Venture ambition gets a dose of realism 💁‍♀️

Another unicorn has found itself on the wrong side of the law. India’s income-tax department is sniffing around for misappropriation of funds and lack of reporting at unicorn venture Infra.Market — which runs a construction focused B2B-marketplace.

Details are scant, but several raids were apparently conducted on 20+ locations of the company and its founders’ homes over the weekend, where a bunch of cash and jewelry was attached.

Tax department is making some serious heavyweight charges — accusing Infra of raising money through hawala network, faking purchase orders, and sliding in unaccounted cash expenses of possibly over ₹400 crores.

Authorities say the company’s executives have acknowledged their faults though, and are actively co-operating.

Worth mentioning — Infra.Market is valued at over $2.5 billion, is backed by Tiger, Accel and some gold standard names, and was in talks to raise at a 2x valuation in a few months. Good luck now!