As consumers we constantly compare prices, be it in the market or on an ecommerce marketplace. When things seem unsatisfactory consumers have a wide variety of options to switch to. This might not necessarily be the same for companies looking for manufacturers. Considering the size, quality, and availability of the orders, companies end up with very few supplier options.
In 2018 Sonam Motwani started Karkhana.io in an effort to organize the manufacturing industry. The Mumbai-based company connects customers and companies to manufacturers and suppliers. The tech platform digitizes the entire manufacturing process enabling startups and established enterprises to experience a simple and hassle-free manufacturing experience.
Motwani explains the company as a tech enabled marketplace that allows OEMs to find the right suppliers for building their products. The platform additionally enables customers to get the right quality as per the committed timeline.
Motwani told Entrackr, “It’s not just supplier discovery, but a completely managed solution for all of their custom manufacturing requirements. For the suppliers, it is a platform that enables them to get business from a variety of customers across geographies and across product categories.”
The company works with supplies that manufacture equipment for 14 different industries from aerospace and defense to pharmaceuticals and FMCG. It finds supplies for both heavy machinery as well as small equipment needed in these industries. While onboarding suppliers, Karkhana.io enables businesses to simply submit their manufacturing requirements, track their manufacturing progress in real-time and access a vast network of vetted and certified suppliers. Additionally, to ensure that the supplier is able to fulfill the order on time and the orders do not fall through, the platform splits the order and gives it to more than one manufacturer.
From design to delivery, Karkhana.io ensures that the entire manufacturing journey remains transparent. A team is assigned to every supplier to ensure the quality, quantity, and specifics mentioned by the customer.
Explain the process Motwani said, “Once the customer matches with the supplier, manufacturing starts. The customer is prompted with timely updates on what is happening, whether the raw material has been procured, whether step one of manufacturing step two of manufacturing etc. have been completed or not. The supplier will also have somebody from our project management team come visit you to see that everything is happening as per plan. When the manufacturing is complete, we check for quality and the final go ahead is done.”
Having onboarded around 450-500 manufacturers and over 90 customers, it sees 400 daily active users and 6000 monthly active users. It also sees around 65% of its customers placing repeat orders. It looks at adding another 50 suppliers within the next couple of months.
It recently conducted exports to the Middle East through organic orders and further plans on exploring the US and German markets.
The Mumbai-based company raised its seed round of $1.5 million in December 2020 and then went on to raise its pre-series a round of $2 million in November 2022. It majorly saw participation from Vertex Ventures, South East Asia & India, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Singapore, and Aureolis Ventures.
The company claims to have seen a 7X growth in revenue in the last two years.
The Indian manufacturing sector contributes about 16-17% to the overall GDP of the country and holds around 20% of the country’s workforce. In FY22, India’s manufacturing exports reached $418 billion which was a 40% increase as compared to the previous year’s $290 billion. Â
