25 January, 2016, New Delhi– Power2SME concluded CY2015 with Nandan Nilekani stepping in as a strategic investor. Nilekani’s investment in Power2SME follows major announcements by the Government such as ‘Make in India’ and its focus to more than double the current share of manufacturing to 25 per cent of GDP by 2022, from the existing 12 per cent.
The SME sector is poised for high growth and the strategic investment from Infosys co-founder and former Chairman of UIDAI Nandan Nilekani in Power2SME will prove to be a big boost for the Power2SME business as it continues to empower SMEs across their sourcing needs as well as financial requirements. Power2SME over the last 3 years has worked with close to 30,000 SMEs and has used technology to translate their need for competitive raw material pricing as well as financial assistance through the large number of Financial Institutions Power2SME partners.
Commenting on the investment, Nandan Nilekani laid emphasis on the role of the Indian SME in building the growth of India, “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 am excited to watch the growth journey of this company as it continues to contribute in strengthening the SME social fabric of the nation.”
R. Narayan, Founder & CEO, Power2SME said , “To have 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 growth of SMEs. We have a very aggressive plan for developing our business and boosting revenues in the future”
All existing investors Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital and Inventus Capital participated in this funding round. With a sharp business focus to break even in the coming financial year Power2SME will broaden its product portfolio, strengthen and deepen vendor relationships plus continue to engage on the ground with SMEs Pan India through its SME Transformation Camps while strengthening its technology platform and mobile app offering.
The SME sector which represents the ‘Made in India’ sector, will play a critical role in translating the ‘Make in India’ campaign into a reality. However there are many challenges that hold back SME players to utilize their full potential. As per an internal survey at Power2SME, 70 per cent of monthly recurring cost for a manufacturing SME is incurred in purchasing raw material. Operating in an unstructured market, SMEs find it difficult to access right quality raw material at right price. Lack of access to easy finance and credit adds to the criticality of the situation. Power2SME with its unique business model and technology platforms helps SMEs streamline their raw material procurement process by shortening the procurement process, saving on costs and time for SMEs.
