How Rawmart is Converting India’s Smaller Factories into Global-Standard Factories
If you were to step into a small factory anywhere in India today, you would immediately notice two things — enormous potential and similarly awful challenges. For example, you often see machines sitting idle, raw material shortages, and owners with cash flow challenges managing both. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) form the backbone of India’s manufacturing ecosystem but have been burdened with siloed supply chains, flaky sourcing, and restricted access to innovation for a long time.
That is the exact problem Rawmart, a Pune-based startup founded in 2021, set out to solve. In just three years, the company has quietly rewritten the rules of industrial supply and SME growth. Today, Rawmart has delivered over a million steel parts with near-zero rejection rates — an achievement rarely seen in Indian manufacturing.
A Startup Born from SME Struggles
The idea for Rawmart came when founders Shrenik Bora, Saurabh Rana, and Tejas Changede saw how even capable factories were struggling. Machines sat idle due to unreliable procurement, owners lost money to delayed credit cycles, and many were forced to replicate the same low-margin products.
“The skills of SME owners were never the problem,” the founders recall. “The real challenge was the broken systems around them — supply, cash flow, and innovation. We wanted to create an ecosystem that fixes those gaps and lets SMEs compete at global standards.”
A Growth Partner, Not Just a Supplier
Rawmart positions itself as more than a supplier. It enables factories to grow by providing four critical levers: raw materials, credit, technology, and production support.
- It delivers raw materials nationwide, ensuring SMEs never face downtime.
- It aggregates credit, helping businesses manage cash flow.
- It unlocks idle SME capacity through contract manufacturing.
- It even designs custom machines to improve productivity and safety.
Unlike conventional traders or online marketplaces, Rawmart runs like a tech-first company. Every function — procurement, manufacturing, quality control — is data-driven. Its platform uses predictive modeling to anticipate demand, match it with available supply, and automate sourcing. For SMEs, this means reduced downtime, faster turnaround, and consistent quality.
Rawmart Labs: Turning Innovation into Advantage
As Rawmart grew, the team realised that many SMEs were hitting a growth ceiling — not because of lack of customers, but because they were stuck making identical products. To break that cycle, the startup launched Rawmart Labs, its innovation hub.
Here, the company develops:
- New product designs to differentiate SMEs in the market.
- Automation tools to replace hazardous and inefficient processes.
- Sustainability initiatives, such as recycling scrap metals and plastics at scale.
“Rawmart Labs gives SMEs a real edge,” the founders explain. “It helps them innovate, improve margins, and expand into new markets, all while building safer and greener factories.”
Growth Without Substantial Fundraising
Unlike much of the startup world chasing venture capital, Rawmart was bootstrapped from day one. Yet, its growth has been astonishing:
- Year 1 Revenue: $3.5 million
- Year 2 Revenue: $ 7.8 million
- FY23-24 Revenue: Marketing $10 million.
This scenario is remarkable because Rawmart has been a profitable venture right from day number one, which is almost impossible for a start up to achieve in today’s world. Now it works with over 140 clients in 14 states with 250 pin codes from various sectors such as infrastructure, pharma, FMCG, solar, railways, and heavy engineering. Some multinationals have even begun to introduce Rawmart to their global head offices.
Looking Ahead: Scaling Beyond Steel
Rawmart’s vision stretches far beyond steel supply. The startup is now working on:
- Digitising SMEs with ERP, IoT, and robotics integration.
- Building integrated industrial ecosystems where supply chains, production, and quality control are synchronised.
- Expanding Rawmart Labs to launch market-first products and sustainable technologies.
- Entering select international markets in Asia and Europe, offering end-to-end supply chain and manufacturing solutions.
The goal is bold but clear: to transform fragmented Indian SMEs into globally competitive manufacturing powerhouses.
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