Accel invests in estate, construction materials platform Infra.Market

By Narinder Kapur

  • 21 Aug 2019
Credit: Thinkstock

Business-to-business marketplace for real estate and construction materials Infra.Market has raised $3.5 million (approximately Rs 25.04 crore at current exchange rates) in a seed funding round from Accel.

The company will use the funds for expansion of its products and aims to grow its revenue to around $10 million per month, Infra.Market told VCCircle.

The development comes after VCCircle reported last month that Accel’s India arm had invested in the Thane-based company, which said it had diluted minority stake and would use the funding for expansion to Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka.

Infra.Market, which is operated by Hella Infra Market Ltd, was founded in 2016 by Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta. Sharda, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, has a decade-long experience in the field of infrastructure and construction. Sengupta, an alumnus of IIM-Bangalore, has been a chartered accountant for the past seven years.

The company is a one-stop source for construction materials. It operates an end-to-end service model that negates the need for its clients to depend on multiple partners and vendors, according to its website. It currently provides products such as ready-mix concrete, fly ash and construction chemicals.

Accel partner Prashanth Prakash said the company has positioned itself to capture the offline-to-online procurement space in the construction industry. “InfraMarket aims to revolutionize the age old construction sector through its full-stack tech driven approach,” Prakash said.

Accel

The venture capital firm, an early backer of leading internet companies including Flipkart, BookMyShow, Myntra, Freshworks and BlueStone, has been one of the most active investors in Indian startups, and has made several moves in the B2B segment in recent months.

Last year, it was among a cohort of investors that led a $23 million (Rs 164 crore) Series C funding round in B2B industrial goods marketplace Moglix. Jungle Ventures and International Finance Corporation were the other leading investors in that round. In July, Tiger Global led a $60 million (around Rs 410.10 crore) Series D round in Moglix.

Earlier this week, it led an $8 million (Rs 57 crore) Series A funding round in Ally, a business execution management software startup. Vulcan Capital, the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, US-based seed stage venture capital firm Founders Co-op and former Tiger Global executive Lee Fixel also participated in the funding round.