iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
India-based B2B platform Ofbusiness is on a funding spree having hit a valuation of $3 billion after a fresh $200 million fundraise in a Series F funding round led by US-based Tiger Global, which has led to an almost 2x jump from $1.5 billion valuations in July this year.
Vasant Sridhar, Co-founder & CSO, Ofbusiness, confirming the reports of the fresh fundraise, said the company welcomes “US investment giant, Tiger Global to the family.”
The e-commerce platform had earlier this year closed a $97 million funding round led by Flacon Edge Capital at over $800 million valuation. The company joins the likes of Moglix, infra.market and zetwerks that entered the unicorn club this year in the B2B manufacturing/infrastructure segment.
The existing investors in Ofbusiness including Softbank Vision Fund II and Falcon Edge also participated in the round. Softbank had earlier led a $160 million investment in the startup, marking its entry into the unicorn club.
The company caters to the large small business segments in the country by providing raw material sourcing services to the manufacturing enterprises as well as credit to the business through its NBFC arm.
Ofbusiness is also one of the rare profitable startups, which have attained unicorn status this year with its co-founder and CEO Asish Mohapatra having earlier stated the firm will list on the stock exchanges in the next 1-2 years.
Ofbusiness says that by using the company’s credit lines, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can negotiate with existing suppliers in terms of immediate payments on delivery or in advance. By doing this, SMEs save upwards of 3 per cent on their purchase orders on a commitment for upfront payments.
SMEs also get the best price quotes for their raw material requirements via OfBusiness’s bidding platform.
“Our technology platform negotiates with more than 100 manufacturers and suppliers across India to get best guarantee prices on bulk raw materials i.e., structural steel, flats, TMT, polymer, paper & cement. Our strong PAN India presence and aggregate demand help us fetch volume discounts which in effect helps SME’s save another 3%,” the company said.
