EvolutionX Debt Capital to invest $35-40 mn in udaan

NEW DELHI: Growth-stage debt financing platform EvolutionX Debt Capital has committed an investment into B2B e-commerce platform udaan, a joint statement said on Thursday.

While both the companies did not disclose the corpus, sources aware of the development said that the commitment is in the range of $35-40 million (about ₹286-326 crore).

udaan claims to have over 3 million retailers across various categories including lifestyle, electronics, home and kitchen, staples, fruits & vegetables, FMCG, pharma and general merchandise.

With this, banking firm DBS and Singapore government-run investment firm Temasek backed EvolutionX had made a total commitment of $85 million in two tech unicorns in India so far in 2022.

EvolutionX, Partner and Co-Head leading investments across India and Southeast Asia, Rahul Shah said while venture debt has become a growing asset class in India, there is a clear gap in the growth debt space with EvolutionX emerging as a leading player to bridge this gap.

“We believe that udaan’s business model holds immense growth potential while keeping technological innovation at its forefront. We look forward to supporting the company’s journey of transforming and improving India’s huge ecosystem of retailers, traders, and wholesalers through innovative digitalised solutions,” Shah said.

EvolutionX provides amortising term-debt facilities in the range of $20-50 million along with warrants or convertible instruments.

The fresh commitment follows a $120 million fund raised by udaan a fortnight back from existing shareholders and bondholders.

With this, the total funds raised by udaan in the last four quarters have reached around $400 million, making it one of the largest structured instrument fund raises in the country.

udaan Co-founder and CEO Vaibhav Gupta said that the company has witnessed robust growth in business during the last two consecutive quarters after achieving the milestone of positive unit economics in the previous quarter.

“We will continue to invest in technology to further enhance customer experience & scale; build additional capabilities to tap the potential of the kirana e-commerce market; and deploy capital in areas that will drive our future growth and profitability. “We are excited to join hands with Rahul and his team at EvolutionX as long-term partners on this growth journey,” Gupta said.