Trichy-based manufacturing startup Frigate announced on Tuesday that it has successfully raised $1.5 million in a seed round led by Arali Ventures, with participation from Capital-A, Java Capital, and other strategic angel investors. The funding will enable Frigate to expand its digital manufacturing ecosystem and cater to its growing global customer base.
Founded in 2021 by Dr. 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 worldwide. The company specializes in executing projects within the New Energy & Power, Infrastructure, EV sectors, and Automotive industries, focusing on Heavy Fabrication, Sheet Metal, Castings, Forgings, and Injection Molding.
Dr. Tamizhinian Vasanthan, Founder & CEO of Frigate, emphasized the company’s commitment to providing Manufacturing-as-a-Service to global customers. Frigate aims to offer globally competitive pricing, better lead times, and best-in-class manufacturing quality. Their customers view Frigate as an extended supply chain partner, covering all stages from new product development to mass production. Moreover, Frigate is assisting overseas customers interested in setting up a manufacturing base in India, aligning with the China +1 policy.
Karthikeyan Prakash, Co-Founder & CPO, highlighted Frigate’s proprietary AI-enabled tech platform, which facilitates demand-supply matching and standardization, showcasing partners’ capacity, capability, and availability. The platform ensures complete transparency from sales to order fulfillment, potentially driving job creation and economic growth while positioning India as a manufacturing superpower.
On the supply side, Frigate has formed partnerships with more than 200 manufacturing partners, referred to as “Frigaters,” located in Tier 2 cities such as Coimbatore, Trichy, Hosur, Jamnagar, Ludhiana, Kolhapur, and Kolar. By leveraging spare capacity through technology, Frigate helps these partners increase their revenue from customers globally.
Arun Raghavan, Managing Partner at Arali Ventures, highlighted the favorable conditions driving India’s manufacturing sector forward. He compared the B2B manufacturing business to the IT services sector in the late 90s and emphasized the need for long-term partners in new age industries worldwide. Arali Ventures believes that Frigate, with its all-round manufacturing, new product development, and operations management capabilities, is well-positioned to execute on this opportunity.
Vinod Shankar, Partner and Co-founder at Java Capital, drew parallels between the cloud adoption in IT infrastructure and the expected shift toward cloud-based manufacturing. He also noted the rapid digitization of India’s B2B supply chain and the China +1 strategy as factors contributing to the adoption curve. Shankar expressed confidence in Frigate’s founders and the market, as they align with the fund’s investment thesis of targeting a large market with young founders.
Ankit Kedia, Founder at Capital-A, expressed confidence in Frigate’s potential to reshape the manufacturing industry globally. Capital-A believes that Frigate’s cloud-based manufacturing approach will unlock untapped potential and open doors to unparalleled growth opportunities, positioning the company as the future of manufacturing.
This seed round marks Frigate’s second round of funding, following a pre-seed round of $185,000 raised in April 2022 from strategic angel investors and founders. With the additional funding, Frigate plans to strengthen its team across India and globally, supporting business development, supply chain management, technology, and finance.
Frigate’s mission to “Make Manufacturing Easy” for global industrial OEMs, ODMs, and product companies has gained significant momentum with this successful seed round. By leveraging their AI-enabled cloud manufacturing platform, Frigate aims to provide competitive pricing, improved lead times, and exceptional manufacturing quality, ultimately reshaping the manufacturing landscape worldwide.
