Power2SME, a buying club for Small or Medium Enterprises (SMEs), has made an announcement that it has concluded CY2015 with Infosys Founder and former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani stepping in as a strategic investor.
Nilekani has invested an undisclosed amount to Power2SME. The investment comes in at a time when the government has announced a Start-up Action Plan which aims to focus on the SME sector in the country.
“To have Mr. Nilekani as our strategic investor and receive his support for Power2SME’s vision to make Indian SMEs bankable is exciting for us. It is critical to foster the sector to meet the national imperatives of financial inclusion and to generate employment in India. Power2SME is working towards creating an ecosystem that addresses SMEs’ challenges in raw material procurement and financial assistance, which are major roadblocks for the growth of SMEs. We have a very aggressive plan for developing our business and boosting revenues in the future,” R. Narayan, Founder & CEO of Power2SME said of the investment.
The main focus of Power2SME is to help SMEs become profitable. The company provides SMEs with procurement of raw materials and finding financial assistance. While emphasising on the importance of the role of SMEs in the Indian economy, Nilekani said, “Indian SMEs act as an engine for growth of our nation and they are critical to making India a manufacturing hub. Power2SME has a unique business model that focuses on making SMEs bankable and profitable and I am excited to watch the growth journey of this company as it continues to contribute in strengthening the SME social fabric of the nation”
Over the last three years, Power2SME has worked with around 30,000 SMEs and has used technology to translate their need for competitive raw material pricing as well as financial assistance through a large number of Financial Institutions Power2SME partners with.
All existing investors including Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital and Inventus Capital participated in this funding round.
