By Sankalp Phartiyal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian e-commerce firm Udaan has raised $200 million via convertible note financing in a round in which new and existing investors participated, an internal memo by the company’s chief financial officer said on Wednesday.
Bengaluru-based Udaan, backed by venture firm Lightspeed, DST Global and China’s Tencent, supplies everything from groceries and fashion to electronics to businesses and shop owners.
A convertible note is a debt instrument used by investors to make profits when a company goes public.
Udaan last year reshuffled its top management and said it will look to list on the market by 2023.
“This (the fundraise) reflects our “broadening the capitalization strategy” as we architect our journey for public markets and thereafter,” CFO Aditya Pande said in an email to employees which was seen by Reuters.
The round was oversubscribed by two times and led five new investors to become shareholders in the company, Pande added.
Udaan did not respond to a request for comment.
Udaan also raised $50 million via debt in the three months to Dec 2021.
More than 3 million retailers source goods from Udaan across 1,000 cities in India. The company also offers logistics and credit to customers.
(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal, Editing by Louise Heavens)
