Microsoft joins Udaan's $225Mn debt round

Microsoft Corporation has joined business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform Udaan's $225 million fundraising through the sale of convertible debt. The company had launched its convertible notes offering last year and was oversubscribed by two times.

The round has now increased to $225 million with participation from Microsoft and others. The notes will be converted into equity when Udaan raises funds next or during its planned Initial Public Offering in the next 12-18 months.

With the closure of the convertible notes round, the total funds raised by Udaan through debt and convertible notes in the last six months have reached nearly $275 million.

Chief Financial Officer Aditya Pande said, “We are excited to announce that Microsoft Corporation joined our convertible notes offering launched in October last year. M&G Prudential, Kaiser Permanente, Nomura, TOR, Arena Investors, Samena Capital and Ishana Capital amongst others participated in the convertible notes offering round.”

“The step to bolster the balance sheet through mandatorily convertible notes to IPO highlights the continued evolution of Udaan’s capital strategy and is in line with our preparation for a public listing in the next 12-18 months,” he added.

The company has operations across categories including lifestyle, electronics, home & kitchen, staples, fruits & vegetables, FMCG, pharma, toys and general merchandise. The platform enables supply chain and logistics operations focused on B2B trade and is built on strong technology, for daily delivery across 900+ cities and 12,000+ pin codes through udaanExpress.

It enables financial products and services to small businesses, manufacturers, and retailers through udaanCapital to grow their business. Udaan claims to have over 3 million users, 1.7 million retailers and 30,000 sellers on the platform across the country.