India’s $36 billion industrial materials industry is the unsung enabler of sectors like construction, packaging, textiles, and agriculture — powering everything from adhesives in tile manufacturing to coatings in packaging materials. As industrial demand accelerates and global players look beyond China, India’s chemical manufacturers are well-positioned to expand their international footprint. 

Yet, for India’s SME manufacturers that rely on industrial materials, procurement remains a significant hurdle. The supply chain is fragmented; traditional vendors impose rigid minimum order quantities (MOQs), and finding high-quality, custom formulations in the right volumes is far from straightforward. As a result, many SMEs either tie up valuable working capital in excess inventory or settle for standard formulations that require additional customization — driving up costs and operational complexity.

Enter Magma — a one-stop procurement partner for SME manufacturers. They streamline the supply of custom chemical inputs, power operations with clean energy, and enable efficient waste management solutions.

• Customized Chemical Formulations: Magma operates on an asset-light model, partnering with cloud or captive manufacturers to aggregate underutilized factory capacity. This enables on-demand production of custom formulations, ensuring SME manufacturers receive ready-to-use inputs in the required volume — saving time, reducing costs, and optimizing working capital.
• Scaling with Specialization:  With a growing base of 190+ clients, Magma is building deep expertise in custom chemical formulations. This foundation positions the company to develop high-margin, private-label products for standardized formulations with consistent, recurring demand.
• Powering Green Compliance:  Many SMEs operating in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are mandated to source a fixed percentage of their energy from clean alternatives and shift part of their coal usage to biocoal. Recognizing the critical role of energy in their operations, Magma secures an early advantage by helping these companies meet compliance requirements — building strong customer relationships that pave the way for cross-selling its specialty chemical products.
• Circular Value Creation: Magma has turned a factory nuisance into a revenue stream. Tile and ceramic manufacturers generate tons of packaging waste that clutters production space and is hard to offload. Magma collects, compresses, and sells it to paper mills that typically rely on un-baled, unsorted waste. Using reverse logistics, Magma’s delivery vehicles pick up waste on return trips, optimizing costs. Baling improves transport efficiency 5x, while sorting removes plastic — reducing labor costs for the paper mills. It’s a streamlined solution that benefits manufacturers, paper mills, and Magma!

Why We Invested

Massive, Fragmented Market with High Margin Potential: Magma is streamlining a highly inefficient supply chain in a $6B+ addressable market across Gujarat alone, where SME manufacturers struggle with rigid MOQs, inconsistent quality, and working capital inefficiencies. By consolidating demand and offering custom formulations, Magma is driving both customer stickiness and pricing power. Its ability to introduce private-label offerings in key product categories — where gross margins exceed 75% — further strengthens its long-term profitability and competitive moat.

Expansion Levers Are Clear: Magma’s growth is multi-dimensional, with clear expansion levers across clients, products, and sectors. Within construction, it is expanding beyond tiles & ceramic ware into laminates, paints, PVC, and composites while also launching higher-margin performance chemicals and private labels. Next, it is broadening its reach into packaging, agrochemicals, and pharma — sectors that all grapple with fragmented supply chains, rigid MOQs, and added processing costs. By addressing these inefficiencies, Magma is positioning itself as the preferred supply partner.

Founder Who Knows How to Execute: At just 24, Neal Thakkar has built a high-growth, capital-efficient business with a sharp focus on profitability and cash flow management. He’s assembled a strong team — 90% of whom have been with Magma since day one — a testament to his leadership.

Tech-Led Advantage: Magma is embedding AI across its operations to drive efficiency and scale. Today, GenAI optimizes reverse logistics, cuts procurement costs through automated supplier recommendations, and streamlines reordering. Looking ahead, vernacular language integration will expand its customer base, while AI-driven procurement will automate pricing and negotiations. With a bold vision for a smart manufacturing ecosystem, Magma aims to create an autonomous supply chain where AI seamlessly manages procurement, production, and ESG compliance.

Looking Ahead

Magma is rewriting how SME manufacturers procure specialty chemicals, utilise green energy, and manage waste. By embedding itself into factory operations, unlocking cost efficiencies, and expanding into high-margin products, it has the markings of a category leader. We’re thrilled to back Neal and the Magma team on their journey to transform SME manufacturing in India!

You can read the press release here.