BuildNext Raises Funding To Expand Its Virtual Reality Experience Centres Across India

Proptech startup BuildNext has raised $3.5 Mn through equity financing in its Pre-Series A funding round led by Madhumala Ventures, a subsidiary of Pidilite Industries. 

The round saw participation from existing investors-Konglo Ventures, Vineet Kumar from Native, and Deep Gupta from FatEngine.

BuildNext will use funds to expand its R&D capabilities and upgrade its virtual reality tech experience centres. It will also utilise funds to geographically expand to newer markets including Bengaluru, Chennai and Coimbatore while strengthening its foothold in existing ones.

Commenting on the fundraising, Gopi Krishnan, cofounder and CEO of BuildNext, said “Our aim is to use our custom technology platform to drive transparency and overcome inefficiencies in the process of constructing and designing a house. 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.” 

Founded in 2015 by two IIM Bangalore graduates-Gopikrishnan V and Finaz Naha, the Kochi-based startup offers tech-enabled home construction and interior designing services to customers. It runs a virtual reality-enabled chain of experience centers across Kerala and Telangana. These experience centers facilitate customers in determining what type of construction the startup is going to do and also, eliminate inefficiencies in the process. 

BuildNext has got a patent for linking real-time construction material prices to virtual reality which helps customers to make informed decisions. It has also developed a mobile-based project management app that helps customers to keep tabs on construction activities from anywhere in the world. The app gives a daily summary of construction activities at the site. 

The startup mainly targets real estate properties that are 1-5 floor single or multi-family residential projects having 1500 sq ft of area.

In the home decor market, it competes with the likes of LivSpace, Kraftinn and HomeLane whilst in the home construction segment, it faces competition from startups such as Ivy Homes and YouKraft. 

India’s realty market, which was pegged at $200 Bn in 2021, is poised to touch a $1 Tn mark by 2030. According to a report, the proptech industry is likely to receive investments up to $1 Bn by 2025. 

The report estimates that some of the leading firms that will be grabbing investors’ eyes will disrupt the market with their new technologies such as AI, VR and IoT. 

In recent times, Y Combinator-backed Ivy Homes, Better Capital-led Kolo and YOUKRAFT are some of the proptech startups that have bagged investments in the home decorations and construction industry.