Wootz.work Raises $6.6M Series A

- Wootz.work was founded in March 2023 by Karan Anand, a Stanford alumnus, and Himanshu Uniyal, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus. The company's name is a reference to a high-carbon steel forged in India around 3,000 years ago. - This Series A funding brings Wootz.work's total capital raised to nearly $10 million, following a $3.5 million seed round in August 2023. The company plans to use the new funds to expand its global engineering teams and scale its manufacturing control systems. - Wootz.work acts as a single manufacturing partner for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in sectors like renewable energy, food processing, and data centers, aiming to reduce execution risks in offshore manufacturing. - The company says it addresses the 15-30% of expected cost savings often lost in offshoring due to coordination gaps, quality issues, and delays. - The Bland Company, founded by Yash Khandelwal and Micol Hafez, develops a biochemical process to turn agricultural byproducts into functional proteins that can replace eggs in products like baked goods and condiments. - This funding for The Bland Company is intended to help it scale its technology and provide food manufacturers a cost-effective alternative to the volatile egg market, which has seen prices fluctuate by 2-3x in the last 18 months. - The Bland Company's pre-seed round was led by Initialized Capital, with participation from firms including Entrepreneur First and Alumni Ventures. - The London-based startup is already conducting pilot trials with large CPG companies in the United States and Europe to validate its egg-replacement solutions.