MARS doubles its position in India’s Infra.Market with a new investment of $50 million

Infra.Market, an Indian startup that helps construction and real estate companies source materials, has raised $50 million from the MARS Unicorn Fund as it looks to expand its operations abroad, the companies told JS on Tuesday.

MARS Unicorn Fund, a joint venture between science and climate-driven Liquidity Group and Japanese bank MUFG, is an existing backer of the Mumbai-headquartered startup, having invested $50 million in it by 2022. The new investment, a primary fundraising, values ​​Infra Markt at $2.6 billion, the startup said.

Infra.Market aims to change the way small businesses operate in the Indian manufacturing sector. For example, by installing load cells in production facilities, Infra.Market helps companies gain more control over quality control and helps them obtain better raw materials. Customers also work with other companies that can supply them with better raw materials and advise on pricing.

This is a major problem in India, where the construction industry is highly fragmented and dominated by small players who lack the resources and expertise to optimize their operations. These efforts have helped small manufacturers attract larger customers and expand their reach beyond India, with customers in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai.

Infra.Market says it offers construction products in large volumes under its own brands. The startup focuses on both institutional customers and retail businesses in the building materials sector.

“We continue to build on our vision to create India’s largest multi-product building materials brand and transform the building materials supply chain not only in India, but also globally,” the startup’s founder and CEO Souvik Sengupta said in a declaration. .

“We see growth opportunities as we rapidly expand our product portfolio and market presence, and the launch of new verticals will help us seed newer markets and create a best-in-class building materials company from India.”

The startup, backed by Accel, Nexus, Fundamental and Tiger Global, said its store offering has increased over the past 12 months. It now supplies to companies in twenty Indian states and exports to Dubai, Singapore and Italy.

“Liquidity uses technology to transform capital credit markets with unprecedented speed and accuracy. At every step of the way, our evaluation of Infra.Market showed a company delivering on its promise to reshape construction and infrastructure projects across India and beyond,” said Ron Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Liquidity Group.

Northcote Luxe FinBrokers advised Infra.Market on the transaction.