Infosys co-founder and billionaire Nandan Nilekani has stepped in as a strategic investor in Power2SME, an online buying platform for small and medium businesses. Existing investors Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital and Inventus Capital also participated in this funding round.
The Gurgaon-based startup uses technology and a unique business model to help small and medium enterprises procure raw material at competitive prices. It also enables financial assistance through its partners like financial institutions.
‘Competitive pricing’ is setting the price of a product or service based on what the competition is charging. In the last three years, Power2SME has worked with about 30,000 small and medium businesses.
“Power2SME has a unique business model that focuses on making small and medium enterprises bankable and profitable,” said Mr. Nilekani in a statement.
“I am excited to watch the growth journey of this company.”
Power2SME founder R. Narayan said the firm was working towards creating an ecosystem that addresses challenges for small businesses to procure raw material and get financial assistance.
About 70 per cent of monthly recurring cost for a manufacturing SME is incurred in purchasing raw material, as per an internal survey by Power2SME. Operating in an unstructured market, small businesses find it difficult to access quality raw material at right price. Lack of access to easy finance and credit are other major challenges for them.
