway development authorities will jointly form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) unit to operate a fleet of 500 electric buses, with Noida leading the initiative. A consultant will be appointed to define the SPV's structure and recommend board members. The proposal for the project was recently discussed in a meeting in Lucknow attended by Noida Authority officials. Once set up, the SPV's details will be shared with the state govt. According to officials, the SPV will bear the operational costs of buses, which will be run by private agencies. Proposed equity split for the SPV is 48% for Noida, and 26% each for GNIDA and YEIDA. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Urban Transport (DUT) is working to hire an agency to operate the buses under the gross cost contract (GCC) model. The project is estimated to cost Rs 675 crore – which would cover the cost of purchasing e-buses, fast chargers (240 kW), plant and equipment, tools, and depot maintenance. Noida CEO Lokesh M said, "To run these buses, an SPV of the three authorities will be formed. While the DUT is procuring the buses and hiring an agency to run them, the viability gap funding will come from the authorities according to their stakes." The SPV will be ready by the time the operators and buses are in place, he added. As per the request for proposal (RFP) floated by DUT in March, the 500 buses will be deployed across 25 routes – 15 in Noida, seven in Greater Noida seven, and three in the YEIDA area. Under this plan, 300 buses will be deployed in Noida (150 12m ones and 150 9m ones), and 100 each will be deployed in Greater Noida and YEIDA. A maximum of two operators will manage the fleet, with services expected to commence in the second half of the year. Buses will ply at 10-15 minute intervals during peak hours and 15–20 minutes during off-peak times. The SPV will manage the fare system, while the operators will be paid on a per-kilometer basis. The project is planned for a 12-year term. As per the RFP, each bus is meant to ply 200km per day. However, in practice, buses may run 250–300km daily. Additional SPV-related costs include salaries for 50 employees (Rs 3 crore annually), office and utility expenses (Rs 2–3 crore), fare collection systems (Rs 2.5–3 crore), a project monitoring unit (Rs 1 crore), and depot maintenance (Rs 1–1.5 crore). Officials said that fares are expected to generate Rs 135 crore annually, with another Rs 10 crore from advertising. However, despite total revenues of Rs 145 crore, projected expenses exceed Rs 370 crore, creating a funding gap of Rs 225–230 crore annually. Noida Authority's share of the viability gap funding (VGF), based on its 48% stake, comes to about Rs 107 crore per year, or Rs 1,290 crore over the contract's 12-year duration. Initially, buses will be operated from terminals located in Sector 82 and Sector 91. Noida Authority will handle the necessary infrastructure development. Within one year of the agreement, Greater Noida and YEIDA will each construct one bus depot, officials added.