Zetwerk joins unicorn club after Rs 895 crore funding round

Bengaluru headquartered Zetwerk, a business-to-business (B2B) manufacturing services marketplace, has turned a unicorn after securing about Rs 895 crore ($120 million) as part of its Series E funding round. 

The funding was led by global investment firm D1 Capital that has backed Indian tech startups such as Dream11 and Zomato. D1 Capital alone brought in Rs 372.29 crore as part of this funding round, according to regulatory filings.  

The new funding comes just months after Zetwerk raised $120 million in a Series D round led by US-based Greenoaks Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners earlier in February. 

According to VCCircle estimates, Zetwerk's aggregate equity valuation has touched Rs 7,876 crore ($1.06 billion). This takes the total number of startups that have crossed the $1 billion valuation mark this year to 24 -- up from 11 last year. This month alone saw investors building seven unicorns.  

Separately, The Economic Times report, citing unidentified people, said that Zetwerk has raised $150 million. Zetwerk declined to comment when VCCircle reached out for comments. 

Other investors who participated in the latest funding round include new investor Avenir Growth (Rs 74 crore) and existing investors Greenoaks (Rs 240 crore), Lightspeed Venture Partners (Rs 167 crore), Sequoia (Rs 37 crore), and Accel (Rs 1.85 crore). 

OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal backed VC firm Aroa Ventures, QED Innovation and other individuals pooled in the remaining capital. 

Zetwerk, operated by Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses, was set up in 2018 by Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Rahul Sharma and Vishal Chaudhary. The company connects mid-to-large original equipment manufacturers from India and Southeast Asia with firms that require custom products and machine parts. 

The startup says it has forged partnerships in segments such as precision parts, capital goods and consumer goods. The product categories it serves include prefabricated structures for infrastructure projects, sheet metal for electric vehicles, precision parts for aerospace and assembly lines for consumer durables. 

Read: Zetwerk concludes $8.3 mn share buyback

Zetwerk said in February it will use its Series D funding to enhance its technological infrastructure as well as expand into newer categories and regions. 

The company had raised $21 million in a Series C funding round in July last year. 

B2B marketplaces in India have raised funding at a frenetic pace with the gap between two rounds of funding being less than a year or just over a year for a few of them. 

B2B e-commerce platform Udaan achieved the distinction of becoming the fastest startup to achieve unicorn status in India in 2018.  

This February, Infra.Market, a technology-enabled marketplace for on-demand construction materials, became a unicorn after raising $100 million (about Rs 724 crore) in a Series C funding round from its existing investors including Tiger Global, Accel, Nexus Venture Partners, Evolvence India Fund, Sistema Asia Fund and Foundamental Gmbh.  

Earlier this month, Tiger Global led another round of investment in Infra.Market with $125 million ($928 crore) in a Series D funding.