Team Startupcity

• Fabheads raises $10M led by Accel to scale composite manufacturing automation.
• New facility coming up in Bengaluru’s Aerospace Park to boost production.
• Backed by ISRO alumni, serving clients like Tata, ISRO, and Motherson Group.

Fabheads, a Chennai-headquartered deep-tech company that is at the forefront of autonomous composite production, has raised $10 million in its recent funding round. The round was headed by Accel, a leading venture capital firm in the world, and had seen $2.3 million of venture debt from Trifecta Capital. With this, the total funding raised by the company stands at $13 million to date.

Started in 2015 by Dhinesh Kanagaraj and Abhijeet Rathore, both of whom were erstwhile engineers at ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), Fabheads uses cutting-edge automation and proprietary technology to produce light, high-performance composite materials. These composites find application in a variety of sectors ranging from drones, aerospace, to robotics, mobility, and marine.

With the new capital infusion, Fabheads intends to greatly increase its manufacturing capacity, invest in research and development, and expand its engineering and leadership teams. Part of the capital will also be utilized to create a cutting-edge manufacturing facility at Bengaluru's Aerospace Park, which is situated within the KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board) area a strategic centre of aerospace and defence innovation.

"Our goal is to establish leading-edge capabilities for automation of composite manufacturing," stated co-founder Dhinesh Kanagaraj. "This investment will enable us to grow innovation, increase production to meet worldwide demand, and increase our customer-facing engineering support."

Fabheads' proprietary technology streamlines the historically manual composite manufacturing process, saving time, increasing accuracy, and slashing costs significantly. Automation is especially important in industries that require lightweight yet powerful materials like aerospace and electric mobility.

The company already has major clients such as Tata Group, ISRO, and the Motherson Group on board, which shows its increasing credibility among high-stakes businesses. It offers services from composite component design and prototyping to actual scale manufacturing using carbon fiber and other newer materials.

Accel, which has invested in global behemoths such as Flipkart, Freshworks, and Swiggy, views Fabheads as a strategic wager on the nascent deep-tech and manufacturing automation sector in India. The investment highlights increasing optimism about Indian startups that marry engineering depth with applicable market scalability.

We view Fabheads as a category disruptor in the world composites manufacturing industry," stated a representative from Accel. "With its solid technical heritage, blue-chip client list, and robotic methodology, the company has the potential to become a category leader not only in India, but around the world.

As India continues to drive its Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat programs, enterprises like Fabheads are likely to be at the forefront of developing globally competitive manufacturing ecosystems, particularly in defense, space, and next-generation mobility areas.

With the new Bengaluru facility and broadened capabilities, Fabheads plans to double its manufacturing capacity, add new materials to its product family, and bolster India's status as a global hub for advanced composite manufacturing.