The funding will help the startup, which specializes in Construction 3D Printing, launch new products and scale-up Construction 3D Printing across India
Chennai, NFAPost: Deep Tech Startup Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, which specializes in Construction 3D Printing, has raised a Seed Round Funding from international investors. An undisclosed sum has been raised from Hestia Partners, Habitat for Humanity International, Capnetic Investments and ADB Ventures.
Founded by IIT Madras Alumni, Tvasta developed a ‘Made in India’ technology focusing on leveraging Automation and Robotics in 3D Printing Platforms for faster, economical and sustainable construction compared to conventional technologies.
The company, currently based out of Chennai and Bengaluru, will utilize the funding to boost in-house research, launch multiple new product lines for different solutions and scale-up Construction 3D Printing Technology across India. The funding will also help execute current orders and expand project execution capabilities for undertaking larger projects.
Commenting on the funding, Hestia Partners Shivaraman.T said construction technology for small to mid-size projects has been static for the past many decades.
“There is a need for disruptive technological change. We see in Tvasta the potential to develop world class technologies that could completely change the way we construct. The potential to save manpower, materials, time and importantly, carbon footprint is immense. We are happy to make a significant investment in this seed round and work with our co-investors and the Tvasta team to take the company to the next level,” said Shivaraman T.
Tvasta envisions an Indian Construction Industry that is ‘Industry 4.0 ready.’ As a budding start-up in a country focused on ‘Make in India’, Tvasta intends to develop further indigenous technologies to disrupt the construction sector and automate 80 per cent of all processes, catapulting the industry into a new era of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat.’
Capnetic Investments Rishabh Singh said Tvasta is redefining the face of construction by leveraging their technology stack to change the paradigms of how it can build structures today, and ultimately unlocking value in a sector plagued by archaic practices.
Highlighting how this fundraising will boost the startup’s capabilities, Tvasta Cofounder Manufacturing Solutions Adithya V S said currently, Tvasta is involved in the execution and delivering of multiple projects with total effective built area of about 1,00,000 sq.ft. in the next 18-24 months.
“This includes a wide-range of distinctive engagements such as large infrastructural projects, construction of resilient structures in disaster prone areas, eco-friendly and sustainable structures, premium construction and upscale architectural elements, etc. The funding that we have raised is towards achieving these targets and ensuring their optimized execution well before the set timelines,” said Adithya V S.
The Concrete 3D Printing technology is a ‘Ready-to-Implement Methodology’ with no lead time on manufacturing, which significantly reduces the construction time. This ‘Made in India’ technology has the potential to change the term ‘building’ to ‘printing’ in the near future.
ADB Ventures Investment Specialist Munish Aggarwal said Tvasta has developed a real solution to a persistent problem. “The company’s Concrete 3D Printing system greatly reduces costs, build-time, and construction waste and will help countries solve housing challenges while reducing carbon emissions, thereby paving way for sustainable construction processes,” said Munish Aggarwal.
The key aspect of Construction 3D Printing include:
I. Order of magnitude difference in overall construction time as compared to conventional methodologies – Faster development due to automated nature, optimized printing action, speed and quick setting of printed layers.
II. Sustainable and environment-conscious construction (as compared to conventional methodology) where:
a. Energy Optimization: Energy utilized by the process is optimized though-out the span of the project
b. Reduced usage of raw material for construction owing to supply-chain optimization and wastage reduction.
c. Order of magnitude difference in carbon footprint as compared to conventional construction
d. Utilization of earth-friendly materials in raw material for construction
III. Unlike conventional practices, Tvasta’s Concrete 3D Printing is a Ready-to-Implement Methodology, with no lead time on manufacturing and implementation. Therefore, adoption of Tvasta’s automated technology in a country such as India with a rising demand on housing & habitation, would significantly expedite the sheltering of the nation’s population – a task that today is, very much out of scope for the current construction practices. That is, Construction 3D Printing can accomplish in a span of a few years what the conventional method of construction achieves in more than a decade’s time!
