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OfBusiness Startup Story
OfBusiness is one of India's largest technology-driven B2B commerce and SME financing platforms. Founded in 2015, the Gurugram-based company helps small and medium-sized businesses procure raw materials, access financing and discover new business opportunities through its technology platform.
The company started by addressing a fundamental problem faced by Indian SMEs: businesses often depended heavily on local dealers for both raw-material procurement and credit.
OfBusiness built an integrated model combining procurement, financing and business-opportunity discovery. Its ecosystem now includes OfBusiness for B2B commerce, Oxyzo Financial Services for financing and BidAssist for tender intelligence.
In FY26, OfBusiness reported consolidated revenue of ₹20,645 crore and profit after tax of ₹724 crore, while its commerce business became free-cash-flow positive for the first time. The company remains privately held and is preparing for a potential IPO.
Key Highlights
- OfBusiness was founded in 2015.
- The company's legal entity is OFB Tech Limited.
- The company is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana.
- Its founders include Asish Mohapatra, Ruchi Kalra, Bhuvan Gupta, Vasant Sridhar and Nitin Jain.
- OfBusiness focuses on B2B commerce, raw-material procurement and SME financing.
- Its major product categories include metals, chemicals, agri-products, apparel and other industrial materials.
- Oxyzo Financial Services operates as the group's lending and financing arm.
- BidAssist provides tender and business-opportunity intelligence to SMEs.
- OfBusiness reported ₹20,645 crore in consolidated revenue in FY26.
- The company reported ₹724 crore in consolidated profit after tax in FY26.
- Its commerce business generated ₹19,174 crore in revenue in FY26.
- Commerce EBITDA increased to ₹769 crore in FY26.
- Commerce operating cash flow increased to ₹1,302 crore in FY26.
- The commerce business generated ₹390 crore of free cash flow to firm in FY26.
- Oxyzo reported an asset base of approximately ₹11,800 crore in FY26.
- OfBusiness has raised approximately $890 million in reported funding.
- Its last widely reported valuation was around $5 billion.
- The company became a unicorn in 2021.
- OfBusiness has been preparing for a public listing and remains IPO-bound.
What Is OfBusiness?
OfBusiness is a technology-enabled B2B commerce and financing company that primarily serves SMEs.
Its platform helps businesses with
- Raw-material procurement
- Working-capital financing
- Supplier discovery
- Price discovery
- Logistics
- Government tender discovery
- Business intelligence
- Contract manufacturing
- Private-label manufacturing
The company originally focused heavily on manufacturing and infrastructure businesses.
Over time, its operations expanded into multiple categories including metals, chemicals, agricultural products, apparel and other industrial and commercial segments.
The core idea is simple
Help businesses buy better, finance purchases and find more business opportunities through one integrated ecosystem.
Who Founded OfBusiness?
OfBusiness was founded in 2015 by
- Asish Mohapatra
- Ruchi Kalra
- Bhuvan Gupta
- Vasant Sridhar
- Nitin Jain
The founders came from strong backgrounds in technology, consulting, finance, manufacturing and entrepreneurship.
The founding team had previous experience at companies and institutions including Matrix Partners, McKinsey, ITC, Snapdeal, Airtel and other major organisations.
The team's professional experience became one of the company's early advantages because the founders understood the operational challenges faced by SMEs.
Asish Mohapatra — Co-Founder & CEO
Asish Mohapatra is the co-founder and CEO of OfBusiness.
He is an IIT Kharagpur and ISB Hyderabad alumnus.
Before starting OfBusiness, Asish worked in venture capital at Matrix Partners and also had experience with McKinsey and ITC.
His time as an investor exposed him to multiple businesses and helped him understand the challenges of building scalable companies.
However, he eventually decided to become an entrepreneur.
He began building the founding team before the exact business model was fully defined.
The founders spent roughly a year understanding the SME market and developing the business model before OfBusiness was incorporated in August 2015.
Ruchi Kalra — Co-Founder
Ruchi Kalra is a co-founder of OfBusiness and the CEO of Oxyzo Financial Services.
She is an IIT Delhi and ISB Hyderabad alumna and previously worked at McKinsey.
Her expertise in finance, consulting and business strategy became particularly valuable as OfBusiness developed its financing business.
