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    Zetwerk turns unicorn after $150-million funding led by D1 Capital

    Synopsis

    The funding values the startup at $1.33 billion post money.

    ZetwerkETtech
    (From left) Zetwerk cofounders Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Rahul Sharma and Vishal Chaudhary.
    Zetwerk Manufacturing, a contract maker of consumer and capital goods, has raised $150 million in its Series E round, led by D1 Capital Partners.

    The funding values the company at $1.33 billion post-money, making it a unicorn, or those startups with a valuation of $1 billion or more.

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    New investors Avenir and IIFL also participated in the funding round, along with existing ones Greenoaks Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital and Accel.

    The three-year-old company had raised a seed round in 2018.

    In February, it raised $120 million in its Series D round from investors led by US-based Greenoaks Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The round had valued the company at around $600 million.

    ET was the first to report about Zetwerk’s fundraising last Friday.

    Amrit Acharya, CEO of Zetwerk, told ET that the company had turned Ebitda positive and was likely to grow 4x in the current financial year to clock a revenue of around Rs 3,500 crore.

    Ebitda refers to a company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

    “We will use the funds towards building new technology, global expansion and strengthening our market leadership across industrial and consumer manufacturing supply chains,” Acharya said. “Majority of the current fundraise is primary and some of our early investors and angels have partially cashed out,” he added.

    The company is focusing on strong unit economics and executing for long-term growth, Acharya said, adding that profitability was an important milestone for the company.

    Founded in 2018 by Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Rahul Sharma and

    Vishal Chaudhary, Zetwerk helps small and medium enterprises translate their digital designs into physical products. It operates in more than 25 industry segments.

    The company has entered new manufacturing categories such as consumer goods, apparel, defence, space and aerospace.

    Currently, around 85% of its business is concentrated around the Indian market and the international business contributes around 10% to its order book.

    The liquidity rush in the Indian and overseas markets has helped many companies raise larger pools of capital at bigger valuations.

    So far this year, 25 companies have entered the unicorn club, including Digit, Innovaccer, Infra.Market, Five Star, Meesho, Cred, Pharmeasy, Sharechat, Urban Company and CoinDCX.

    Zetwerk’s latest funding round also included angel investors such as Ritesh Aggarwal, founder of OYO; Kunal Shah, founder of CRED; Cem Garih, Managing Partner of Alarko Ventures, the venture capital arm of Alarko Group; and Fethi Sabanci Kamisli, Founding partner of Esas Ventures, one of the largest family-owned investment firms in Turkey.

    “In a short period of time, we believe Zetwerk has become a leader in delivering fast and cost-effective manufacturing solutions to companies globally and accelerating the pace of digital transformation of a very traditional industry,” said Jeremy Goldstein of D1 Capital Partners.

    Also Read: Zetwerk revenue trebles in FY21 as business rebounds
    The Economic Times

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