Materials science startup Whizzo raises $15 million in Series A led by Fundamentum

Whizzo founder Shrestha Kukreja. (file photo)

• Whizzo raised $15 million in Series A led by Fundamentum and LB Investment
• Funds to boost materials science research, IP, and expand exports to 30+ nations
• Whizzo aims to grow its SME/MSME partners from 120 to over 200 by year-end

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Materials science-based manufacturing startup Whizzo has raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Fundamentum, with participation from Korea-based deep tech venture capital firm LB Investment and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and BEENEXT.

The funding comes at a time when investors are betting big on deeptech and manufacturing startups in India.

The company will use the capital to invest in materials science research, build in-house intellectual property, enter fundamental research and strengthen its supply-chain and R&D presence in India, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh and Indonesia. It also plans to double its export footprint to more than 30 countries and expand its science and engineering teams, particularly in non-woven technologies and composites.

“This funding allows us to accelerate our materials science roadmap and scale our manufacturing network to meet global demand,” founder Shrestha Kukreja told Moneycontrol. “Nearly 40 percent of our revenue already comes from exports, and we plan to expand from 15 markets to over 30 in the next 12 months.”

Founded in 2024 by Kukreja, a former Zetwerk executive, Whizzo is India’s first contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) platform for technical textiles. It integrates research, formulation, prototyping, process engineering and commercial-scale manufacturing under one roof.

The company works with B2B manufacturers across applications such as geotextiles, agricultural textiles, protective and flame-retardant materials, specialty yarns, engineered apparel textiles, and industrial composites.

Whizzo partners with more than 120 SME and MSME manufacturers and plans to expand this to over 200 by the end of the financial year.

“Alongside strengthening our supply chain, we will invest in upstream IP and build faster development cycles with predictable quality,” Kukreja said.

This round also marks LB Investment’s first direct investment in India. “Whizzo’s integrated CDMO model shortens development cycles and improves execution in technical textiles,” Alex Lee, head of global investment at LB Investment, told Moneycontrol.

Ashish Kumar, cofounder and general partner at Fundamentum, said Whizzo fits the firm’s applied deep-tech thesis. “The materials science lab creates a long-term moat through upstream research, rapid iteration, and IP creation,” he said.

Whizzo previously raised seed funding from Lightspeed and BEENEXT. It operates with a 65-member team, about 10 percent of whom focus on research, and runs a materials science lab in Gurugram that will anchor its patent-filing and fundamental research efforts.