Speaking on long term goals of the startup, Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions Cofounder Vidyashankar C said Tvasta’s Manifesto is to achieve reduced Build-Time, optimised Production, and Zero-Waste Construction through ‘EFFICIENCY’, which is the 4th Dimension of our 3D technology. This also happens to be our very own ACE.
Established in 2016, Tvasta has developed in-house, an entire technological value-chain in the area of Construction 3D Printing. This includes Production and Assembly Strategy – the Concrete 3D Printer, the proprietary ‘ink’ (raw material of a special mix design) used for printing, the Software – and the Printing Strategy. As the leading End-to-End Technology and Product Developer for 3D Printing in India, Tvasta’s cornerstone is its substantial Intellectual Property Portfolio.
India’s First 3D Printed House was constructed by Tvasta in the IIT Madras Campus, demonstrating its capabilities and feasibility in the actualization of a physical structure. This pilot structure along with the indigenously developed technology also marks the start-up’s endeavors in highlighting a potential alternative solution that may very well address India’s housing challenges.
Additionally, as a part of the COVID-19 Response initiatives, the company was also instrumental in the erection of ‘India’s first 3D Printed Doffing Unit’ (in collaboration with Saint Gobain), for multiple hospitals, in and around Chennai.
Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter Vice President Patrick Kelley, who led this funding round, said 3D printing technology can help the construction market increase efficiency, while reducing costs and waste.
“Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter has been supporting Tvasta to improve and scale up their business since 2018, when they joined our ShelterTech accelerator in India. We recognize the potential for Tvasta’s technology to significantly impact the housing sector in India by expanding access to reliable housing for one-and-all,” said Patrick Kelley.
Tvasta is looking to venture into many projects of social and national importance that, not only benefit the local populace, but also pioneer technology-led nation-building thus, enabling India to lead the progress and be a front-runner for global change in Construction.
Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions is part of the new incubator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, called ‘ASHA Incubator,’ established at IIT Madras. The startup previously participated in Habitat for Humanity’s ShelterTech India Accelerator in 2019.
Tvasta was co-founded by three IIT Madras Alumni of 2016 Batch – Mr. Adithya VS (Dept of Mechanical Engineering), Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Vidyashankar C. (Dept of Electrical Engineering), Chief Operating Officer, and Mr. Parivarthan Reddy (Dept of Mechanical Engineering), Chief Technology Officer.
What is Construction 3D Printing?
Simply, Tvasta’s ‘Construction 3D Printing’ is an automated manufacturing method for constructing three-dimensional real-life structures (at all realizable scales). The technique utilizes a Concrete 3D Printer – a Tvasta product – which accepts a computerized two-dimensional design file from the user and fabricates a 3D structure in a layer-by-layer manner by extruding flowable material akin to concrete.
In addition to developing the printer, Tvasta has also formulated the print material composition that goes into making a structure, the software that ‘talks’ to the printer, optimizing its operation and enabling the realization of physical designs, and application-specific printing strategies for various physical elements.
According to Tvasta, the technology of ‘Construction 3D Printing’ – a harmonious marriage of machine, material and software evolved from scratch by their in-house think-tank – is an optimal alternative and a substantial tool that Construction Industry can employ to level the playing field that the demand has set.
ABOUT TVASTA
Tvasta is a deep-technology start-up focusing on Construction and Industrial 3D Printing and related manufacturing solutions. Instituted in 2016 by three alumni from IIT Madras, its primary interests lie in the development and leveraging of 3D Printing Technology Platforms that target specific high-value industry applications.
The company’s current portfolio includes verticals such as Construction, where Tvasta has showcased multiple product prototypes addressing specific technology needs.
Presently, as an indigenous developer of the end-to-end Platform Technology (Construction 3D Printing) in India, Tvasta has complete ownership of its technological resources instrumental in the actualization of physical structures – the machinery, material, software and printing strategy.
