New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANAS): B2B e-commerce platform Udaan on Thursday said that it has raised $340 million (a mix of equity and convertible notes) in a Series E round led by UK-based savings and investment firm M&G Prudential, and participated by existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and DST Global.

Udaan said that it aims to deploy fresh funds towards strengthening customer experience, market penetration, strategic vendor partnerships, and to reinforce long-term capabilities of supply-chain and credit.

The fresh funding “enables our continued journey of growth and profitability, positioning us well to be public-market ready in the next 12-18 months,” said Vaibhav Gupta, Udaan co-founder and CEO.

Founded in 2016, Bengaluru-based Udaan has raised $1.8 Bn in funding to date. The unicorn said the latest funding round is subject to regulatory approvals. Last year, Udaan had raised a $200 million debt financing round by issuing convertible notes to new investors.

“Series E round strengthens our balance sheet and fully funds our business plan. The regional-operated design will get us closer to our customers and make our operations more agile and efficient,” said Gupta.

In FY23, the unicorn saw its operating revenue nosedive by 43 per cent to Rs 5,609 crore from Rs 9,897.3 crore in FY22.