Building materials B2B e-comm segment heats up; JSW One prepares for IPO

JSW One prepares for IPO, Birla Pivot eyes $1 bn revenue in next three years

The building materials e-commerce segment, though still nascent, is heating up with companies reporting higher revenues. One of the major players, JSW One Platforms, is actively preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next two years.

In separate statements, two large conglomerates – Aditya Birla Group and JSW – shared the full-year performance for their respective building materials e-commerce segments.

On Monday, Aditya Birla Group’s Birla Pivot said the business has crossed Rs 1,000 crore in the first year of operations. It aims to touch $1 billion (over Rs 8,000 crore) in revenue in the next three years.

JSW One Platforms, on the other hand, announced the appointment of Ranjan Pai as an independent director on its board in the run-up to the company’s planned IPO. Pai was the first independent director appointed to JSW One’s board.

Parth Jindal, director of JSW One Platforms, valued India’s addressable B2B market at $400 billion. He aims to develop the platform as the largest in its category. Jindal said that Pai’s appointment is a step towards enhancing the company’s governance structure, as it prepares for an IPO within the next 18 to 24 months. Regarding its performance in FY24, JSW One said it ended the last financial year at around Rs 9,000 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV).

Both JSW One and Birla Pivot sell building materials such as paints, cement, steel, tiles, ceramics, etc, through their respective e-commerce platforms. While JSW One is housed at the group level, Birla Pivot is part of the Aditya Birla Group’s listed entity, Grasim Industries.

JSW, as a group, has a presence across building materials such as cement, steel and paints. “JSW One Platforms is leveraging the combined strength of supply and distribution across JSW Group’s steel, cement and paints businesses to build a fully integrated ecosystem for MSMEs and individual home builders,” the company said in a statement.

Aditya Birla Group manufactures products such as cement, and more recently, paint. Sandeep Komaravelly, chief executive of Birla Pivot said, “India’s construction industry is undergoing exponential growth and is projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2025. With less than 2 per cent digital penetration, the construction industry faces many challenges – from fragmented supplier networks and logistical bottlenecks to access to credit.” Birla Pivot’s customer base spans engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies, civil contractors, real estate developers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), fabricators, dealers, as well as retailers.