Buildnow secured $9.4 M Seed funding from Raed Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures
MENA’s first “Build Now, Pay Later” solution, Buildnow, has raised $9.4 million in seed money. Raed Ventures and Khwarizmi Ventures co-led the round, which included a combination of debt ($2.9 million) and equity ($6.5 million). Important local angels, such as Abdulla Elyas, who co-founded Careem, as well as foreign venture capitalists participated in the round.
Hisham Al Saleh, Rahat Dewan, and Abdulla Sheikh introduced Buildnow in April 2022. The team’s varied backgrounds include construction, fintech, and banking. When he was in the construction industry, Abdulla first noticed how suppliers’ restricted ability to extend credit hampered business and growth for SMEs like his.
Said Abdulla, CEO: “Annually, $42 billion worth of goods are traded within the construction supply chain in Saudi Arabia alone. Suppliers of goods can only offer limited credit, both in amount and duration, to buyers. Credit is extended based on relationships rather than an objective assessment of risk. Given that the SMEs purchasing these materials only get paid much later, this results in a cash crunch and constrains their ability to grow.”
Buildnow digitally gathers information about the buyer’s financials, legal status, and market reputation in order to better evaluate credit risk. It does this by utilizing its credit management platform and broad supply chain network. By doing this, Buildnow is able to pay SME suppliers in cash up front and provide materials on customized credit terms for the buyer.
Abdulaziz AlTurki, Managing Partner at Khwarizmi Ventures says “Buildnow is led by passionate and smart founders in an unattractive, massive, and fragmented sector. The heart of our seed-stage investment thesis is believing in the combination of bright and ambitious founders, along with a large underserved market. We are confident that, with their diverse and relevant backgrounds, the team at Buildnow is well positioned to capture this opportunity, while accelerating the growth of construction and building materials SMEs.”
Saed Nashef, Founding Partner at Raed ventures stated, “Investing in Buildnow was a decision driven by our confidence in the team’s ability to address a critical market inefficiency. Buildnow’s offering doesn’t just facilitate transactions; it in fact empowers SMEs within the construction industry, an industry that’s undergoing a period of massive expansion in the Kingdom, and represents a cornerstone of Vision 2030. While they operate one of the fastest-scaling businesses in the region, their success means thousands of SMEs can be more productive and have more stability in their business. This can impact the actual realisation of the vision 2030’s mega projects building the new Saudi Arabia.”
More than 250 SMEs have benefited from Buildnow’s supply of more than 50,000 tonnes of raw materials. Buildnow is aiming for rapid expansion after experiencing a 6X growth in 2023 alone. With this additional funding, Buildnow is getting ready to open up opportunities that would have otherwise gone untapped and accelerate the growth of SME construction supply chains. They want top talent to join their team and help them accomplish this mission so they can grow Buildnow to new heights.