Ruchi has played a major role in building Oxyzo into a separate financial-services business within the OfBusiness ecosystem.
Asish Mohapatra and Ruchi Kalra are also married.
Bhuvan Gupta — Co-Founder & Technology Leader
Bhuvan Gupta is a co-founder of OfBusiness and has played a key role in the company's technology development.
He studied at BITS Pilani and FMS Delhi and previously held technology and engineering roles at companies including Airtel and Snapdeal.
His technology background helped OfBusiness build the digital infrastructure required to manage procurement, customer data, financing and business intelligence at scale.
Vasant Sridhar — Co-Founder
Vasant Sridhar is a co-founder of OfBusiness and an IIT Madras alumnus.
He previously worked with ITC and has been involved in the company's supply-chain and financial-services operations.
He has also played a role in Oxyzo's development alongside Ruchi Kalra.
Nitin Jain — Co-Founder
Nitin Jain is a co-founder of OfBusiness and an IIT Delhi alumnus.
He previously worked with the Royal Bank of Scotland and has experience in financial and technology businesses.
Nitin has also been associated with O'AgriFarm, another business focused on agriculture and financing.
How Did OfBusiness Start?
OfBusiness began with a problem rather than a conventional consumer product.
The founders noticed that SMEs in India often depended on local distributors and dealers for raw materials.
The same businesses also faced difficulties accessing affordable working capital.
This created two connected problems
Problem 1:
- SMEs needed raw materials at competitive prices.
Problem 2:
The founders realised that these two problems could be solved together.
Instead of becoming only a lending company or only a B2B marketplace, OfBusiness created an integrated model.
The company could help an SME purchase raw materials and simultaneously provide financing linked to that purchase.
This created a closed-loop business model.
What Problem Does OfBusiness Solve?
Indian SMEs frequently face challenges such as
- Limited access to institutional credit
- High working-capital requirements
- Dependence on intermediaries
- Price volatility
- Fragmented supplier networks
- Difficult procurement processes
- Limited access to large business opportunities
- Lack of reliable market information
OfBusiness attempts to solve these challenges through technology, financing and supply-chain integration.
How Does OfBusiness Make Money?
OfBusiness operates through multiple revenue streams.
Its commerce business generates revenue through the sale and procurement of raw materials and related products.
Its financing ecosystem generates income through lending and financing activities.
The broader group also operates technology platforms that support tender discovery and other business services.
The model can broadly be represented as
Business Opportunity → Procurement → Financing → Fulfilment → Repeat Transaction
This creates a feedback loop in which transaction data can improve customer understanding, financing decisions and future procurement.
OfBusiness Business Model
OfBusiness combines three major components
B2B Commerce
The company helps SMEs procure raw materials such as
- Steel
- Metals
- Chemicals
- Polymers
- Agricultural products
- Textiles
- Apparel
- Construction materials
- Energy-related products
SME Financing
Through Oxyzo and other financing arrangements, the ecosystem provides businesses with access to working capital and purchase financing.
Tender Intelligence
BidAssist helps SMEs discover government and other tender opportunities that may be relevant to their businesses.
Together, these services create a broader business ecosystem rather than a simple B2B marketplace.
What Is Oxyzo?
Oxyzo Financial Services is the financial-services arm of the OfBusiness ecosystem.
It focuses on providing financing solutions to businesses.
Oxyzo was eventually separated into a distinct business and raised external capital in 2022.
The company raised $200 million in its first external funding round at a valuation of approximately $1 billion, making Oxyzo a unicorn.
Ruchi Kalra serves as Oxyzo's CEO.
OfBusiness has retained a significant ownership stake in Oxyzo.
What Does Oxyzo Do?
Oxyzo provides financing solutions to businesses, including
- Working-capital financing
- Purchase financing
- Supply-chain financing
- Business loans
- Other structured financial products
The lending business benefits from the transaction and operational data generated through the broader OfBusiness ecosystem.
This can help improve underwriting and customer understanding.
Oxyzo's FY26 Scale
Oxyzo reported an asset base of approximately ₹11,800 crore in FY26.
The business also reported
- Return on assets: approximately 3.8%
- Gross NPA ratio: approximately 0.75%
The combination of asset growth and relatively low reported gross NPAs demonstrates the scale of the lending operation.
What Is BidAssist?
