Amazon introduced us to the world of on-demand products. Everything at the click of a button! A startup based in Tamil Nadu has extended this idea to manufacturing services.
Founded in 2021 by Dr V. Tamizhinian (Tamizh), Frigate Engineering Services Private Limited is an emerging B2B platform that digitalises manufacturing for its clients worldwide. The startup provides on-demand manufacturing services and prototype development through a supply chain.With a background in mechatronics, Tamizh started his career as a designer, but yearned to witness the realisation of those designs through manufacturing. So, in 2011, Tamizh started seeking out various small businesses and created prototypes for them, in addition to his regular job at a global original equipment manufacturing (OEM) firm.
Initially, what used to be a side hustle became a full-fledged business after Tamizh recognised the value of creating a marketplace that brought dispersed suppliers together and connected them with potential customers beyond their existing circle. From 2021-22, Tamizh operated the company as a one-person enterprise. “My vision was to address the demand-side challenge by becoming a single point of contact for all outsourced components. I started with machining and expanded into sheet metal fabrication and achieved an asset turnover of 4 to 5 million rupees within the first year,” he says.
In 2022, Tamizh onboarded Karthikeyan Prakash, Chandrashekhar C., and Iniyavan Vasanthanas as co-founders to develop a common platform to serve their customers, providing an overview of their ongoing projects with Frigate. Frigate’s platform allows the client to track the project’s progress at various stages, from initiation to raw material procurement, manufacturing commencement, quality control initiation, and sales confirmation. “We have employed a tech-based and data-driven approach that involves working closely with suppliers in advance. Through this method, we gather around 120 data points, establishing checkpoints throughout the order process, and understand the customer’s needs comprehensively,” explains Tamizh.
The details of the customers are taken via the Electronics Approval Authority (EAA) to access a wealth of parameters and information about the customer and generate a score which is updated based on their performance. The service buyers can access this information to identify the ideal manufacturer for their specific components. Elaborating on the quality of information collected, Tamizh adds, “We assess whether the customer has the necessary resources in-house or if they plan to outsource certain aspects. We examine their financial turnover over the past three years and their track record in content delivery over a decade.”
The startup has a dynamic pricing system, including credit cycles, depending on the location, product type, services needed, demand, and materials. It takes cuts from the transactions, with margins spanning 10% to 20% per transaction, all managed by the platform.
“From the buyer’s perspective, we offer an end-to-end supply chain solution with manufacturing at its core. On the seller’s side, our solution is comprehensive marketing. By listing their machinery within our platform, we enhance their visibility to potential customers, effectively increasing their revenue potential by up to 20%,” says Tamizh.
With its hybrid (in-house and outsourced) product development and manufacturing facility in Trichy and Coimbatore, Frigate makes various commodities such as castings, forging, injection moulding, machining, heavy fabrication, electrical and electronic components, plastic and other composite materials. At its in-house facility, the startup manufactures PCBs and plastic and metal enclosures with respect to its electronics production capabilities. Tamizh says the focus is on assembling a complete product without engaging in the design and development phase.
Tamizh says that Frigate’s business model is primarily geared towards global OEMs. “We’ve consciously chosen not to work with Indian OEMs, as we believe we are addressing a genuine problem for global high-cost countries, such as the USA and the UK, who lack low-cost manufacturing capabilities and often rely on countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India. We aim to bridge this gap by facilitating manufacturing in India,” he elaborates.
Frigate secured a pre-seed round funding of ₹18.5 million with investments ranging from ₹500 thousands to ₹10 million in April 2022. The startup raised more funding from a seed round of ₹120 million in June 2023 from Arali Ventures, Capital A, and Java Capital.
The startup’s platform currently serves 27 customers. As part of its plans, Tamizh says they want to make it more intelligent by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the dashboard. “The next version of the platform will be out by 2024. We’ll be fully operational on the platform, currently at around 30-40% completion,” Tamizh adds.
The company plans to expand to the US with a new subsidiary and open operations offices in key Indian manufacturing areas, such as Jamnagar, Rajkot, Faridabad,Kolhapur, Ludhiana, Gurgaon, and Hosur. The company is also planning to open its third office in Chennai.
