Zetwerk Raises $2.2 Mn From InnoVen Capital In Fresh Funding

SUMMARY

In December 2019, Zetwerk raised $32 Mn in Series B funding round

The startup is focussed on widening supplier base of manufacturers across categories

Zetwerk currently claims to have 1,500 SMEs and 100 enterprises on its platform

Bengaluru-based manufacturing services platform Zetwerk has raised $2.2 Mn (INR 16 Cr) in a fresh funding round from InnoVen Capital.

Prior to this round in December 2019, Zetwerk raised $32 Mn in its equity Series B funding round from new investors Lightspeed and Greenoaks Capital as well as existing investors Sequoia India, Accel and Kae Capital. Along with this, the company had raised INR 100 Cr ($14.1 Mn) debt funding from a consortium of banks and non-banking financing companies.

Amrit Acharya, chief executive officer of Zetwerk, reportedly said that the company is focussed on deepening tech and manufacturing capabilities, and widening supplier base.

Founded in 2018 by Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, and Vishal Chaudhary, Zetwerk is a B2B marketplace startup that connects large manufacturing companies with vendors and suppliers for customised products that are used as components of industrial machines and equipment.

On the demand side, the startup works with mid-to-large OEM companies from India and Southeast Asia, who require procurement of custom products and machine parts which are not available off-the-shelf in the market.

In terms of supply, manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) like Bharat Wires, RN fabricators, and GM Engineers across multiple categories (like fabrication, machining, casting, forging, etc) meet the demand. The company charges a percentage fee from the transactions it facilitates.

Zetwerk currently claims to have 1,500 SMEs and 100 enterprises on its platform. “This is a large addressable market, with tremendous potential to organize the space and provide more efficient solutions to OEMs & EPCs for custom engineering jobs,” said Ashish Sharma, CEO of InnoVen Capital India.

B2B is seen as the next big area of innovation, particularly with many models yet to be explored. According to the consultancy firm Zinnov, B2B startups were just 26% of the total startups in India in 2014, but in under five years, they comprised 43% of the total in 2018.

With no big player directly working in the custom manufacturing space, which is estimated to be a $40 Bn market in India, Zetwerk competes with other B2B ecommerce marketplaces such as IndustryBuying, Moglix, IndiaMART etc.