BidAssist is the tender-intelligence platform developed by the OfBusiness ecosystem.
It helps businesses discover government tenders and other business opportunities.
The platform uses technology and AI to organise large volumes of tender information and match opportunities with businesses.
OfBusiness says its AI-enabled BidAssist platform provides access to approximately 50 million government tenders and documents and processes millions of data points for SME users.
The platform has also become an important customer-acquisition channel for the broader OfBusiness ecosystem.
How Does BidAssist Help OfBusiness?
BidAssist is more than a standalone software product.
It can act as the first point of contact between OfBusiness and a potential SME customer.
The journey can look like
SME searches for a tender → Discovers BidAssist → Uses tender intelligence → Wins or pursues business → Needs raw materials → Uses OfBusiness → Requires working capital → Uses financing
This creates a powerful ecosystem effect.
The company can potentially acquire customers through one service and monetise them through another.
OfBusiness FY26 Revenue
OfBusiness reported consolidated revenue of
₹20,645 crore in FY26
This represented a decline of approximately 7% compared with FY25.
However, the revenue decline was part of a deliberate strategy.
The company exited certain lower-return business categories and focused more heavily on businesses where it could achieve better margins and stronger cash generation.
This is an important distinction.
The company was not simply chasing maximum revenue.
It was prioritising the quality of revenue and profitability.
OfBusiness FY26 Profit
OfBusiness reported consolidated profit after tax of
₹724 crore in FY26
This was approximately 21% higher than the ₹597 crore reported in FY25.
The improvement in profitability came despite the decline in consolidated revenue.
This indicates a stronger focus on operating efficiency and returns.
OfBusiness Commerce Business
The commerce business generated
₹19,174 crore revenue in FY26
Its EBITDA increased to
₹769 crore
The EBITDA margin expanded to approximately
4%
This was up from approximately 2.6% in the previous year.
The improvement demonstrates the company's shift toward higher-margin and more integrated businesses.
OfBusiness Cash Flow
One of the most important FY26 developments was the improvement in cash generation.
Operating cash flow from the commerce business increased to
₹1,302 crore
from
₹715 crore in FY25
The commerce business also became free-cash-flow positive for the first time.
It reported approximately
₹390 crore in free cash flow to firm
This is significant because the company had historically been valued largely on growth and scale.
The ability to generate meaningful free cash flow makes the business more financially mature.
OfBusiness Funding
OfBusiness has raised approximately
$890 million
in reported funding across multiple rounds.
Its major investors have included
- SoftBank
- Tiger Global
- Alpha Wave Global
- Norwest Venture Partners
- Matrix Partners India
- Zodius
- Creation Investments
- Cornerstone Ventures
- Other institutional investors
The company raised its major $325 million Series G round in December 2021.
That round valued OfBusiness at approximately
$5 billion
The company has continued to operate at private-market scale since then.
OfBusiness Valuation
OfBusiness became a unicorn in 2021.
Its valuation increased rapidly during that year.
The company was valued at approximately
- $800 million in April 2021
- $1.5 billion in July 2021
- $3 billion in September 2021
- $5 billion in December 2021
The last widely reported priced valuation remains approximately
$5 billion
The company has continued to grow its business since that valuation, but a newer publicly disclosed priced round establishing a different valuation has not been reported.
This distinction is important because the company's current private-market value should not automatically be described as a new $5 billion valuation based solely on its 2026 financial performance.
The $5 billion figure is best understood as the last widely reported valuation benchmark.
Why Did Investors Back OfBusiness?
OfBusiness offered investors exposure to a massive but fragmented segment of the Indian economy: SMEs.
The company combined
- B2B commerce
- Financing
- Supply-chain infrastructure
- Data
- SaaS
- Tender intelligence
This created multiple monetisation opportunities around the same customer.
The model also generated transaction data that could improve financing decisions.
The result was a business model with multiple reinforcing components.
The 73 Investor Rejections
One of the most well-known parts of the OfBusiness story is the reported 73 investor rejections faced by Asish Mohapatra before the company gained significant investor backing.
Many investors were reportedly skeptical of the business because the founders were building a profitability-focused B2B model at a time when the startup ecosystem heavily favoured rapid growth and high-burn marketplaces.
The founders continued refining the model.
Eventually, the same focus on profitability became one of OfBusiness's biggest strengths.
