ThinkMetal, a Chennai-based advanced materials and manufacturing startup, has raised ₹27 crore in a funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund, the venture investment arm of India Angel Network. 3i Partners and the company’s existing investors also participated in this round. The startup plans to use the capital to develop its products, broaden its materials capabilities, strengthen research and development, expand its team and increase adoption among industrial customers.
Founded in 2021 by Sabyasachi Ghosh and Arushi Sharma, ThinkMetal is developing an integrated metal-manufacturing platform for precision applications. Its current commercial offering, SistemT1, is an industrial metal additive-manufacturing system designed to produce metal components for manufacturers. The system combines the company’s hardware with FuseX materials and Thinkware software, as ThinkMetal builds out its own materials and process capabilities.
The company’s approach centres on metal feedstock supplied as filament. In additive manufacturing, a component is built layer by layer from a digital design, rather than being cut from a larger block of material. ThinkMetal says its process is intended to make production more accessible for manufacturers that need specialised tools, prototypes or precision parts; while giving it control over materials, equipment and process development.
The startup says SistemT1 can produce parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of conventional methods. These are company claims, and performance can vary with the material, part design, production volume and comparison method. The company’s stated target sectors include aerospace, defence, space, automotive and electric mobility, where suppliers may need specialised components and manufacturing tools.
The new funding comes as ThinkMetal moves from technology development and enterprise pilots towards larger deployments. Its plans include product development, a wider materials portfolio, stronger R&D and hiring. The company has filed more than 17 intellectual-property applications, according to reporting on the round. IAN Alpha Fund managing partner Rajnish Kapur described the company’s platform as capable of producing precision parts faster and at lower cost; those advantages will need to be demonstrated across customer applications and production conditions.
The investment follows earlier fundraising. ThinkMetal raised about $800,000 in a pre-Series A round led by YourNest Venture Capital in 2025, after an earlier seed round. That capital was intended to help prepare its first-generation product for production and strengthen its software and manufacturing processes. The latest round marks a larger financing step as the company seeks to convert technical development into sustained industrial use.
The opportunity is part of a broader expansion in additive manufacturing. One market estimate puts India’s overall additive-manufacturing market at $677.4 million in 2023, with a forecast of $3,749.5 million by 2030. The category includes different technologies, materials and applications, so the figure is not a measure of the market available specifically to ThinkMetal or to metal printing.
Adoption, however, is not automatic. Industrial customers must assess part quality, repeatability, material performance, operating costs and the fit with existing production workflows before relying on a new manufacturing process. Metal additive manufacturing also involves process trade-offs: speed, cost, precision, size and material compatibility can vary between technologies and applications. For a startup supplying sectors with demanding requirements, customer validation and consistent production will be crucial alongside product development.
ThinkMetal’s immediate challenge is to turn its technology and pilot activity into repeat orders and wider commercial deployment. The ₹27-crore raise gives it resources to refine SistemT1, expand its materials work and build its team. Whether its promised speed and cost advantages translate into a durable business will depend on customer uptake, proven results and the company’s ability to scale manufacturing reliably.
