In late February, venture capital investor SAIF Partners announced it had invested $2 million in Dehli, India-based industrybuying.com, an e-commerce seller of industrial supplies.
The 2013-launched company appears to be gaining a considerable following, as it just recently announced it plans to raise up to an additional $15 million in its second round of funding this year. Sales have reportedly been doubling each month so far in 2015.
The funds would go toward financing IndustryBuying's network expansion, back-end operations and establishing bases in major India locations of Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, and Ahmedabad or Suart to supplement the company's product offering and delivery network. It is also planning to expand from an employee team of 65 people currently to 100 in the next two months.
"We would be raising $10-15 million in couple of months to strengthen our offerings and product range. We are in the process of that. We would set up more bases to speed up delivery process and business," industrybuying.com Director Swati Gupta told news outlet Press Trust of India (PTI).
The company was founded by Gupta and her brother Rahul.
According to PTI, Swati Gupta said industrybuying.com's sales have been doubling every month this year. "We attained the last year's business in just three months of 2015. This year we are expecting good business," she said. "SMEs are our primary customers. Business comes from electrical goods, power tools, materials, utilities, safety tools, office furniture segments."
At the time of February's SAIF Partners investment, industrybuying.com claimed to host more than 500 brands, 1,000 suppliers, and 150,000 products as India’s first large-scale e-commerce industrial products provider. According to PTI, Gupta said the company now has 800-1,000 brands with a supplier base of around 2,000 and around 3,000 customers. The company sells mainly to small and medium-sized enterprises. Industrybuying.com claims to deliver consignment within 2-7 days after an order is placed, with transportation deals allowing for last-mile delivery and cash on delivery.
Industrybuying.com buys goods from its suppliers at a discount after orders are placed on a portal – a zero-inventory model. Its website currently lists 33 product categories from brands that include many popular in the U.S.
