Udaan Raises 30 Million US Dollar From Trustroot

Bengaluru-based Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce startup Udaan raised US$30 million from Singapore-based parent company Trustroot Internet on March 23. 

Bengaluru-based Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce startup Udaan raised US$30 million from Singapore-based parent company Trustroot Internet on March 23. 

‘Udaan’ is a Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce platform, designed to solve core trade problems for small, medium and large businesses across India. It is the largest such national distribution platform of its kind enabling retailers and businesses to source merchandise from manufacturers, brands, white labels, importers etc. on a single platform. udaan brings to users the power of technology to grow their business. 

Udaan was established in 2016 by three former Flipkart senior executives–Amod Malviya, Sujeet Kumar and Vaibhav Gupta. Udaan is ahead of competitors like ShopKirana and Jumbotail in business reach, and claims to have matched 20,000 wholesalers to three million retailers in more than 900 cities since its inception. 

Last year, Trustroot invested $20 million, $5 million and $10 million in Udaan in May, June and July respectively. 

In its valuation report in February, Udaan valued itself at $7.5 billion based on cash flows for nine financial years and equity infusions expected over three years. According to the same report, the firm passed a resolution to receive $51 million in an internal infusion from Trustroot; the latest funding is the first tranche of this expected investment. 

“B2B e-commerce is a big market opportunity with 500 million SMEs doing annual trade worth of $600-800 billion” Udaan Co-founder Sujeet Kumar said in an interview last year. 

The company is one of India’s most highly-valued and highly-funded startups, with a roster of high- flying investors that includes Tencent, Altimeter Capital, Digital Sky Technologies (DST Global), GGV Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Hillhouse Capital Group.

5 reasons why your e-commerce start-up isn’t making profits

50% of the e-commerce companies which are being set up are headed towards failure.

The most popular kind of start-up in today’s day is e-commerce as people in India are gradually shifting from in-store shopping to e-commerce shopping. However, 50% of the e-commerce companies which are being set up are headed towards failure because of various reasons.

Listed below are a few probable reasons why your e-commerce start-up isn’t making any profits:

i. Poor quality images

When the customers shop online, they tend to focus more on the visual aspects of the products. If the images of the product seem damaged or unappealing to the viewer, s/he might choose to not buy the product. For more outreach, display the products with a multiple-angle view of the product.

Related Post: Why India’s digital commerce players need better growth model

ii. Bad product descriptions

For products which are uncommon, a product description needs to be unique and crisp in order to interest the customer. If you are solely depending on technical descriptions of the products, you won’t really be able to sell your product as the viewer wants more meaty stuff like ratings and more quirky descriptions which help him understand the product better.



iii. Undisclosed shipping rates

You should make the customer aware of the shipping rates for a product before s/he puts it in the cart. Hidden shipping charges make the customer feel like s/he has been deceived and they tend to abandon their cart midway. This results in loss of a sale. You can add features like a pin code zipper which helps the customer calculate the shipping rates.

Related Post: Top 5 pitfalls Indian e-commerce sellers should look out for

iv. Poor promotion

Since it is an e-commerce website, you should be promoting it more on social media and via digital marketing. If there isn’t enough hype about your page, you will not garner enough traffic for your site to make sales. Inorganic and organic forms of social media marketing can help you promote your page and products better.

Related Post: 5 ways Amazon is nailing the e-commerce business in India

v. Pricing

Since the Indian market is heavily price-sensitive, you need to focus on pricing. If the products are priced too low, then the customers will think that your products are of inferior quality. Hence, you need to strike a balance in terms of pricing to interest more people in your website.