Construction Procurement – The Blind Spot in Saudi Arabia’s Builder Landscape
The construction industry in Saudi Arabia is the largest in the Middle East, with trillion-dollar infrastructure and real estate projects underway. However, construction procurement is a fragmented, manual, and opaque process, forcing contractors to juggle multiple suppliers, endure lengthy negotiations, and deal with delayed payments.
A Tech-Enabled Managed Marketplace
To address this issue, BRKZ, a Riyadh-based construction tech startup, offers a tech-enabled managed marketplace that streamlines procurement and provides tailored financing solutions. The company has raised $17 million in total Series A funding, with investors doubling down on the investment.
New Funding and Investors
Existing investors, including Aramco’s Waed, BECO Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Class 5 Global, Fluent Ventures, Knollwood Investment Advisory, MISY Ventures, RZM Investment and 9900 Capital, re-participated in the new funding round. This follows the $8 million Series A1 round BRKZ announced last March.
The Founder’s Motivation
Ibrahim Manna, a former executive at Uber subsidiary Careem, founded BRKZ in 2023 after experiencing the inefficiencies of the construction supply chain firsthand. Manna’s frustration and realization led him to explore the large opportunity in the construction industry.
Sourcing Construction Materials
BRKZ aims to simplify the process of sourcing construction materials like cement, steel, and wood for contractors and factories, providing transparent pricing, competitive quotes in just 20 minutes, and buy now, pay later financing.
[picture: BRKZ construction site]Since its Series A1, BRKZ has grown from 1,200 SKUs and 350 suppliers to over 7,000 SKUs and 1,100 suppliers. Revenue has quadrupled in 2024, with over 850 contractors and factories using BRKZ for major projects like King Salman Park, Neom, and the Red Sea Project.
Expansion into Over 40 Cities
BRKZ is aggressively expanding into over 40 cities across Saudi Arabia’s Central, Eastern, and Western provinces, boosting its RFQ volume from $170 million last March to $350 million (SAR 1.3 billion) today.
Diversifying Revenues
To stay ahead of the curve, BRKZ plans to diversify its revenue streams, which currently generate through transaction fees and financing solutions, including buy now, pay later and tailored credit offerings.
Global Trade Opportunities
Manna mentions that BRKZ will start importing hard-to-source construction materials directly from global markets, starting with China this year and later India and Turkey to meet the country’s growing demand.
[link to previous TechCrunch article]Full-service Construction Ecosystem
BRKZ aims to become a full-service construction ecosystem by addressing four pillars of any project: procurement (its core business today), financing (BNPL and credit solutions), workforce supply, and equipment procurement/rental.
Leveraging AI and Machine Learning
The company plans to leverage AI and machine learning to automate pricing predictability, purchase order generation, and other internal processes, improving efficiency for the company as well as contractors and suppliers.
Next Chapter
The newly raised capital will put the company on its way to becoming the comprehensive procurement hub it envisions, alongside driving expansion into Saudi Arabia.
Support from Investors
Dany Farha, co-founder and managing partner at BECO Capital, stated that the BRKZ team has executed its product and operational roadmap to drive efficiencies in the rapidly scaling sector and expressed excitement to continue supporting them in their next chapter.
Growth and Valuation
Since launching two years ago, BRKZ has raised $22.5 million, including $5.5 million from pre-seed and seed rounds. Manna notes that the company’s valuation has grown by 46% in the past year, reflecting 4x year-over-year revenue growth with positive unit economics.
Source Link
