The online business to business industry in India is slowly spreading its fledgling wings. Companies are making their mark and impressing investment firms to part with money. The latest to raise capital is Udaan.com. The company, brainchild of former Flipkart executives (Sujeet Kumar, Vaibhav Gupta and Amod Malviya), has raised $ 10 million from Lightspeed Venture Partners India and US.
Udaan.com is in the pilot stage, and is focussing on mobiles and apparel. The company plans to launch full-fledged operations in the next two months.
The industry is gaining traction in India and everyone wants a share in the pie. India’s B2B market is slated to grow to Rs. 45 lakh crore by 2020 (from the current 19.13 lakh crore). Leading companies like Amazon, Alibaba, and Shopclues have their wholesale ventures. Earlier this year, Shopclues tied up with Chinese company DHgate and the Singapore Traders Association to improve its wholesale arm.
Amazon has extended its B2B operations to include more cities, and has invested Rs. 115 crores. Alibaba plans to collaborate with transport companies including DHL and Delhivery to expand its business. The purpose is to aid its sellers. The Chinese ecommerce company is also in talks with banks to raise capital.
Wholesale business has greater scope than retail due to the sheer volume of sales, and the reduced role of discounts in the equation. In this climate, it is heartening to know that new players are coming in, and getting the required support from investors.
Editor team is specialized in introducing the marketplace content targeting the Indian online sellers. They plan and coordinate to bring the appealing content for the small businesses on how to partner with the e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart and strategies for improving their online business.
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