On-Demand Manufacturing Platform Karkhana Bags $1.5 Mn Seed Funding

B2B on-demand manufacturing platform Karkhana.io has raised $1.5 Mn in a seed funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. The round also saw participation from several industry leaders and angel investors.

Karkhana.io, which was founded in June 2018, plans to use this funding to fuel further growth and establish their technology platform to meet the growing demand for custom manufacturing in India’s manufacturing industry.

Prior to this, the company received a grant of INR 20 Lakh from Action Covid-19 Team (ACT), a coalition of Indian investors which had created a fund to support ideas looking to help India in the fight against the pandemic.

Founded by Sonam Motwani, the company leverages technologies like 3D printing, injection moulding, machining, fabrication and design facility to produce PPEs — face shields, aerosol boxes, goggles and more. The startup was also offering tools to help others manufacture PPEs and other ICU equipment such as valves, connectors and ventilator parts.

Besides these technologies, the Mumbai-based startup also leverages technology like sheet metal work, CNC machining to enhance its manufacturing capabilities. It is also using such mechanisms to enable building of other cutting-edge technology like deep-sea underwater robots, satellite, rocket for outer space and components for electric vehicles, the internet of things (IoT) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries.

“Finding the right manufacturing vendor is a tedious and time-consuming process. The industry is still highly fragmented. There is no easy way to figure out which manufacturing process to go for, where to manufacture, and what is a fair price to pay, etc. We want to change this so that new products can go from prototyping to production seamlessly at a much quicker pace,” founder and CEO Motwani said.

Karkhana aims to work with manufacturers throughout the country to alleviate pain points in the supply chain across unit sizes and manufacturing types. It is looking to solve issues in production, delivery delays, inconsistency in quality, lack of transparency and more.

By working closely with a large network of manufacturers, Karkhana.io can integrate operations for clients using its online platform which offers tools for manufacturers to manage projects more effectively. The platform also shows progress on projects for customers in order to maintain transparency, the company claimed.