Man Quits BCG Job To Build Doors & Windows - Eyes Rs 250 Cr Revenue

When Dilip Kumar was a child, he often saw how masons worked at his father’s construction company. The whole process of making a foundation and then building an entire building by binding bricks together fascinated him.

In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia, Dilip says, “My father’s construction company was a small venture - but it paid our bills and kept the customers happy. One of my earliest exposures to how a business is run and how people are managed came from seeing my father.”

Born and brought up in Hyderabad, Dilip went on to complete his undergraduate degree from Manipal Academy of Higher Education. He then got into the prestigious IIM Calcutta for his MBA.

Dilip now has a decade-long experience in the realm of consultancy. He worked at Accenture as an Engagement Manager and later became a Partner at the Boston Consulting Group. 

“I was handling a lot of projects and clients based in Europe and Germany, especially Milan and Munich. We were catering to a lot of businesses that dealt with construction materials. That was when I started building my hypothesis around what gaps the Indian construction market struggled with and the measures needed to plug them,” Dilip explains.

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In 2022, he quit his lucrative job at BCG and decided to start GreenFortune, a door and window brand that was about to change how Indians experience construction.

This was how Dilip Kumar started blending his childhood fascination with construction and his current knowledge of the intricacies of the market.

THE GREENFORTUNE JOURNEY

The Indian construction market has largely remained unorganized, particularly in sectors that cater to affordable price segments. 

Most middle-class Indians know what they’re getting into when they’re building a house or renovating and refurnishing it.

For instance, dealing with endless calls to a contractor who isn’t really savvy in the kind of construction material the client needs, doesn’t fully understand their requirements, and has negligible knowledge about small details that matter.

Dilip says, “The problem is that the affordable segment makes up about 85% of the construction market - and that is all over the place with many fabricators and contractors trying to keep everything together.”

He adds, “The other part of the market, the premium segment, is organized and has top brands catering to luxury construction requirements. But this leaves the middle class hanging in between. At GreenFortune, we wanted to solve this.”

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Dilip started out by focusing on in-house Research and Development. The vision was to make quality materials for doors and windows and offer them at an affordable price. 

Another factor that came into play was the climate of the country. According to Dilip, many Indian luxury brands offer windows and doors initially designed for Western climates, where sub-zero temperatures are common. Since most regions in India don't experience such extreme conditions, these products end up being unnecessarily expensive.

This is where GreenFortune delved into personalizing materials according to different parts of the country.

The company started as a two-person team. Six months later, his wife Pratyusha Kosaraju joined as a co-founder.

While initially, Dilip was shunned by people, he was able to expand GreenFortune and land clients in the domestic, retail, and commercial space. 

“Most of our clients come through references. Word-of-mouth is something you shouldn't underestimate in this industry,” Dilip says.

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THE GREENFORTUNE EXPERIENCE

Today, GreenFortune has become one of the leading Indian brands manufacturing uPVC windows and doors that are powered by tech and innovation. 

The brand has an unwavering stance on transparency. 

When a customer requests a service, a solutions expert is assigned to them. The solution expert visits the site, meets with the customer personally, takes note of their requirements and vision, and comes back with a plan of action and a quote within one day.

From the kind of materials being used to the time it'll take for completion, everything is communicated with the customer. 

Dilip tells Startup Pedia, “We follow a consultative way of selling our services. We never push a customer to go for higher-priced products simply because it would benefit us. Our goal is to understand the customer's budget, respect it, and then use materials that stay within it without compromising on performance.”

With GreenFortune, customers get world-class doors and windows ready within the time promised to them.

GROWTH

Owing to seamless services and well-researched, high-performance materials and products, GreenFortune has seen rapid growth since its inception.  

The brand has collaborated with fabricator partners to deliver over 2 million square feet of doors and windows to individual retail customers, corporate offices, residential buildings, government projects, and even religious places like temples.

The founders raised USD 1 million during their seed funding round in June 2023.

Since then to the current round of funding, the brand has grown six times.

Looking at closing a new round of funding, GreenFortune is projecting a revenue run rate of Rs 250 crore in the next two years.

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LOOKING AHEAD

In the near future, GreenFortune envisions becoming a dedicated one-stop solution for all window and door needs, offering a range of materials to suit any preference. 

From teak wood to aluminum, Dilip and his co-founder want to make their brand the first one in the Indian market to provide a comprehensive selection of doors and windows.