Three sources familiar with the talks told me that OfBusiness, an e-commerce startup that sells industrial goods and provides credit to small businesses, is in talks to secure a new round of funding at a valuation of over $4.5 billion. If the talks go through, this will be OfBusiness’s fourth round of funding this year. It would also result in a multi-fold increase in the company’s value, which was around $800 million in April and $3 billion less than a month ago. According to one of the sources, Falcon Edge Capital is in talks to head or co-lead the fresh round. SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Tiger Global, and Alpha Wave Incubation, a fund managed by Falcon, are among OfBusiness’s current investors.
OfBusiness co-founder and CEO Asish Mohapatra did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday. OfBusiness is a raw material aggregator and provider of procurement financing. The startup collaborates with banks to provide credit lines to small and medium businesses with annual sales of more than $3 million.
The platform gathers information about user behavior that it uses to underwrite loans to firms that use the OfBusiness platform to get raw materials and bids.
It’s come a long way since then. Within months of its existence, the business learned that its customers’ main problem was a lack of working capital. Mohapatra began employing key leaders to establish a financial service after this discovery. In a podcast with an investor last year, he said he realized he had little to no grasp of underwriting and how to develop a finance firm when he realized he had little to no understanding of underwriting and how to build a finance business. That company has grown in size and profitability. That is one of the reasons why OfBusiness has attracted several high-profile investors in recent quarters, The Company’s revenue run rate is over $1 billion, and its loan book has grown to $220 million as of July this year.
OfBusiness in India is in talks to seek new funding valued at over $4.5 billion, according to TechCrunch. Link to the original source OfBusiness in India is in talks to seek new funding valued at over $4.5 billion, according to TechCrunch.
