While the trade war with the United States made a huge dent in China’s manufacturing capability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s renewed focus on Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make-in-India made sure that China is no longer a manufacturing hub of the world. The latest blow to Chinese arrogance has come from Zetwerk, a three-year-old Indian Company.
Zetwerk has recently raised $120 million in a fresh round of funding in its Series E round. D1 Capital Partners has invested $50 million while Green Oaks and Lightspeed brought in $32 million and $22.5 million respectively. With this round of funding, Zetwerk became the 25th company to acquire unicorn status in 2021. Unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion.
Zetwerk- the solution to the demand-supply dilemma
Zetwerk is a Business-to-Business company that works to harmonise the symbiotic relationship between big companies and MSMEs. Any product sold by the big companies in the market is made from hundreds of micro-sized stuff. These micro materials are produced and supplied to the bigger companies. There are more than 63 million small and medium enterprises in India, and it is a nightmare for the manufacturers to ensure good quality, on-time supply from these small suppliers. On the other hand, MSMEs have their peculiar problem of getting constant orders to manufacture. After their involvement in one big project for a season, MSMEs tend to wait to get involved in a new project. A lot of times, they never get the orders. This is where Zetwerk kicks in.
Zetwerk provides reliable partners to large companies and tenders to small suppliers. Not only this, the platform derives inspiration for its machine from the bigger company and works to make the machine on the same design principle. Then the design is given to smaller manufacturers and the machine manufactured by them is handed over to the bigger company. Zetwerk also ensures the availability of whatever material is required to be provided throughout this process. One significant feature is that it provides is real-time tracking of the order. Simply stating, there are many levels of product development, Zetwerk makes sure that the companies can track the development of their product in real-time. In addition, the company also ensures shipping. The products include industrial pipes, technological structures, aircraft components, auto components, robotics systems, medical devices, kitchen appliances, televisions, and apparel.
Within three years, it has developed a network of 10,000 suppliers and has completed over 1000 projects. According to the company, the domestic business is growing 3 to 4 times year on year, while the international business is growing 10 times a year.
Zetwerk – An Ode to emerging India
The company’s success provides a glimpse into how India is geared up to replace China in terms of economic development. India has taken a lot of initiatives like Make-in-India, Aatmanirbhar Bharat to augment the manufacturing sector in India. The production-linked incentive scheme is especially turning out to be a game-changer for the Indian manufacturing space. It is making sure that Indian products compete on equal footing with foreign products. With manufacturing in acceleration, the supply side dilemma is being solved by the supply chain provided by companies like Zetwerk.
PC: PMINDIA
India as a favourite destination of China+1
The world has recently discovered that how much it is unsafe to invest in China. The supply chain disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic has led companies and countries to rethink their strategies. To add insult to the injuries, the Communist government is axing its leg by cracking down on its domestic industries. Moreover, China’s worsened relations with other countries are constantly creating problems in maintaining demand-supply equilibrium for the companies. The companies are working on the China+1 strategy. Along with Vietnam, India has provided a lot of incentives to attract these companies to India.
The success of Zetwerk is going to bring in more companies towards solving the supply side dilemma. While Zetwerk has organised 10,000 suppliers, India’s total MSME capacity is 63 million, contributing to 33.4 per cent of production. Streamlining 63 million MSMEs is a humongous task, which will require a decade of constant encouragement and effort.
Zetwerk is a great achievement, but the “animal spirit” ingrained in MAKE-IN-INDIA should be taken in letter and spirit.
