AI startup ContraVault AI, which provides enterprises with an AI-powered procurement intelligence platform, has raised $3.1 Mn (₹29.3 Cr) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Chiratae Ventures, with participation from existing backer Titan Capital.
The SaaS startup will utilise the funds to fuel its expansion in the US, along with investments in product development and team building.
Founded in 2024 by Sayan Sen, Isha Junej and Tanmay Juneja, ContraVault AI helps businesses across construction, energy, power, defence and aerospace streamline the tender bidding process.
Prior to this round, ContraVault had raised about $600K from Titan Capital and other angel investors.
It aids such businesses in resolving issues like declogging the tender supply chain by streamlining procurements as well as reducing manual labour by enhancing the decision-making process before placing bids.
With a bird’s eye view of the entire bidding lifecycle of a company, Contravault AI’s software identifies tenders up for bids that the enterprise client can fulfill the demands of. Then, it helps finalise bid submission, which itself can be a cumbersome process requiring hundreds of manhours and multiple sign-offs.
Its offerings include 13 different modules at the moment, including RiskFinder for spotting risks, AI Negotiator for clause edits, document summarisation and tender synopsis, and Go/No-Go Analyser for bid qualification.
The startup currently serves 40 customers in India, including Tata Group’s Voltas, Shapoorji Pallonji, Adani Group, Sterling & Wilson, among others. According to CEO Sen, ContraVault’s client base has doubled over the past two months
As per him, ContraVault helps clients reduce the time spent procuring a single tender by 60-70% while increasing the total number of bids placed by 30-35%.
Currently, about 85% of ContraVault’s business has come from clients placing bids for government projects. Although at a nascent stage, the startup is starting out on building expertise in the private sector as well.
Overall, the cofounder claims that ContraVault’s software has analysed tenders worth over $2.5 Bn till date.
Since most infrastructure projects in India are sourced through tender bidding, Sen believes that the opportunity to scale is massive. The India infrastructure market size, which is currently valued at about $206 Bn, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8% to reach $302.62 Bn by 2031.
“This is a great space to be in, specifically because of how deep the subject matter requirement is. All of the surface level solutions are already built by existing LLMs. The deep verticalised solution utilise internal knowledge to help build custom solutions,” Sen said.
However, deal making in India is a long and arduous process, with enterprises in the US more keen on digitising their operations, especially due to higher manpower costs.
To capture that market, ContraVault has already set up a US subsidiary, and intends to establish a presence in the market by using construction-based events as its main go-to-market strategy for courting clients in the US.
On the tech front, ContraVault will also focus on enhancing its product capabilities to include automation of engineering drawings required for infrastructure bidding processes.
This will help it win larger clients, while building a moat that would be harder for newer competitors to replicate. Currently, the startup competes with the likes of TenderTiger, TendersInfo and Tender 24X7.
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