Udaan's getting smaller, its problems aren't

It’s been a tumultuous few years for business-to-business (B2B) trade platform Udaan. Once among the most promising startup bets in the country, even becoming the fastest Indian startup to achieve unicorn status in 2018, it has struggled to live up to its early potential.

During the pandemic, a difficult period for Udaan, the Bengaluru-based unicorn saw two of its founders—Sujeet Kumar and Amod Malviya—step away from active roles in the company. Now under the leadership of its third co-founder, Vaibhav Gupta, Udaan is still fighting gravity as it struggles to break out of its downward spiral.

In the year ended March 2023 (FY23), Udaan’s revenues almost halved, dipping to Rs 5,629 crore from Rs 9,900 crore in the year prior, as it downsized its business in a desperate attempt to cut costs. This de-growth, though, doesn’t appear to have been a one-off. According to multiple people aware of the matter, CEO Gupta continues to chop away at Udaan’s business in order to keep the company’s head above water.