IndiaMART Acquires 26.01% Stake In Fintech Startup Realbooks For INR 13.75 Cr

Noida-based B2B marketplace IndiaMART has invested approximately INR 13.75 Cr in Adansa Solutions, parent company of Realbooks. Realbooks is a cloud-based fintech startup that helps businesses with easy financial accounting. 

IndiaMART carried out the transaction through its wholly owned subsidiary, Tradezeal Online. Under the deal, the B2B marketplace platform has agreed to acquire shares via a mix of primary and secondary share purchases, and its final shareholding post the round shall stand at 26.01%.

“We at IndiaMART firmly believe that Indian businesses are diverse and have varied accounting and billing needs. Unlike existing desktop based software solutions which were designed for traditional businesses, the team at Realbooks has consciously designed a cloud first product which makes it appealing for new age businesses,” said Dinesh Agarwal, CEO of IndiaMART. 

Since IndiaMART’s listing on BSE and NSE, it has invested in a host of startups including Vyapar, Bizom, Shipway, Legistify, Superprocure, Aerchain, M1xchange, Easyecom, Fleetx, Industry Buying and BUSY. 

According to IndiaMART, all these investments are part of its long term objective of offering various software solutions which improve ease of doing business for Indian businesses and enterprises.

“We believe that this investment complements other initiatives we are taking within this space, and are excited to partner with them for their next phase of growth,” Agarwal further said. 

Founded in 1999, IndiaMART connects buyers with suppliers. It aims to make doing business easy. It asserts to have been trusted with 143 Mn buyers, 7 Mn sellers, and has 80 Mn products as well as services on its platform leading to approximately 40 Mn business enquiries every month.

“We are very happy to welcome IndiaMART as an investor and our strategic partner. It’s an exciting time for businesses in India and technology like UPI and GST is bringing new opportunities and challenges,” said Anurag Mohta, CEO of Realbooks.  

Adansa Solutions under the brand name ‘Realbooks’, offers a cloud based accounting software product for businesses. Furthermore, it enables businesses to create customised invoices, attach files to vouchers, and manage their inventory. It also allows managing of different business units from a single dashboard. 

“We are organising financial data for companies working pan India having offices in multiple cities and states such as logistics, auto dealerships, e-commerce. We have created a platform for CAs firms to provide accounting services to their clients and manage their compliances with integrated GST solutions. RealBooks along with IndiaMART is committed to being at the forefront of this revolution, creating a collaborative and integrated ecosystem for finance and accounting,” Mohta added. 

IndiaMART claims to have a 60% market share of the online B2B Classified space in India, thus, focusing on providing a ‘360- degree solution’ to SMEs, large enterprises as well as individuals. During FY 21, the company had consolidated revenue of INR 756 Cr and profit after tax of INR 280 Cr. 

Of late, it acquired a 26% stake in Japan-based company, IB Monotaro. According to the Inc42 report, it bought the 810K shares from Emtex Engineering for a total consideration of INR 104.2 Cr. 

With this move, it aims to serve B2B businesses by offering an end-to-end commerce experience enablement. Besides this, it made a 100% acquisition of Busy Infotech for INR 500 Cr.