Construction materials marketplace Infra.Market on Tuesday said it has raised USD 125 million (about Rs 928.1 crore) in funding from Tiger Global. The Series D funding round valued the company at USD 2.5 billion, a statement said. The company has raised USD 268.5 million in funding till date from investors including Evolvence India, Sistema Asia, Foundamental, Accel Partners, Nexus VP, and Trifecta Capital Advisors.
In February 2021, the company had raised a debt of Rs 100 crore from Alteria Capital. Founded by Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda in 2016, Infra.Market is a construction solutions company that leverages technology to provide an enhanced procurement experience for all players in the construction ecosystem. The company is targeting the USD 140 billion construction materials market with a strong focus on the infrastructure sector. Infra.Market is expected to significantly benefit from the ongoing increase in allocation for infrastructure projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, which has planned projects worth USD 2 Trillion to be executed over the next few years.
“The new fund-raise will enable Infra.Market to enhance its technological offerings, seed newer markets, and advance their initiatives such as private label brands, direct to retail channel, and exports. We are also keen to grow the business through acquisitions,” Infra.Market founder Souvik Sengupta told PTI. This fresh round of capital raising will be used to acquire mid-sized brands in the construction market, he added. In May, the company had acquired a majority stake in Equiphunt, a construction equipment rental service based in Hyderabad. The company caters to both institutional customers (B2B) and retail outlets (D2R) in the construction materials sector.
Over the last 12 months, Infra.Market has expanded its supply to retail outlets steadily and followed a dual model of opening flagship stores (for catering to smaller stores) and dealership stores (for retail customers). “These stores are present across 10 states in India and export to markets such as Dubai, Singapore, Jordan, Italy, etc. The company intends to use the proceeds of the raise to cater to newer markets and increase its presence across product verticals and look at acquisition opportunities across the construction ecosystem,” Sengupta said. In India, the company has primarily had its presence in the West and South of India. With the new growth capital, the company intends to increase its footprint across eastern and northern states such as West Bengal, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
“…we will accelerate pan-india expansion in the coming year across retail, B2B and private label segments. We intend to increase our presence across all construction material products as it increases its product portfolio. We intend to launch private labeled brands in Plumbing, Paints, and Sanitary ware in the coming months,” Sengupta said. He noted that Infra.Market is expected to cross USD 1 billion in sales by the end of the calendar year and is growing 5 times year-on-year with best-in-class profitability and return on capital metrics amongst all B2B commerce companies in India. “More than two-thirds of the sales are contributed by the company’s own brands. The company has also seen both D2R and export businesses soaring to over 10 per cent of sales each within the first year,” he said.
Sengupta highlighted that the company exports to markets such as Dubai, Singapore, Jordan, and Italy, and is in the process of setting up a subsidiary in Singapore where it will have its first international office for global expansion. Commenting on the transaction, Tiger Global Management Partner Scott Shleifer said: “We are delighted to double-down on our investment in Infra. Market”. “The team has demonstrated exceptional growth and continues to disrupt the construction materials industry. Over the past year, Infra. Market has become the go-to partner, especially during the pandemic when the traditional supply chains were disrupted, he added.
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