Houston, Texas, Oct. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The pandemic revealed two critical truths about manufacturing: supply chains are now global, and chemical suppliers are indispensable in supply chains across industries. With Europe’s chemical heavyweights operating at persistent losses and inflated costs, and the China+1 movement encouraging more businesses to expand into new markets, the shift towards diversifying chemical sources is accelerating. Capturing this moment, Mstack, a US-based custom manufacturing platform that helps global buyers source high-quality specialty chemicals, has raised $40M to double down on its mission to disrupt a historically flawed supply chain for specialty chemicals.
The company’s $40M Series A round was co-led by Lightspeed and Alpha Wave and included a debt facility from HSBC Innovation Banking as well as an all star lineup of angel investors. MStack will deploy the freshly infused capital to expand its footprint across the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, while continuing to strengthen its presence in the United States and other geographies.
Bejul Somaia, Partner at Lightspeed, added: “Geopolitical dynamics pose risks for supply chain disruptions in the global specialty chemicals market. With demand for these chemicals growing rapidly, there is a need to increase R&D investments and unlock new pockets of supply. As the first institutional investor in Mstack, we believe that the company has tremendous potential to lead this transformation. The new round of funding will enable them to unlock the full potential of their tech-driven platform and undertake cutting-edge research, offering high quality products to customers across the world.”
Mstack founder: Shreyans Chopra
Mstack was founded in 2022 by Shreyans Chopra, whose decision to launch a cross-border brand in specialty chemicals was inspired by the rapid growth in the global specialty chemicals market. Through its well-established network of approved specialty chemical capacities in low cost, high quality regions – like India, the Middle East, and Asia – Mstack offers mid-to-large scale enterprises a full-stack solution for sourcing specialty chemicals through a reliable supply chain that is secure against geopolitical disruptions. This allows the company to serve price-sensitive buyers across the world with preferential pricing, while maintaining a strong commitment to quality, reliability, and consistency.
Notably, the company has codified its entire operation into a single platform, allowing buyers to source, test, ship, deliver, and track all of their specialty chemicals in one place. This meticulous control ensures Mstack is able to consistently meet its value proposition of reliable and timely delivery. The company currently offers products in four categories: oil and gas, coatings, water treatment, and home and personal care. With this round of funding, Mstack is making inroads into agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, among other segments.
Having already established a firm footing in the chemicals industry cross-border supply chain, the company is now intensifying its focus on expanding its talent base in the US, building a robust leadership team across categories, and doubling down on research and development (R&D).
Shreyans Chopra, Founder at Mstack, commented: “This new funding affirms investor confidence in our vision and technology to transform global markets. It enables us to expand geographically and intensify our R&D efforts. We'll continue innovating to meet our customers' evolving needs. Our R&D team in India is poised to commercialize multiple chemicals soon. Future plans include establishing advanced labs to drive innovation and IP creation, while offering custom formulations and process innovation through our on-demand platform.”
Navroz D. Udwadia, Co-Founder and Partner at Alpha Wave Global, said: “We are very excited to partner with Mstack as they play an important role in shaping the global chemical supply chain. This round enables Mstack to strengthen its R&D capabilities in co-creating new products with their vendors. We look forward to working with the team in delivering effective, cost efficient solutions to the customers, driving incremental ROI for them.”
For Mstack, the future looks bright. With its tech-driven approach, research labs, expansion plans, and fresh funding in its war chest, Mstack is on track to rewrite the rules of global specialty chemical manufacturing.
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About Mstack
Mstack is a custom manufacturing platform in the speciality chemical space. Mstack enables mid to large enterprise buyers across the globe, especially in North America to source chemicals from its tech-enabled network of capacities located in low-cost production countries. It functions as a full-stack platform that takes ownership of quality control and delivery. Mstack’s R&D capabilities enable customers to access custom-made formulations or get process innovation done which significantly improves the efficiency of chemicals used or reduces cost.
About Lightspeed
Lightspeed is a global multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally including Affirm, Acceldata, Carta, Cato Networks, Darwinbox Epic Games, Faire, Innovaccer, Guardant Health, Mulesoft, Navan, Netskope, Nutanix, Rubrik, Sharechat, Snap, OYO Ultima Genomics and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $25B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia.
About Alpha Wave Incubation
Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) is an investment fund managed by Alpha Wave Global in partnership with Lunate. AWI’s mission is to invest in outstanding founders and management teams that have exceptional companies. AWI also offers access to comprehensive support for business-building, while also helping companies expand globally and open new markets in the GCC/MENA region and beyond.
Alpha Wave Global is a global investment company with three main verticals: private equity, private credit, and public markets. It is led by Rick Gerson, Navroz Udwadia, and Ryan Khoury.
Alpha Wave has offices in Miami, New York, London, Monaco, Madrid, Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, Bangalore, and Sydney. For more information, please visit www.alphawaveglobal.com.
About HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 60 countries and territories. With assets of US$2,975bn at 30 June 2024, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations.
HSBC Bank USA, National Association (HSBC Bank USA, N.A.) serves customers through Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, Private Banking, Global Banking, and Markets and Securities Services. Deposit products are offered by HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Member FDIC. It operates Wealth Centers in: California; Washington, D.C.; Florida; New Jersey; New York; Virginia; and Washington. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is the principal subsidiary of HSBC USA Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. For more information, visit: HSBC in the USA