This is a powerful lesson in startup fundraising
The market may reject a business model before it understands why the model works.
OfBusiness and Profitability
OfBusiness took a different approach from many venture-backed startups.
Instead of prioritising growth at any cost, the company focused heavily on:
- Positive unit economics
- Repeat transactions
- Working-capital efficiency
- Asset quality
- Procurement margins
- Financing returns
- Operational profitability
The company had already reported profits for several years before becoming one of India's highest-valued unicorns.
This demonstrated that venture-backed companies do not necessarily have to choose between scale and profitability.
OfBusiness Growth Strategy
The company has expanded through multiple strategies.
Vertical Integration
OfBusiness has increasingly moved deeper into supply chains.
This includes procurement, manufacturing, processing and distribution.
Acquisitions
The company has used acquisitions to strengthen its supply-chain capabilities and expand into new categories.
Private-Label and Contract Manufacturing
OfBusiness has entered private-label and contract manufacturing to improve margins and control more of the supply chain.
Technology
Technology is used across procurement, pricing, financing, tender intelligence and customer management.
Financing
By combining commerce with financing, the company can potentially increase customer stickiness and transaction frequency.
Why Is OfBusiness Different From a Traditional B2B Marketplace?
A traditional B2B marketplace primarily connects
Buyer ↔ Seller
OfBusiness attempts to control more of the transaction
Opportunity → Buyer → Financing → Procurement → Manufacturing → Logistics → Fulfilment
This deeper integration can potentially provide
- Better pricing
- Higher customer retention
- More transaction data
- Better credit underwriting
- Stronger margins
- More control over supply chains
The company is therefore closer to an integrated B2B operating platform than a simple marketplace.
OfBusiness' Biggest Strengths
Integrated Business Model
Commerce, financing and business intelligence operate together.
Profitability
The company has demonstrated sustained profitability rather than relying entirely on external capital.
Large SME Market
India has millions of small and medium businesses requiring procurement and financing.
Strong Data Advantage
Transactions across procurement and financing create valuable business data.
Supply-Chain Control
The company has moved deeper into manufacturing, processing and fulfilment.
Multiple Revenue Streams
OfBusiness is not dependent on one product or one source of revenue.
Strong Institutional Backing
The company has attracted major global investors.
OfBusiness' Biggest Challenges
Working-Capital Requirements
B2B commerce can require substantial capital because the company may need to purchase inventory before receiving payment.
Commodity Price Risk
Products such as steel, metals, chemicals and agricultural commodities can experience significant price volatility.
Credit Risk
The financing business must maintain strong underwriting and asset quality as its lending book grows.
Operational Complexity
Running commerce, manufacturing, logistics, financing and SaaS businesses simultaneously creates significant operational complexity.
Margin Pressure
B2B commerce typically operates on relatively thin margins, making operational efficiency extremely important.
IPO Execution
A public listing will bring greater scrutiny around governance, financial reporting, risk management and sustainable profitability.
OfBusiness and IPO Plans
OfBusiness has been preparing for a public listing for several years.
Earlier plans targeted a 2025 IPO, but the company did not list within that timeline.
As of July 2026, OfBusiness was still described as IPO-bound, with reports indicating that the company was preparing for its next stage of public-market readiness.
Its FY26 financial performance provides a stronger foundation for an IPO because the company has demonstrated:
- ₹724 crore consolidated profit
- Strong commerce EBITDA
- Positive commerce free cash flow
- More than ₹10,000 crore of lending assets
- Large-scale B2B operations
- Significant institutional backing
However, the exact IPO size, valuation, issue structure and listing date should not be treated as confirmed until formally announced through the appropriate regulatory and company filings.
OfBusiness' FY26 Financial Snapshot
Key reported FY26 numbers include
- Consolidated revenue: ₹20,645 crore
- Consolidated PAT: ₹724 crore
- Commerce revenue: ₹19,174 crore
- Commerce EBITDA: ₹769 crore
- Commerce EBITDA margin: 4%
- Commerce operating cash flow: ₹1,302 crore
- Commerce FCFF: ₹390 crore
- Oxyzo asset base: ₹11,800 crore
- Oxyzo GNPA: 0.75%
- Reported total funding: approximately $890 million
- Last widely reported valuation: approximately $5 billion
- Founded: 2015
- Headquarters: Gurugram
- Status: Private and IPO-bound
OfBusiness vs Traditional SME Financing
Traditional SME financing often depends on banks, NBFCs and local financial intermediaries.
