The latest investment, consisting of $8 million in equity and $1 million in debt, brings the company’s total Series A funding to $17 million.

The investment comes as Saudi Arabia’s construction industry undergoes rapid expansion, driven by multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure and real estate projects under the Vision 2030 plan. 

BRKZ, founded in 2023 by Ibrahim Manna, aims to tackle inefficiencies in the sector by offering a managed marketplace that simplifies procurement, reduces delays, and provides financing solutions.

Manna, who previously held a senior role at Uber-owned Careem, was inspired to start BRKZ after encountering procurement challenges when building his family home. “After Careem’s exit to Uber, I bought a family house in May 2020 and faced the inefficiencies of the construction supply chain—lack of visibility in material selection, uncertainty around the whereabouts of goods, and price volatility,” he explained. 

Recognising a gap in the market, he set out to create a platform that would simplify the procurement process for contractors and suppliers.

Since launching, BRKZ has expanded commendably. The platform now offers over 7,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) and has grown its network to 1,100 suppliers, compared to 350 suppliers a year ago. 

Contractors using the platform can source essential materials such as cement, steel, and wood while benefiting from competitive pricing and financing options like buy-now-pay-later (BNPL).

The company has grown over the past year, with revenue quadrupling in 2024. More than 850 contractors and factories now use BRKZ, contributing to large-scale projects such as King Salman Park, Neom, and the Red Sea Project.

To meet growing demand, BRKZ has expanded its operations across over 40 cities in Saudi Arabia, increasing its request-for-quotation (RFQ) volume from $170 million in early 2024 to $350 million (SAR 1.3 billion) today. Manna revealed plans to extend the company’s reach to the Northern and Southern provinces, further strengthening its presence in the Saudi market.

Beyond procurement, BRKZ aims to offer a full-service construction space, covering financing, workforce supply, and equipment rental. The company currently generates revenue through transaction fees and financing services, but it plans to broaden its scope by working with developers and suppliers in addition to contractors.

One major area of expansion involves importing construction materials that are difficult to source locally. BRKZ intends to establish a trade corridor between China and Saudi Arabia, with plans to start importing materials from China this year, followed by India and Turkey. 

“We’re quite excited about building or enabling a corridor of trade between China and Saudi as we start importing goods we know our contractors, suppliers, and others would like to get from China. If materials are needed outside of Saudi, we’ll get them, white label these goods, and sell them to contractors, developers, and suppliers in Saudi. Our focus is to go deeper into Saudi Arabia,” Manna stated.

This change aligns with China’s growing economic ties with the Middle East and Saudi Arabia’s increasing reliance on imported materials for its massive construction projects.

The latest funding round saw participation from 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. 

Dany Farha, co-founder and managing partner at BECO Capital, commended BRKZ’s impact on the industry. “The BRKZ team has executed its product and operational roadmap to drive efficiencies in this rapidly scaling sector, and we’re excited to continue supporting them in their next chapter. BRKZ’s financing product will complement their digitised procurement platform and address customer cash flow challenges,” he said.

Since its inception, BRKZ has raised $22.5 million, including pre-seed and seed rounds. The company’s valuation has risen by 46% in the past year, showing increasing market demand. 

With new capital in hand, BRKZ plans to strengthen its technology, enhance its financing solutions, and further expand its reach in Saudi Arabia’s construction sector.

Rali_Cap is a two-year old VC investing in B2B and API-first fintechs at pre-seed and seed stages across target markets. By the end of June, the firm seeks to reach the second close of the fund.

Before putting forward a new fund size, signaling a strong LP appetite, the VC reached its first close of $20 million initial target last month.

The limited partners for this new $30 million fund were Breyer Capital, Propel VC, Better Tomorrow Ventures, FT Partners, Bain Capital, Lateral Capital, a few family offices, HNIs and a multibillion-dollar crossover fund also known for investing in smaller funds.

The VC firm has backed 12 African startups, 13 Latin American startups and 7 Asian startups, from across the banking-as-a-service and card issuance, open finance sectors and SME digitization platforms, such as Belvo, Mono, Minka, Stitch, Union54, Pomelo, Simetrik, Brick and Abhi. Some of Rali_cap’s LPs include executives and managers from fintechs such as Wave, Block, MercadoPago, Rappi, Flutterwave, Yoco, Visa, Plaid, Stripe and Coinbase, as well as e-commerce platforms like Jumia and Shopify. Among these LPs, some have taken part in follow-on early- and growth-stage rounds of the startups.

For this new fund, though open for exceptions, Rali_cap targets startups in large markets such as Africa — Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa; Latin America — Brazil and Mexico; and South Asia — Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

The VC invests between $200,000 and $500,000 in these startups. The firm leads pre-seed deals and takes part in seed rounds.