Zetwerk unveils programme to help hardware startups in robotics, e-mobility

Global manufacturing platform Zetwerk has unveiled ‘Zetwerk BUILD’ - a programme designed to provide end-to-end supply chain solutions for hardware startups in robotics, consumer products and electric mobility.

With India being the fifth largest economy and the third-largest ecosystem for startups globally, the country holds unforeseen opportunities for hardware startups to accelerate innovation across industries. Through this programme, Zetwerk will provide a complete stack of dedicated services for each requirement of a hardware startup to expedite its journey from prototype to production. The programme promises four critical features to any budding startup in the hardware space--build, research, collaborate and network.

“Manufacturing is hard. Setting up a reliable manufacturing value chain for early-stage hardware companies is a major challenge,” said Amrit Acharya, co-founder and CEO, Zetwerk Manufacturing. “Through BUILD, Zetwerk aims to help early-stage hardware companies accelerate output and optimise production by unlocking high quality, reliable, cost-competitive manufacturing through the click of a button. Zetwerk BUILD aims to be the default operating system for manufacturing.”

The programme will enable hardware startups to scale their operations and improve their production capabilities by leveraging Zetwerk’s tech-driven, extensive manufacturing capabilities and reaching out to newer markets through Zetwerk’s vast partner network. In addition, the company will offer tailor-made resilient supply chain solutions to start-ups for their products and leverage Zetwerk's global scale and logistics to expedite deliveries.

Over the next 24 months, Zetwerk aims to partner with at least 50 hardware startups globally through the program. In addition to providing discounted pricing for global logistics and warehousing, Zetwerk will also offer financial assistance for setting up dedicated production lines to aid these startups’ long-term growth.

“Product development for an early-stage hardware startup company is always daunting, especially in an ecosystem that’s constantly evolving to meet the growing demand. In addition, they work with limited resources, long product development cycles, and high costs, which can be extremely difficult for startups,” said Srinath Ramakkrushnan, co-founder & COO, Zetwerk. “However, Zetwerk has demonstrated mass manufacturing capabilities across multiple industrial and consumer product manufacturing categories. Zetwerk BUILD will share our learnings from these experiences with young companies solving ambitious product problems with innovative hardware solutions.”

Zetwerk has built a dedicated team of design, engineering, procurement, quality assurance and control, vendor and supply chain management, and logistics engineers. This team will work closely to mentor the hardware startups and develop long-term partnerships.

Last year in August, Zetwerk raised $150 million in a Series E funding round led by D1 Capital Part­ners. The investment took the valuation of the firm to over $1 billion, making it a member of the coveted uni­corn club.