B2B marketplace Zetwerk gets venture debt from InnoVen Capital

By Narinder Kapur

  • 29 Jan 2020
Credit: Pixabay

Zetwerk Pvt. Ltd, which operates an eponymous manufacturing services marketplace, has raised Rs 16 crore (approximately $2.24 million at current exchange rates) in funding from venture debt firm InnoVen Capital.

The funding comes just weeks after Bengaluru-based Zetwerk raised $32 million (around Rs 226.78 crore) in its Series B funding round from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Greenoaks Capital.

Udaan co-founder Vaibhav Gupta and Oyo’s chief strategy officer Maninder Gulati also invested in the company in their personal capacities as part of that Series B round, according to reports at the time.

Speaking on the fundraise from InnoVen, Zetwerk co-founder and chief executive officer Amrit Acharya said the company would continue to focus on scaling its domestic and international business, as well as increasing its supplier base.

“We have been impressed with the progress Zetwerk has made in a relatively short period of time,” InnoVen Capital India CEO Ashish Sharma said. This is a large addressable market, with tremendous potential to organise the space and provide more efficient solutions to original equipment manufacturers, he added.

Zetwerk was founded in 2018 Acharya and Srinath Ramakkrushnan. It connects mid-to-large original equipment manufacturers from India and Southeast Asia who need custom products and machine parts with firms that can satisfy the demand.

On the supply side, the company works with manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises across multiple categories such as fabrication, machining, casting and forging.

In March last year, it raised $9 million (around Rs 62 crore) as part of its Series A round from venture capital firms Sequoia India, Accel, and Kae Capital. Prior to this, the company raised $1.2 million in a seed round in August 2018. According to data available with VCCEdge, the research platform of Mosaic Digital, the funding was secured from Kae Capital and Sequoia India.

InnoVen Capital

The investment firm was established in 2008 and offers several structured debts solutions to high-growth ventures through instruments such as venture debt, acquisition finance, growth loans, and working capital facilities.

The company has offices in India, China, and Singapore, and makes bets in sectors such as consumer, food-technology, and education-technology. Some portfolio companies include consumer electronics firm Boat and Drums Food International Pvt. Ltd, which sells yogurt under the Epigamia brand.

It has also invested in Delhi-based Svarochi Lighting, which is backed by global venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

Deals in the B2B segment

There has been considerable investor interest in the B2B e-commerce segment, with startups catering to various domains as they seek to offer streamlined, efficient and organised procurement and supply chain services to businesses of all sizes.

In December, Tiger Global led a $20 million Series A funding round in Infra.Market, a marketplace for real estate and construction materials. Accel and Nexus Venture Partners also participated in the round. Infra.Market had raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round from Accel in August.

In September, Udaan raised around $300 million (around Rs 2,166 crore) in its Series D funding round from investors including Altimeter Capital and Footpath Ventures.

In August, ShopKirana E-Trading Pvt. Ltd raised Rs 71.4 crore (around $10 million) in a funding round led by Info Edge (India) Ltd, which owns portals including job site Naukri.com.