Design firm Space Matrix to acquire India-based B2B e-commerce platform Pursuite

SINGAPORE-BASED design consultancy Space Matrix is fully acquiring Pursuite, an India-based business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition will enable Space Matrix, which specialises in office design, to use Pursuite’s artificial intelligence technology to aid its work, through analysing data to solve project management issues, said Space Matrix chief executive Arsh Chaudhry, noting that talks had begun around 4 to 5 months prior to the announcement on Wednesday (Jun 15).

While Pursuite’s vendors and offerings had been focused on the hospitality sector, Chaudhry said its technology could be adapted for the office sector. Founded in 2001, Space Matrix has designed Singapore offices for companies like real estate manager Ascendas-Singbridge, Coca-Cola and insurer Prudential.

“There are always commonalities for what will go into an office, and items (tend to) come from different vendors,” Chaudhry told The Business Times.

Pursuite’s tech will help the company to advise their clients better, as it reduces time needed to select the appropriate products for a design, and understand the costs and turnaround times required for putting together the office space.

Founded in 2016, Pursuite offers operational supplies and equipment, as well as furniture, fixtures and related equipment to hospitality businesses looking to procure supplies. It has business operations in Gurugram, India and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Space Matrix will integrate Pursuite’s processes over the next 6 months. More than 1,500 vendors providing office equipment and furniture across key markets of Singapore, India, China and the rest of South-east Asia will be brought onboard as well.

The company declined to share the deal amount. The most recent regulatory filings of Space Matrix’s Singapore entity show that the company’s revenue was S$19.2 million in FY2021 ended Mar 31, down 33.9 per cent year on year from S$29 million. It was profitable in FY2021 with S$1.8 million profit, after 2 years in the red, according to regulatory filings.

Following the acquisition, Space Matrix, which currently has 615 staff, will be joined by the nearly 40-member Pursuite team. Amit Shukla, founder and chief executive of Pursuite, will also be named Space Matrix’s global chief technology officer.

Chaudhry believes the acquisition will place Space Matrix ahead of its competitors. “The industry still runs the same way it did 50 years ago,” he said. “The process of procuring products and services to build an office is very archaic and is filled with multiple issues, including cost and time unpredictability, quality and consistency of products and price transparency.”

Going forward, Space Matrix aims to expand into new markets across South-east Asia and China and is actively looking for acquisitions to help them towards this goal.