Rahul Chandalia’s WOL3D: From Homegrown Workshops to Nationwide Experience Centres

Business Remedies | Rajshree Upadhyaya | WOL3D began with a vision to make three dimensional printing accessible beyond the confines of industrial labs. When Rahul Chandalia along with Saloni Chandalia, Pradeep Jain and Swati Jain founded the company in Mumbai in 2016, they had witnessed the power of 3D printers abroad and realized that India lacked a brand that could make the technology simple and affordable for students, hobbyists and small businesses. Their starting point was clear, they wanted to reduce the cost of machines, make them compact and easy to use, and provide the consumables and training that would help first time users cross the initial barriers of adoption. The company’s earliest efforts went into creating a distribution model that sold not just printers but an ecosystem that included scanners, filaments and strong after sales support so that new users could stay confident as they learned.

The turning point in their journey came with their appearance on Shark Tank India Season 2. On national television, WOL3D was introduced not as just another hardware startup but as a pioneering player building an ecosystem for 3D printing in India. Their pitch showcased a full portfolio of printers, training programs and support channels that could bring the technology to schools, makers and entrepreneurs. The founders emphasized how 3D printing could revolutionize prototyping, education and small-scale manufacturing, and the sharks saw promise in a brand that had the first-mover advantage in a largely untapped space. The negotiations resulted in a combination of equity and debt investment, signaling that investors were willing to back the vision while keeping financial discipline intact. For WOL3D, the show created nationwide awareness, validated their positioning and gave them the credibility of being one of the rare Indian brands to build a strong identity in a hardware-driven business.

After the show, the company concentrated on two major paths. One was expanding distribution through experience centres where people could walk in, experiment with machines and understand the possibilities of 3D printing firsthand. The second was deepening its presence in education by setting up printers in schools, colleges and tinkering labs. This approach created awareness at the grassroots, ensured recurring demand for filaments and consumables, and helped students become future adopters of the technology. By making learning central to its expansion, WOL3D differentiated itself from competitors who were largely importers of machines without strong support structures. The physical centres also helped build trust for a category that many still considered experimental.

Financial growth moved from bootstrap beginnings to structured capital raising. The founders initially relied on personal funds and revenue reinvestment to scale. As the company gained momentum, it tapped external investors and eventually listed on the SME exchange, a significant move for a consumer technology hardware brand. Public reports show how the funds raised were used to strengthen manufacturing, widen distribution channels and expand retail presence. Unlike many startups that struggle with unit economics in hardware, WOL3D built stability by ensuring revenues came not only from printers but also from training programs, institutional contracts and consumables, creating a recurring revenue model that supported long-term sustainability.

Today WOL3D stands as one of the few Indian brands to have created a complete ecosystem around 3D printing. Its founders managed to balance storytelling with execution, showing how a futuristic technology could find a place in everyday use.
The Shark Tank appearance gave the company the push to scale visibility, but the real strength came from focusing on education, service and long-term trust. From workshops in Mumbai to nationwide experience centres, the journey of Rahul Chandalia and his team reflects a broader lesson for hardware entrepreneurs in India, that success comes not only from innovation but from making innovation accessible, reliable and rooted in user education.

Written & Edited By:

Rajshree Upadhyaya