“The founders have personally raised debt to inject additional equity into the company, resulting in their combined stake increasing by just over 2%,” the person stated, adding that the fund infusion in Zetwerk is happening through a newly created entity, Creovate Innovations Pvt Ltd.
Zetwerk’s founders are boosting their stake ahead of a planned IPO, joining a growing list of new-age entrepreneurs doing the same. “IPO preparations are going on and the company should be in a place to list by the finish of this fiscal or early FY27,” another person stated.
Recently, Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal raised debt to acquire a stake of around 2.5% in the omnichannel eyewear retailer from various investors, including SoftBank, Chiratae Ventures, TR Capital, and Kedaara Capital, for Rs 222 crore.
Also Read: ETtech explainer: Decoding Lenskart’s draft prospectus for Rs 8,000 crore IPO
Promoters of adtech platform InMobi are also in talks with private credit funds to raise $500 million to acquire back stakes from investors such as SoftBank ahead of its proposed public offering, ET had reported in May. Similarly, Zepto founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are in talks with Edelweiss Alternatives to raise Rs 1,500 crore in debt to increase their stakes in the quick commerce company as it sees to boost domestic ownership.
Also Read: Why are late-stage startups relying on private credit before their IPOs?
In Zetwerk’s case, however, Acharya and Ramakkrushnan are creating a primary capital infusion. According to Tracxn, the two founders currently own around 14–15% of the company.
Zetwerk did not comment on the developments.
The development about Acharya and Ramakkrushnan increasing stake in Zetwerk was reported first by Entrackr.
In April, Acharya had written a note to Zetwerk’s employees stateing that as the company started its preparations for an initial public offering, it necessaryed to improve productivity, cut inefficiencies and create sure every unit is profitable.
Founded in 2018 by IIT alumni Acharya, Ramakkrushnan, Rahul Sharma and Vishal Chaudhary, Zetwerk partners with industrial and consumer businesses to receive their products built through a global network of compact-scale manufacturers. The company now also operates more than 10 factories in India, the US and Europe.
With free cash flows starting to come in, Acharya had stated in his April note that the focus is shifting to where the company should invest next, adding that Zetwerk aims to evolve from a pure-play manufacturing firm to an R&D-first company.
Zetwerk is yet to post its FY25 financials. However, it reported a 26% increase in revenue to Rs 14,436 crore in FY24 while its net loss widened nine-fold to Rs 919 crore, including exceptional items of Rs 372 crore.
