T.N. startup Frigate raises USD 1.5 million in seed round

Tamil Nadu-based manufacturing startup Frigate, has raised a seed round of USD 1.5 million led by Arali Ventures, with participation from Capital-A, Java Capital, and other angel investors.

Tamil Nadu-based manufacturing startup Frigate, has raised a seed round of USD 1.5 million led by Arali Ventures, with participation from Capital-A, Java Capital, and other angel investors.

This is Frigate’s second round of funding. In April 2022 the company had raised its pre-seed round of USD 185,000 through angel investors and founders. With the new round of funds, the Tiruchi-based firm will expand its digital manufacturing ecosystem to cater to its global customer base.

Founded in 2021 by Tamizhinian Vasanthan, Karthikeyan Prakash, Chandrasekar C, and Iniyavan Vasanthan, Frigate is a B2B cloud manufacturing platform that offers a comprehensive suite of manufacturing services to medium and large-scale companies globally. Frigate specialises in executing projects within the new energy and power, infrastructure and EV sectors, and automotive industries with a focus on heavy fabrication, sheet metal, castings, forgings, and injection molding.

Tamizhinian Vasanthan, founder and CEO, said that on the demand side, Frigate provides manufacturing-as-a-service to global customers, offering globally competitive pricing and better lead times. “Frigate is helping overseas customers who are looking at a China +1 policy to set up a manufacturing base in India,” he said. On the supply side, Frigate has partnered with more than 200 manufacturing partners, especially in tier 2 cities such as Coimbatore, Trichy, Hosur, Jamnagar, Ludhiana, Kolhapur and Kolar.

Arun Raghavan, managing partner at Arali Ventures said, “The manufacturing sector from India has significant tailwinds driving it forward. The B2B manufacturing business is poised now, like the IT services were in the late 90s.” He further said, “Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), especially in new age industries, across the globe are looking for long-term partners who will help them build out their vendor development, contract manufacturing partners and supply chain capabilities. The Frigate team with its manufacturing, new product development and operations management capabilities is best suited to execute this, going forward.”

Arali is a seed stage B2B-focussed venture capital fund. Arali is currently investing out of its USD 40 million second fund.

The other investor Capital-A, is a venture capital fund that focuses on investing in seed to early stage startups. Currently investing from its USD 25 million fund, Capital-A has built a portfolio of over 25 startups.