Infra.Market, a B2B building material startup has reportedly raised USD 50 million from Mars Unicorn Fund of Liquidity Group to expand its presence across product categories while catering to untapped international markets, particularly in the chemical segment.
The other investors include Evolvence India, Accel NSE -2.76%, Sistema Asia Fund, and Nexus Venture Partners. The company valuation was around USD 2.5 billion when it raised USD 125 million in August 2021 under the direction of Tiger Global. However, the latest post-round valuation has not been disclosed.
For those unaware, the Income-Tax department is also looking into possible tax evasion by the corporation during the same time as the fundraising. According to sources, the investigation revealed that the company was in talks to raise USD 250 million at a USD 4 billion value.
It is worth noting here that Infra.Market is a start-up founded in 2016 by Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta, which leverages technology to offer a procuring experience to all participants in the construction ecosystem.
The company targets various problems such as a lack of price transparency, a dispersed vendor base, uncertain quality, and ineffective logistics by concentrating on high-volume construction materials under its brands.
In the construction materials industry, the firm serves both institutional clients (B2B) and retail establishments (D2R).
Infra.Market claims that more than half of its revenue comes from its brands with an expansion of its footprint to more than 10 countries. In the meantime, the start-up has seen its export business jump to over 25% of revenue.
The firm intends to capitalize on the manufacturing capabilities of Indian chemical manufacturers, develop full-stack procurement solutions for the chemical industry under one roof, and assist them in expanding their global reach by giving them supply chain solutions, access to newer markets, and raw materials for their manufacturing processes.
Infra.Market via its private equity firm True North has recently acquired RDC Concrete, which is one of India's major non-cement ready mix concrete producers.
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