Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group's business-to-business e-commerce arm, on Monday, announced a Rs 205 crore fund raise from Japan's Mitsui & Co.
The Series A funding, which is also the maiden capital raise from an institutional investor by JSW One Platforms, has been done at a valuation of Rs 2,750 crore, as per an official statement.
The $22 billion conglomerate launched the business in July 2021, aiming to leverage its expertise in manufacturing and building materials, tech-enabled logistics, and credit to be a platform of choice for micro, small, and medium enterprises in India.
It plans to plough in the funds to strengthen its market presence and further enhance its tech capabilities, the statement said, adding that it is expanding operations in newer geographies like the NCR, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
It will also invest in credit, logistics, and the technology stack to improve the customer experience.
Masaharu Okubo, the country chairperson of Mitsui & Co. in India, said the investment should be seen as one that signals its belief in the firm's robust business model and also the long-term growth prospects of the B2B e-commerce space.
JSW One Platforms' chief executive, Gaurav Sachdeva, said Mitsui has prior experience working in the B2B space.
"Their investment will help us penetrate deeper into the industrial and construction industries." "We also look forward to bringing other industry segments onto the platform and will continue to leverage technology to be an industry-leading platform for MSMEs," he added.
Parth Jindal, the director of the company, said India is home to 5 lakh micro, small, and medium enterprises in the building and manufacturing sectors, and the company aims to supply building materials to them.
Other key players in the infrastructure space, especially Birla and L&T Ltd., have plans for or are already operating dedicated e-commerce platforms.
JSW One Platform is targeting to invest up to Rs 4,000 crore in the e-commerce business by fiscal 2027.
Sachdeva had previously said that it would start looking for external investors after hitting a gross market value of the goods sold on the platform of $1 billion per year.
The company, which is funded by the JSW Group's cement, steel, and paint businesses, aims to break even and start registering profits by the financial year 2027, at which point it is targeting to have a gross merchandise value of $5 billion on the platform.
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