Kochi: A Kochi-based tech-enabled home builder has raised $3.5 million (around Rs 28 crore) in funding. BuildNext, known for its IT-based house building solutions, has won the whopping amount in the ‘pre-series A’ funding led by Pidilite Industries’ wholly owned subsidiary – Madhumala Ventures. BuildNext has also secured funding from existing investors Konglo Ventures, Vineet Kumar (CEO, Native) and Deep Gupta (FatEngine) among others.
Started by IIM Bangalore alumni, Gopikrishnan V and Finaz Naha in 2015, BuildNext will use the capital from the latest round of funding to further expand its R&D capabilities and upgrade its Virtual Reality technology experience centres. It will also expand into new markets Bengaluru, Chennai and Coimbatore while strengthening its foothold in its existing markets.
“We are excited to have Pidilite as one of our key investors. Our aim is to use our custom technology platform to drive transparency and overcome inefficiencies in the entire process of constructing and designing a house. We have made significant progress in research about designing and building better homes. We have developed objective parameters to decide how good a home design is and these are put to test again and again every day for continuous improvement.With decades of leadership in the space, Pidilite’s guidance on this journey will be a huge asset for us and will enable us to move ahead with confidence,” said Gopi Krishnan, CEO, BuildNext.
Finaz Naha, COO, BuildNext, said Pidilite’s faith in them was a strong reinforcement of their vision and plans. “These funds will help us establish a strong presence in South India, and help us achieve our goal of adding 1000+ homes to our current portfolio,” Naha said.
Explaining why they chose to back the Kochi-based company, Apurva Parekh, executive director, Pidilite Industries said, “BuildNext’s vision to use technology to improve customer experience has the potential to transform the home construction market.”
BuildNext’s IT - Enabled construction and interior service leverages a breadth of in-house tools and technologies for visualization, estimation, product selection, procurement, budget control, project tracking. It runs an inventory-less, Virtual Reality enabled chain of Experience Centers across Kerala and Telangana. This helps customers visualize exactly what they are going to build and eliminates inefficiencies. The company also has a patent for linking real time material prices to VR, that enables customers to make quick and informed decisions.
BuildNext has also built its own project management application which is available for customers to track the construction from anywhere in the world via a mobile app. The customers also get daily summaries of activities at their work site.
BuildNext identifies its target market as 1-5 floor single or multi-family residential projects starting at 1500 sqft in area per home. The company offers premium building experience to customers right from design to handover, including complete customization, VR walkthroughs, and ergonomic and aesthetic designs for day-to-day activities.
