Silk-tech start-up Reshamandi, which serves as a B2B marketplace for silk farmers, businesses and retailers, has raised $30 million in Series A funding led by global alternative investment manager Creation Investments and other investors.

The latest round featured a mix of equity and some debt. The equity funding includes new investors such as 9 Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, Sandeep Singhal from Nexus, Brijesh Agarwal, founder of IndiaMART, and Omnivore, which also led the seed round of ReshaMandi. Debt investors include Northern Arc, Alteria, Innoven, and Stride Ventures, the company said in a statement.

Founded in May 2020, ReshaMandi provides a full-stack digital ecosystem starting from farm-to-fashion. It has on-boarded more than 35,000 small businesses spanning across farmers, SME manufacturers, and retailers onto its supply chain, impacting over $1.5 billion worth of market. The company claimed that its processes have helped increase small business incomes by 35-55 per cent and the use of indigenous raw silk dramatically.

“This round of funding will allow us to expand into newer territories and operationalise our R&D work while helping further stakeholders reap the benefits of our innovations and efficiencies,” said Mayank Tiwari, CEO, ReshaMandi in a statement.

“Shortly after this round, a whole new range of saris and other fashion wear will be available in tier-II towns in India where we are expanding,” said Utkarsh Apoorva, Co-founder and CBO, ReshaMandi.

“Our supply chain ensures that silk becomes affordable, and is available to middle-class households across the country, with a design range and price points never seen before. This will change the way people in tier-II shop for silk apparel.”

Expansion plans

ReshaMandi plans to expand its agricultural business in all major silk-producing states across India while also establishing itself as a leader in weaving clusters like Banaras, Salem, Kanchipuram, Maheshwar, and Dharmavaram.

The company also aims to extend its retail footprint further into Agra, Kota, Gorakhpur, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat, Pune, Nagpur, Satara, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Madurai, Coimbatore, Kochi, and Kannur, over the next three to six months.

“With this round, we can enable contributors with financial solutions that will boost their production via scientific advisories and improvements, give access to a democratised marketplace, and the ability to create products that are of high quality and set the stage for international recognition, which is long due for Indian silk,” said Saurabh Agarwal, CTO, ReshaMandi.

“With India producing 30 per cent of the world’s silk and still needing more to meet demand, companies like ReshaMandi can make the whole silk supply chain run more efficiently. Ultimately, this benefits the whole ecosystem – from farmers and weavers to clothing manufacturers and buyers,” said Tyler Day, Partner at Creation Investments.

Reshamandi’s proprietary AI and IoT technology is bringing transparent and inexpensive solutions to the finer fabrics issues in India while closely working with farmers to streamline the silk industry and utilising ReshaMandi app especially curated for farmers’ productivity.

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