What the business is
A Kolkata SaaS marketplace that procures raw materials and scrap for metal manufacturers and optimises their production.
The bet
That procurement, scrap recycling and a SaaS 'MetalCloud' can become the operating system for India's disorganised metal manufacturers, starting with raw-material supply.
Starting capital
$2.4M seed in 2022 led by Orios VP; $6M equity-plus-debt in September 2024 led by Info Edge Ventures — $10M total.
How it started
Founded in 2017 in Kolkata by Naman Shah and Aakash Shah, who saw the disorganised, fragmented metal manufacturing sector as 'a prime opportunity for disruption.'
What happened
Raised a $2.4M seed in 2022; grew topline 3x year-on-year for three years; in September 2024 raised $6M to enter Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, build a network of scrap processing centres, launch private labels, and integrate AI and MetalCloud as the foundational operating system for metal manufacturing.
What has to be true
Owning the material flow — scrap procurement and processing — makes the software layer sticky: MetalCloud optimises a supply chain NowPurchase itself controls.
A WhatsApp bot meets small manufacturers where they already are, sidestepping the adoption problem that kills factory software.
Geographic expansion into new states compounds the logistics moat as funded rivals like Metalbook scale nationally.
What can be applied
In fragmented traditional industries, the wedge is boring logistics — guaranteed supply and quality on the ground — and the software layer becomes the operating system once you own the material flow.
Aftermath
As of the 19 September 2024 round, NowPurchase operated in four states with plans for three more, a scrap processing centre network and private-label products; whether MetalCloud becomes the sector's operating system was unproven.
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