Buildnow, a startup based out of Saudi Arabia that lets you build now and pay later has raised a seed round of US$9.4Mn. The funding round was co-led by Raed Ventures and Khwarizmi Ventures, with participation from key local angels, including Abdulla Elyas, co-founder of Careem.

Buildnow was launched by Hisham Al Saleh, Rahat Dewan & Abdulla Sheikh in April 2022. The team has industry vintage in banking, fintech, and construction. Buidnow uses its credit management platform and supply chain network to digitally capture data points like financials, legal standing, and market reputation of the buyer to assess credit risk. Based on this information, Buildnow supplies materials on credit terms tailored for the buyer while paying cash upfront to the SME suppliers.

Said Abdulla, CEO, shared that, “Annually $42 billion worth of goods are traded within the construction supply chain in Saudi Arabia alone. Suppliers of goods can only offer limited credit - both in amount and duration - to buyers. Credit is extended based on relationships rather than an objective assessment of risk. Given that the SMEs purchasing these materials only get paid much later, this results in a cash crunch and constrains their ability to grow.”

Abdulaziz AlTurki, Managing Partner at Khwarizmi Ventures says “Buildnow is led by passionate and smart founders in an unattractive, massive, and fragmented sector. The heart of our seed-stage investment thesis is believing in the combination of bright and ambitious founders, along with a large underserved market. We are confident that, with their diverse and relevant backgrounds, the team at Buildnow is well positioned to capture this opportunity, while accelerating the growth of construction and building materials SMEs.”

Saed Nashef, Founding Partner at Raed Ventures has expressed his confidence in the team’s ability to address a critical market inefficiency. He pointed out how “Buildnow’s offering doesn’t just facilitate transactions; it in fact empowers SMEs within the construction industry, an industry that’s undergoing a period of massive expansion in the Kingdom, and represents a cornerstone of Vision 2030. While they operate one of the fastest-scaling businesses in the region, their success means thousands of SMEs can be more productive and have more stability in their business. This can impact the actual realization of the vision 2030’s mega projects building the new Saudi Arabia.”

Till date, Buildnow has supplied 50 thousand tonnes of raw materials and facilitated business with 250 SMEs.