Materials science-based manufacturing startup Whizzo is in talks to raise around $26 million in its Series B funding round, which could be co-led by Aavishkaar Capital and Bertelsmann Investments (BI), Inc42 reported, citing sources. Existing backers Fundamentum and Lightspeed Ventures are also likely to participate.
Founded in 2024 by Shrestha Kukreja, the Bengaluru startup claims to be India's first contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) platform for technical textiles manufacturing — integrating R&D, formulation, prototyping, process engineering and commercial-scale manufacturing under one roof, with design and R&D services for clients across India, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh.
The fresh round comes almost six months after Whizzo raised around $15 million in its Series A led by Fundamentum, with participation from Korean investor LB Investment Fund and Lightspeed. Before that, Lightspeed led its seed round in 2025, and it raised maiden institutional funding in January 2025 to build R&D capabilities, a design lab for fashion-engineered textiles and its supply chain.
Note: the round is in talks and not yet closed; the company did not respond to queries at the time of publication.
Why it matters for founders
Whizzo's reported $26M talks show the CDMO model is travelling from pharma to textiles — investors are backing platforms that let brands outsource everything from R&D to manufacturing. For deep-manufacturing founders, repeat institutional backing within six months is the strongest signal a thesis is working.