Written by Pranav Mukul | New Delhi |
January 6, 2022 3:03:12 am
A convertible note is a debt instrument that is typically issued by a company at its pre-IPO stage and can be converted into equity at a later stage, when the company goes public. (Reuters)
Ahead of its planned public offering, business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform Udaan has raised $250 million of which $200 million has been raised through a convertible note and $50 million through debt funding, according to an internal mail written by the company’s CFO Aditya Pande. The Indian Express has reviewed contents of this mail.
Pande wrote, “We are excited and glad to share that we have 5 new marquee investors coming onboard the Udaan juggernaut, as part of our recently concluded convertible note financing. This round was oversubscribed 2x and also saw participation from our existing investors, including those who bought into the company through the secondary (ESOP) round in H1 2021.”
Among its investors, Udaan counts Lightspeed Venture Partners, Tencent, DST Global, GGV Capital, etc, and sources informed that the latest round of debt financing through convertible notes saw participation from new investors such as Tor Investment, Arena Investors and M&G Investments.
A convertible note is a debt instrument that is typically issued by a company at its pre-IPO stage and can be converted into equity at a later stage, when the company goes public. “This reflects our “broadening the capitalization strategy” as we architect our journey for public markets and thereafter. With this convertible offering, we, as a company, have started building a complete new muscle in our finance function — which we will continue to strengthen as we go forward,” Pande wrote in his mail.
An Udaan spokesperson did not respond to request for comments on the story. The Bengaluru-based company, which was founded by former Flipkart employees, plans to launch its IPO over the next 18-24 months. Including the latest fundraise, the company has raised a total of $1.4 billion since it was founded in 2016.
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