to instantly read 150+ free stories & 250-word summaries of all our stories

The B2B Boom

Can Udaan become the Flipkart of B2B e-commerce in India?

Udaan, whose founders came from Flipkart, became a billion-dollar unicorn in just over two years because it hit India’s massive and untapped B2B opportunity at the right time and place. Can it pull off another Flipkart?

06/06/19

Abinaya Vijayaraghavan

Started just three years ago, Udaan became the fastest Indian startup to reach unicorn status last year

The B2B e-commerce marketplace not only brings buyers and sellers together, it handles logistics and offers credit too

Udaan’s real test will be in converting free users to paying ones, something many vendors in the space are loath to do

It will also come into conflict with heavyweights such as Reliance, Amazon and Walmart

vendor-4049916_1920-1920x1080.jpg

Want to read a free 200 word summary?

In north-western Bengaluru is a noisy, bustling market, selling everything from onions to rice, flour, pulses and sugar. This is the Yeshwanthpur yard, the city’s biggest wholesale market for agricultural produce. It’s also where a startup called Udaan is now a prominent fixture. A business-to-business (B2B) online marketplace, Udaan is used by about 300 of…

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Recurring, Quarterly or Weekly Product.

Read the full story. Subscribe now.

Why subscribe? Let us explain.

Already Registered?

Related stories

More stories in /Business, /Reportage & /Startups

See all in Analysis, Business & Startups

This story is for subscribers only.
or

Read the full story. Subscribe now.

Why subscribe? Let us explain.

The selected story is available only for paid subscribers. Might want to change your mind!

Subscribe now

Already Registered?

Questions?

What is The Ken?

The Ken is a subscription-driven media site. We write one story a day (weekdays only). These stories have sharp, original insights on technology, business, science and healthcare from India.

Why do I have to sign up to read your stories?

Our stories are not free. Well, some select stories are. But, a significant part of what we write at The Ken is for subscribers only. We put in a lot of effort and resources in writing our stories and believe that you must pay for good journalism.
Hence, our three plans. 1) The annual membership
2) The free sign up
3) The recurring quarterly subscription

On journalism and why you should pay for it, if you haven’t already seen it, here’s a great explainer from John Oliver.

So, one must pay for journalism?

Yes.

How many stories will I get if I take an annual membership?

200+ stories.

And, in the free sign up?

Four stories every month.

Do I get a refund?

We allow you to sample our journalism for free before signing up, and after you do, we stand by its quality. But we do not offer refunds.

I am not getting my daily emails. Do I have to whitelist emails from The Ken?

An added benefit of your subscription (free/paid) are the daily personalised emails. These emails, at times, might end up in your spam/junk folder due to emojis, attachments or images. In case you’re not receiving these emails, it might help to whitelist us. If the problem still persists, write to us at [email protected].

Why am I unable to access the archives?

Full and unrestricted access to our archives is a feature of our annual membership.

My payment is not going through, what can I do?

Please write to us at [email protected] detailing the payment error or queries.

See all FAQs