OfBusiness takes a different approach.
It connects financing directly with the business transaction.
For example
SME needs steel → OfBusiness sources steel → Financing is provided → Material is delivered → SME completes project → SME returns for the next purchase
This creates a transaction-linked financing model.
The company can therefore understand the underlying business activity rather than relying only on traditional financial statements.
Why OfBusiness' Model Can Be Powerful
The strength of the model comes from the interaction between its businesses.
Commerce generates transaction data.
Transaction data improves customer understanding.
Customer understanding can improve financing decisions.
Financing increases purchasing capacity.
Higher purchasing capacity can increase commerce volume.
More commerce creates more data.
This creates a potential flywheel
Commerce → Data → Financing → More Commerce → More Data
This is one of the central ideas behind the OfBusiness ecosystem.
Key Lessons for Startup Founders
Solve a Large B2B Problem
The founders focused on a massive but fragmented SME market.
Build Around Customer Economics
OfBusiness built its model around helping businesses reduce procurement costs and access financing.
Profitability Can Be a Moat
Strong unit economics can become a competitive advantage, especially in capital-intensive industries.
Combine Products Around One Customer
Instead of building unrelated products, OfBusiness created multiple services around the same SME customer.
Use Technology Where It Creates Efficiency
Technology is not the business by itself. It should improve procurement, financing, underwriting and customer acquisition.
Don't Chase Revenue at Any Cost
OfBusiness' FY26 performance demonstrates that reducing lower-return revenue can make sense when it improves margins and cash generation.
Think Long Term
The company took years to build its ecosystem before reaching its current scale.
OfBusiness' Entrepreneurial Lesson
Perhaps the most inspiring part of the OfBusiness story is not the $5 billion valuation.
It is the willingness to continue after repeated rejection.
Asish Mohapatra reportedly faced 73 investor rejections before OfBusiness became a major B2B unicorn.
The founders did not completely change the fundamental philosophy of the company just because investors initially preferred a different model.
They continued building around
SME procurement + financing + profitability
That strategy eventually produced a business generating more than ₹20,000 crore in annual consolidated revenue while remaining profitable.
The OfBusiness Flywheel
The company has effectively built a multi-layered ecosystem
BidAssist
↓
Business opportunities
OfBusiness
↓
Raw-material procurement
Oxyzo
↓
Business financing
Manufacturing & Supply Chain
↓
Better control and margins
Data
↓
Better customer understanding and underwriting
Repeat Transactions
↓
More scale
This integrated model is one of the strongest reasons OfBusiness has been able to build a large B2B business.
The Future of OfBusiness
OfBusiness is entering an important phase.
The company has already achieved scale, profitability and significant market penetration.
The next phase will likely be defined by
- Public-market readiness
- Higher free cash flow
- Deeper manufacturing integration
- Expansion of SME financing
- Growth of BidAssist
- AI-powered business intelligence
- Supply-chain expansion
- International opportunities
- Stronger operating margins
The biggest challenge will be maintaining growth while protecting returns and asset quality.
For a business operating across commerce, financing and supply chains, disciplined growth may ultimately be more important than simply increasing revenue.
Summary Takeaway
💡 Key Takeaway:
- OfBusiness shows how a startup can build a massive business by solving multiple connected problems for the same customer instead of operating as a simple marketplace.
Founded in 2015 by Asish Mohapatra, Ruchi Kalra, Bhuvan Gupta, Vasant Sridhar and Nitin Jain, OfBusiness has evolved from an SME financing and procurement platform into a large B2B commerce ecosystem spanning raw materials, financing, manufacturing and tender intelligence.
In FY26, the company reported ₹20,645 crore in consolidated revenue and ₹724 crore in profit after tax. Its commerce business generated ₹19,174 crore in revenue, ₹769 crore in EBITDA and ₹390 crore in free cash flow to firm, while Oxyzo's asset base reached approximately ₹11,800 crore.
The bigger lesson is simple
You don't always need to build the biggest marketplace. Sometimes, the better strategy is to own more of the value chain and solve more problems for the same customer.
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