Online marketplace for manufacturing services Zetwerk has raised USD 9 million in a Series A round from Accel Partners and existing investors Sequoia Capital and Kae Capital.
Zetwerk is a technology platform for on-demand manufacturing of custom products. It connects mid-to-large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and manufacturing SMEs. The company said it would utilise the fresh funds to expand its supply base across India and build a host of tools to help small manufacturers run businesses more efficiently.
Co-founder Ramakkrushnan told Mint, “There are lakhs of manufacturing SMEs in India today, majority of them have good skills in manufacturing, but lack skills in marketing and project management. OEMs globally want to procure from these SMEs but lack a technology platform to discover which SME can meet their quality and delivery criteria. Zetwerk aims to solve this through our platform.”.
The company, on the demand side, works with mid-to-large OEMs companies from India and Southeast Asia that require procurement of custom products and machine parts unavailable off-the-shelf. On the supply side, it works with manufacturing SMEs, across categories like machining, fabrication, casting, forging, etc.
Founded by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras alumni Amrit Acharya and Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Zetwerk raised USD 1.2 million seed round from Kae Capital and Sequoia in August last year. Its clients include those from oil and gas, power, renewable energy and infrastructure businesses.