From Manufacturing Family to Tech Founder: GlobalFair’s Journey to Making Cross-Border Trade Feel Local

From Manufacturing Family to Tech Founder: GlobalFair’s Journey to Making Cross-Border Trade Feel Local

Growing up in a quartz manufacturing family in India might not seem like the typical foundation for a tech startup. But in a recent Category Visionaries episode, GlobalFair founder Shaily Garg revealed how this background became her secret weapon in building a B2B marketplace that’s transforming construction materials procurement.

Manufacturing Roots Shape Tech Vision

“I am a civil engineer by trade, coming from a very small quartz manufacturing family india,” Shaily explains. This background, combined with her experience at P&G where she “saw efficient manufacturing at scale for the world,” gave her unique insights into the construction materials industry.

When COVID disrupted global supply chains, Shaily recognized an opportunity others might have missed. “Since I come from a very small quartz manufacturing family, I knew a lot about the material on the supply side. So we said, let’s start there and see how can technology add that reliability and transparency such that cross border becomes so seamless.”

Building Trust Through Operations

Rather than trying to solve everything with technology, GlobalFair’s approach reflects a deep understanding of manufacturing realities. “We are not just a marketplace, we are a managed marketplace,” Shaily emphasizes. “For a customer, it’s GlobalFair’s guarantee and warranty… if in a factory, you define man, machine, material, method – other than machine, everything is owned or controlled by GlobalFair.”

This hands-on approach stems from understanding what really matters in manufacturing: quality control. “QC is a very big part of whatever we send… pre production, in production, and post production, pre shipment, there are four levels of QC that happens.”

Technology as an Enabler, Not the Solution

In an industry where only 1.7% of investment goes to technology despite contributing 13% to world GDP, GlobalFair took a nuanced approach to digitalization. Instead of forcing technology adoption, they made it so intuitive that it became a natural extension of existing processes.

“Our technology is extremely intuitive and to an extent that it directly impacts their top line and bottom line,” Shaily notes. “So we don’t need to sell that. Hey, use the tech versus it becomes a pull based sell wherein they’re using the tech irrespective of us pushing for it.”

The Power of Industry Understanding

This deep industry knowledge helped GlobalFair identify and solve real problems. They focused on making cross-border procurement “as similar to buying from a next door neighbor” – a vision that resonated with both suppliers and buyers.

For suppliers, especially small and medium-sized manufacturers, GlobalFair’s platform opened new opportunities. “For these guys, if there is no tech in between, it becomes almost impossible to get access to that cross border quality demand.”

Results That Speak for Themselves

The impact of this manufacturing-informed approach is clear in the numbers: 110% month-over-month growth, 98% customer retention, and customers ordering eight times their initial purchase within their first year. Average order values of $120,000 demonstrate the high stakes involved and the level of trust they’ve built.

GlobalFair’s story illustrates a powerful lesson for tech founders: sometimes the most valuable startup experience isn’t previous startup experience – it’s deep domain expertise in the industry you’re trying to transform. By combining manufacturing knowledge with technological innovation, they’ve created something truly unique: a platform that makes international trade feel local.