Investors Boost Another Indian Finance Startup

India is building its reputation as the next major alternative small business lending market. Last year saw venture capital investment in SME lending innovators, government legislation to encourage market entrance of these players and involvement from major companies, like Alibaba, in bringing working capital to the nation’s SMEs through nontraditional routes.

The latest progress of India’s SME finance sector comes from Power2SME, a startup that announced Monday (Jan. 25) that it had raised new funding from venture capitalists for its small business financing portal.

[bctt tweet=”Power2SME announced Monday that it had raised new funding from VCs.”]

Backers included Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital and Inventus Capital, reports said, though the participants did not disclose how much Power2SME raised during the round.

“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,” said Nandan Nilekani, cofounder of Infosys and another participant in the fundraising.

Reports said that this marks Nilekani’s sixth investment in a startup. For Power2SME, this is its Series D round, having secured more than $6.8 million in 2014.

“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,” stated the company’s founder and CEO, R. Narayan. “We have a very aggressive plan for developing our business and boosting revenues in the future.”

According to reports, the startup said it will use the funds to expand its product portfolio and enhance the technology that supports its platform, as well as its mobile app. Power2SME said it is on track to break even sometime this year. Reports added that, so far, the company has worked with nearly 30,000 SMEs in India to aid in their procurement of raw materials, as well as secure financing from financial institutions that partner with the startup.