Zetwerk Raises $120 Mn From Avenir, Lightspeed

SUMMARY

Interestingly, Avenir had picked up a 2.96% stake in Zetwerk earlier in May this year via AZK4 LLC

The equity funding round comes nearly two years after Zetwerk raised $210 Mn in a round led by Greenoaks in December 2021

Incidentally, the B2B unicorn had also raised INR 100 Cr (around $12 Mn) in debt funding this March

B2B ecommerce unicorn Zetwerk has raised $120 Mn in its Series F funding round led by Avenir Growth Capital, with participation from existing investors Lightspeed, Greenoaks Capital and Steadview Capital.

The equity funding round comes nearly two years after Zetwerk raised $210 Mn in a round led by Greenoaks in December 2021, where it was valued at $2.7 Bn. The B2B unicorn had also raised INR 100 Cr (around $12 Mn) in debt funding this March.

The board at Zetwerk has passed a special resolution to issue 2,37,29,324 Series F2 compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at an issue price of INR 407.4 per share to raise INR 966.7 Cr ($118 Mn), the unicorn’s filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) show.

Entrackr was the first to report the development.

As per the filings, Avenir Growth Capital invested INR 617 Cr ($75.2 Mn), while Footpath Ventures pumped in another INR 193 Cr ($23.5 Mn). While Greenoaks Capital, Steadview Capital, D1 Capital and Lightspeed invested around INR 156 Cr during the round.

Interestingly, Avenir had picked up a 2.96% stake in Zetwerk earlier in May this year via AZK4 LLC, an investment vehicle managed by Avenir Management Company, which is a private equity investment firm operating under the brand name Avenir Growth Capital.

Founded in 2018 by Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Rahul Sharma and Vishal Chaudhary, Zetwerk is a manufacturing services platform, which connects manufacturing companies with vendors and suppliers for customised products, industrial machine components and other equipment. Since its launch, Zetwerk has raised nearly $674 Mn in funding.

The B2B unicorn competes with the likes of Infra.Market, Moglix and OfBusiness.

While the unicorn has yet to file its financials for FY23, it posted a loss of INR 59.7 Cr in FY22, up 45% from INR 41.1 Cr in FY21. Zetwerk’s operating revenue jumped 5.9X, reaching INR 4,960.5 Cr in FY22 from INR 835.4 Cr in FY21.

Last year, Zetwerk also went on an acquisition spree, picking up four companies between July and November 2022 at a cumulative cost of around $50 Mn.

The startup announced its foray into IT hardware and electric vehicle (EV) component manufacturing this September. According to media reports, Zetwerk has set aside INR 1,000 Cr ($122 Mn) to invest in electronics manufacturing. To be sure, the startup is already manufacturing consumer electronics, including audio devices, TVs and smartwatches, among others.

In July, Zetwerk brought in investment banking and corporate finance veteran Pulkit Bhandari as its CFO.