Taking the big box home improvement center online and adding an element of the online marketplace has netted Canadian startup BuildDirect $50 million in fresh financing.
The company raised the new money from new and existing investors including Mohr Davidow Ventures, and the Canadian investment firms OMERS Ventures and BMO Capital Markets.
BuildDirect will use the money to expand its technology for its community-based website and applications connecting buyers like consumers and subcontractors with product manufacturers, designers, trade craftsmen and shippers.
The company provides vendors with analytics and forecasting software and services so that they can get the right goods and services to the right demand for fast and efficient transactions, the company said in a statement.
“Home improvement is a half-trillion dollar industry and is severely fragmented and inefficient,” said Katherine Barr, General Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures, in a statement. “This financing underscores the speed at which old-world industries are breaking down and platform companies that leverage cutting-edge technology and data analytics, like BuildDirect, are putting the power in the hands of both the supply and demand side.”