industrybuying.com raises Rs 12 cr venture debt from Trifecta Capital

Proceeds to be used to finance working capital and to drive growth in enterprise arm

Delhi-based business-to-business e-commerce player industrybuying.com has raised Rs 12 crore from venture debt provider Trifecta Capital. Venture debt is an alternative form of finance often used by start-ups.

“The investment would be used to finance working capital and drive growth in the enterprise arm of Industrybuying — an arrangement between Industrybuying and enterprises where special rates are negotiated for procurement of roducts,” Swati Gupta, co-founder, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Founded by siblings Rahul Gupta and Swati Gupta in 2013, Industrybuying is an online marketplace selling industrial products to about 30,000 registered small and medium enterprises  as well as large businesses.

“Trifecta is excited to support Industrybuying as it gears up to exploit the huge opportunity in the B2B e-commerce in India. We are attracted by the size of the opportunity, the quality of the founders and the venture capital funds that have backed the company,” said Nilesh Kothari, co-founder and managing partner at Trifecta Capital.

The company, which has an online catalogue of more than 300,000 products used in manufacturing, construction, maintenance, services and commercial operations, had in February 2015 raised $2 million from SAIF Partners, and Rs 60 crore in a Series-B funding round led by Kalaari Capital with participation from SAIF in September 2015. Singapore-based Beenext and private investors from family businesses TVS and Murugappa group have also invested in Industrybuying.

“Besides providing venture debt, we hope to be able to leverage our network of investors, including domestic institutions and industrial family offices, to help the company scale faster,” Kothari said.