Technical Textiles are among the most specialised segments of the textile industry, spanning applications from healthcare and mobility to infrastructure, agriculture, protection and industrial manufacturing. Yet, for all its technological sophistication, the industry’s business ecosystem has remained surprisingly fragmented, with finding the right supplier, product, raw material, machinery or technical service often depending on established networks, trade fairs and word-of-mouth.
TechTextileHub (TTH), launched in March-April 2026 by the Coimbatore-based Nexio Infotech Private Ltd, is seeking to address this gap by creating a dedicated digital B2B ecosystem exclusively for technical textiles. The platform brings together manufacturers, suppliers, machinery companies, service providers and buyers across the entire value chain.
Technical textiles have grown faster than conventional textiles, driven by the demand from sectors such as healthcare, automotive, infrastructure, agriculture and defence. In India, the technical textiles market has been expanding at 8-10 per cent annually, compared with roughly 4 per cent growth for the broader global textile and apparel market, reflecting the shift towards higher-value, application-specific materials.
The platform covers all 12 recognised technical textile segments – agrotech, buildtech, clothtech, geotech, hometech, indutech, meditech, mobiltech, oekotech, packtech, protech and sportech – all organised across four broad categories: finished products, raw materials, machinery & technologies and services, including testing, certification, consultancy, R&D and compliance. The idea behind it comes from Karthik Kumar Sundararaj, founder-director, Nexio Infotech, who has more than 18 years of entrepreneurial and professional experience in technical textiles.
A postgraduate in medical textiles from the University of Manchester, Sundararaj has worked across manufacturing, international business, product development and market development since 2008. “Technical textiles differ fundamentally from apparel or commodity textiles,” he affirms, outlining the rationale behind TTH. “Product relevance is governed not merely by cost, but by performance parameters, regulatory compliance, validation and end-use conditions.” The sector, therefore, needs a digital environment that is ‘vertical-specific, structured and credibility-driven,’ he contends.
Verification-led approach
Unlike general-purpose B2B marketplaces, TTH is taking a curated and verification-led approach, where companies can establish their digital presence, showcase products and capabilities and become discoverable to potential buyers globally. Buyers, meanwhile, can post requirements through RFQs and receive matches from relevant suppliers or service providers. The platform says its supplier-verification process is designed to provide validated credentials and improve confidence in digital sourcing.
The business model is also different. Rather than charging commissions on transactions, TTH follows a subscription-based model for suppliers. Buyers can raise RFQs free of charge, while suppliers can list products, respond to RFQs and subscribe to paid plans. Commercial transactions remain directly between buyers and suppliers.
The platform’s early traction is beginning to reflect this approach. Its website lists more than 105 verified suppliers and service providers, over 37 product and service categories and participation spanning more than 50 countries. Also, its supplier directory includes companies and institutions across areas such as testing and certification, nonwovens, fibres and yarns, geotextiles and technical consultancy.
TTH also attempts to go beyond being a digital directory. It is building an engagement layer through webinars, newsletters, technical articles and market insights. In April 2026, it entered into a strategic collaboration with the Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA), aimed at strengthening global discoverability, RFQ-driven sourcing and knowledge-led engagement. The collaboration also envisages webinars and other industry interactions.
For Sundararaj, this knowledge dimension is important. “Modern B2B engagement extends beyond transactional discovery,” he explains, pointing to the growing importance of regulatory updates, testing standards, compliance frameworks and application-specific knowledge in technical textiles.
The next stage of TTH’s development is expected to bring greater intelligence into the platform, including AI-enabled search, supplier and product discovery, RFQ matching and recommendations. The objective is to make it easier for buyers to move from identifying a requirement to finding technically relevant and credible partners.
For an industry where technical specifications matter as much as price, the opportunity is significant. If successful, TTH could evolve from a supplier-discovery platform into a digital infrastructure layer connecting a highly fragmented global technical textiles value chain – with an ecosystem conceived and developed in India, but built for global participation.