Infra.market turns unicorn

Mumbai: Infra.market, a construction materials focused online marketplace that sells mostly its own brands, is the latest to join the unicorn club in the country with the latest $100 million funding led by Tiger Global, valuing it at $1 billion.

The Thane-based online marketplace founded in 2016 has reached the coveted unicorn status within 20 months of raising its seed round from Accel Partners in June 2019, a company official told Thursday.

The year 2020 saw 12 unicorns being created in the country and the latest Nasscom report sees the number soaring to 50 this year. And, Infra.market is the maiden entry this year. "The series-C round of $100 million led by Tiger Global will enable us to enhance technological offerings, seed newer markets and advance our private label brands which contribute more than two-thirds of our sales, and expand our direct to retail channels and exports," Infra.market said in a statement on Thursday.

The latest funding round values the marketplace at $1 billion, it added. Its existing investors, who also participated in this round, include Accel Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Evolvence India Fund, Sistema Asia Fund and Foundamental Gmbh. Infra.market, a one-stop marketplace for quality construction materials, which are mostly its own brands, was founded by Souvik Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda in 2016. As a procurement marketplace it leverages technology to provide an enhanced procurement experience for all players in the construction ecosystem that is worth $140 billion.

Its gross merchandise value stood at $400 million in 2020 and the company is aiming to scale past $1 billion by the end of this year, Sengupta said. It caters to both institutional customers and retail outlets in the construction materials sector and supplies across 10 states and exports to Dubai, Singapore, and Bangladesh, among others. Infra.market's own private labels contribute more than two-thirds of its sales, of which 10 per cent are exports.