Infra.Market to increase focus on its B2C-retail segment to drive profits

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Mint in an interview. The commentary comes as the construction materials platform raised $50 million from Mars Unicorn Fund last week. The company is valued at $2.5 billion, as per its official website.

Some of its other prominent investors are Accel, Nexus Venture Partners, and Fundamental VC. "We will be aggressively focusing on the retail and B2C market which includes broad categories like tiles, paint, electricals and wood panels that get sold more in this space rather than B2B. So, we will be spending on these categories from the fund-raise," Sengupta said.

While Infra.Market's core market has primarily been around its business-to-business (B2B) vertical, it expects the B2C and retail division to act as a customer acquisition tool for its main business. "If I want to keep getting a premium on my brand, enjoy a price advantage, and widen customer reach, I will need to have a retail presence to drive my B2B brand growth," Sengupta explained. Founded by Sengupta and Aaditya Sharda in 2016, Infra.Market which operates under the parent entity Hella Infra Market Pvt.

Ltd, was originally started as a B2B business that uses technology to provide a procurement experience for all players in the construction ecosystem. It focuses on high-volume construction products under its own brands and aims to solve issues such as a lack of price transparency, unreliable quality, fragmented vendor base, and inefficient logistics. Nearly six years later, it began its B2C and retail vehicle, which is currently making losses and expects to take another 12-18 months to become profitable.

"Initially, we weren't in product categories which got sold in B2C and retail. We wanted to first have cash flow-generating businesses in B2B. Also the