FIRST INFRASTRUCTURE COMPANY TO ENTER THE UNICORN CLUB – INFRA.MARKET, NOW VALUED AT $1-BILLION

Making a massive leap from a $170 million valuation to $1 billion posts a Series C round raising $100 million led by Tiger Global, and other existing investors such as Fundamental Gmbh, Accel Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Evolvence India Fund, and Sistema Asia Fund. Avendus Capital, the exclusive financial adviser for this transaction guided this 4-year-old Mumbai-based startup ‘Infra.Market’ to enter the coveted unicorn club. 

Founded in 2016 by Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta, Infra.Market is a B2B one-stop online procurement marketplace for construction material, logistics, and financial support. The startup leverages technology to enhance the procurement experience for players in the construction ecosystem, and utilizes the idle manufacturing capacity with 300 contract manufacturers to sell products under its own brand which it then sells to large infrastructure companies and retail outlets. Bootstrapped since its inception, the company has been net profitable, however now flush with funding, Infra.Market intends to extend its services into the B2C market. Currently catering to the institutional customers (B2B) and retail outlets (D2R) in the construction materials sector, counts Tata Projects, Crystal Group, Larsen and Toubro, Ashoka Buildcon, Ambuja Cement among others as its clients. Supplying across 10 states, it caters to industries such as Automotive, Cement, Real Estate, Steel, Infrastructure, and Chemical. With a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $ 400-million over the past 4 years, Infra.Market targets to reach a GMV of $ 1 billion this year. Additionally, the company also exports to markets such as the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia,  and Bangladesh. 

Having raised $ 20 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global in 2019, and $ 5.4 million in a mix of equity and debt from Trifecta in 2020, with an overall raise of $ 34.7 million. The company hosts 304 clients, 3000 small retailers with 742 projects across 4 countries and connected to 289 manufacturers, and has daily deliveries reaching 946. Over two-thirds of its sales are materialised from the company’s own brands across verticals such as concrete, stone material, chemicals, and cement. With the latest funding, Infra.Market aims to launch an in-house brand in paints and plywood, while also setting up retail presence with its private labels in steel, cement and flooring. The company also plans to up its store count over the next 18 months by 5X to 1000 by tying up with manufacturing units and setting up supply chains in new areas. Enhancing its technological offerings, Infra.Markets aims to advance their D2R channel and exports as well. 

“We are excited to onboard the new investors on the journey to build one of the largest B2B startups in India. We are thankful for the new investors and the continued support of our existing investors as we remain focused on building a profitable and sustainable venture while reshaping the construction ecosystem through technology,” Aaditya Sharda, co-founder Infra. Markets commented.

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