Zetwerk mafia on fundraising spree: Scimplify, CBCatalyst, Sanlayan discuss new rounds

These developments come at a time when funding among startups increased 14 percent to $10.94 billion in 2024, up from $9.58 billion in 2023.

A new 'startup mafia' is emerging from the ranks of Zetwerk, as several former executives from the B2B manufacturing startup are in talks to raise funds for their own companies.

Scimplify, CBCatalyst, and Sanlayan, all founded by former Zetwerk executives, are among the companies in talks with venture capitalists. Meanwhile, Zetwerk investor Lightspeed is set to back a former business head in a $5 million deal, sources told Moneycontrol.

A startup mafia refers to a group of people who worked at a large company and then went on to start their own ventures. In India, companies like Zoho, Flipkart, and Ola are known for their startup mafias, while globally, PayPal, Google, Apple, and others are known for producing the highest number of new ventures and founders who have raised significant capital.

Scimplify, a full-stack platform for specialty chemicals, is in the advanced stages of raising $30 million (Rs 255 crore) in its latest round led by Accel, 3one4 Capital and others, two sources cited above said.

The round is happening at a slight premium from earlier. The company, which was last valued at $80 million is now commanding a valuation of $130 million, the people added.

Once complete, this will be the company’s second round in a span of six months. Scimplify had raised around $9.5 million in July 2024 from Omnivore, 3one4 Capital and Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), as per Tracxn, a private markets data provider.

The Bengaluru-based company was founded in 2023 by Salil Srivastava, former business head at Zetwerk. Srivastava runs the company along with Sachin Santhosh, former OfBusiness executive, who is the co-founder at Scimplify.

Meanwhile, Sanlayan, a company specialising in electronic systems design and manufacturing solutions for the defence sector, is also in talks for a fresh capital raise. The company is aiming for up to $20 million (Rs 170 crore), with backing expected from both new and existing investors like OTP Ventures and Jungle Ventures. This follows a $4.3 million round in March 2024, with capital needed to fund acquisitions as the company expands its footprint.

Sanlayan was co-founded in 2023 by Rohan Gala, Abhijit Kothawale, and Rahul Vamshidhar, all former Zetwerk executives.

Similarly, Nikhil Jaipuria, another former Zetwerk executive, launched CBCatalyst with former Amazon executive Karan Shah—a marketplace for sourcing customer engineering components. CBCatalyst is nearing a $1 million raise from Silicon Valley’s South Park Commons (SPC), an early-stage investor, which recently entered India and is readying a $40 million fund to back Indian founders, sources aware of the discussions said.

This will be among the first few deals that SPC makes in India since it entered the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem in June 2024.

Top executives who have worked at established startups, such as Zetwerk in this case, find it easier to scale a business because they have done it for a large company in the past. For these operators, it is also easier to raise money from investors for their new venture and also attract and hire top talent because of the halo effect, experts had earlier told Moneycontrol.

In some cases, an existing investor, which is a backer of a large startup, will again place its trust in the company’s former executives because of the relationship they have. It has happened several times in the past, including when Accel backed former Swiggy chief technology officer (CTO) Dale Vaz, when he ventured out to build Sahi, his own wealth-tech startup.

Lightspeed is no exception. The investor is in advanced stages to lead a $5 million round in a company founded by a former business head at Zetwerk, sources said.

Scimplify, Accel, 3one4 Capital, Sanlayan, CBCatalyst, South Park Commons, and Lightspeed did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

These developments come at a time when funding among startups increased 14 percent to $10.94 billion in 2024, up from $9.58 billion in 2023, according to data from Venture Intelligence, a market research firm. In 2025, the deal activity is only set to pick up further as investors deploy capital to reduce dry powder and back promising founders.