The archive · Commerce & Marketplaces · Financial decision · 2016–2025
Udaan's B2B marketplace bet survives a $1.8B down round and heads toward EBITDA profit
The ex-Flipkart founders' B2B trade platform went from a $3.2B 2021 peak to a $340M Series E at $1.8B in 2024, then cut burn and set an 18-month path to profit.
Udaan
What the business is
A B2B e-commerce platform connecting manufacturers and brands with small retailers across India — FMCG, staples, pharma and fresh produce — with its own logistics network (udaanExpress).
How it started
Founded in 2016 by three ex-Flipkart executives — Vaibhav Gupta, Sujeet Kumar and Amod Malviya — Udaan bet that India's fragmented wholesale trade would digitize; it raised roughly $1.95B in total and by its own claim held about 70% of India's B2B e-commerce.
What happened
Valued at $3.2B in January 2021, Udaan hit the funding winter hard: in December 2023 it raised $340M in a Series E led by M&G Prudential at roughly $1.8B — nearly a 50% markdown — and laid off about 120 employees a week later. FY24 revenue stayed flat at ₹5,706.6 Cr with a net loss of ₹1,674.1 Cr, while EBITDA burn fell 40% in 2024 and another 20% in early 2025.
How it ended up
Still operating and now positioned as a turnaround, not a casualty: an extended Series G raised a further $114M from M&G and Lightspeed in June 2025, the company consolidated its verticals under Hiveloop Ecommerce after NCLT approval, and it said it was on track for full-group EBITDA profitability within 18 months.
Background
Udaan was founded in 2016 by three former Flipkart executives — Vaibhav Gupta, Sujeet Kumar and Amod Malviya — on a simple bet: India's fragmented wholesale trade between brands and kirana stores could be digitized. The platform connected manufacturers to small retailers across FMCG, staples, pharma and fresh produce, backed by its own delivery network, and by 2021 it was valued at $3.2B.
The party ended when funding dried up. In December 2023 Udaan raised $340M in a Series E led by M&G Prudential at roughly $1.8B — nearly half its 2021 peak — and laid off about 120 employees a week later. FY24 revenue was flat at ₹5,706.6 Cr while the net loss remained at ₹1,674.1 Cr; the company had raised $1.95B in total and claimed ~70% of India's B2B e-commerce.
Udaan responded by turning cost-cutting into the business model: EBITDA burn fell 40% in 2024 and another 20% in the first half of 2025, and an extended Series G raised a further $114M from M&G and Lightspeed in June 2025. The company consolidated its verticals under Hiveloop Ecommerce, said it was on track for full-group EBITDA profitability within 18 months, and aimed for a public listing — a down round that became a turnaround, not a collapse.
What has to be true
- The bet was scale: a low-margin B2B marketplace only works with dense networks of buyers, sellers and delivery, so Udaan spent aggressively while capital was cheap.
- When valuations reset, the down round at $1.8B showed investors would fund survival but not old marks — nearly half the 2021 peak vanished.
- Udaan's comeback was operational: cutting EBITDA burn 40% a year for three years and adding margin points turned a troubled balance sheet into an IPO story.
- Existing backers kept bridging — M&G and Lightspeed led both the $340M Series E and the $114M Series G, protecting their positions rather than abandoning the bet.
What can be applied
Scale bets die in funding winters: after a $1.8B down round, Udaan survived by making cost a weapon — EBITDA burn cut 40% a year for three years — and keeping backers funding each bridge.
Aftermath
As of June 2025, Udaan had raised a total of $1.95B and was valued around $1.8B. It consolidated its business verticals under Hiveloop Ecommerce after NCLT approval in January 2025, reported FY24 revenue of ₹5,706.6 Cr, and said it was on track for full-group EBITDA profitability within 18 months, with a public listing targeted around end-2025 or early 2026. It remained the largest player in Indian B2B e-commerce by its own claim, focusing fresh capital on FMCG and the HoReCa segment.
Sources
- Udaan's Valuation Drops By Nearly 50% To $1.8 Bn In Down Round
- Udaan raises $114 million in extended Series G round led by M&G and Lightspeed
- udaan raises $114 million from M&G Investments, Lightspeed
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.
Your turn
You just read one. Describe what you are building, and see who is betting on the same thing.
Free account · 3 free questions · no card