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From a sprawling marketplace to a hyperlocal model: Has Udaan found its winning formula? CEO Vaibhav Gupta believes so

Pranav Balakrishnan

October 15, 2025 | 19 Min Read

Udaan was a promising unicorn till it found itself knee-deep in trouble post-pandemic. Years of struggle later, CEO Vaibhav Gupta says the company has finally hit upon a sustainable strategy that will make it profitable and help it seize the opportunity in B2B ecommerce.

Before the pandemic, B2B ecommerce platform Udaan was the fastest Indian startup to hit a $1 billion valuation, achieving unicorn status in just 26 months after its launch in 2016.

This was the time when investors were bullish on India’s ecommerce story—not just in the consumer segment but in B2B as well. Walmart’s $16 billion buyout of Flipkart fuelled the ecommerce boom further. Incidentally, Udaan was founded by former Flipkart executives Vaibhav Gupta, Amod Malviya, and Sujeet Kumar.

The company’s fortunes soared as it grew into a sprawling marketplace that sold everything from groceries and fashion to electronics and more. Soon enough it became the poster child of B2B ecommerce.

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