The 65 million strong MSME sector in India faces a significant credit gap
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, August 13, 2024: Vayana, India's leading trade credit infrastructure platform, has successfully raised $20.5 million as part of its ongoing series D funding round. Led by SMBC's Asia Rising Fund, including participation from existing investors such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Chiratae Ventures, and Jungle Ventures, as well as distinguished family offices like Quantum State Investment Fund and Emerald Company Pvt. Ltd. This funding round is set to accelerate Vayana's commitment to providing affordable financing throughout the supply chain, with the introduction of new products aimed at enhancing its suite of trade credit, compliance, and risk management platforms.
The 65 million strong MSME sector in India faces a significant credit gap. The total addressable demand is approximately $120 billion per month, with banks and financial institutions currently covering only 45% of it. Vayana provides a full stack of trade credit assessment, monitoring, and trade document processing. It facilitates over USD 1 billion of financing every month by banks and NBFCs to over 3000 supply chains and their constituents distributed across the country.
Keiji Matsunaga, General Manager, Digital Strategy Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, said, "We are excited to support innovation in finance to create social value via our collaboration with Vayana, which seeks to enable SMEs through opportunities to be part of supply chains. We look forward to combining the expertise of SMBC Group with Vayana's technologies to contribute towards the further growth of India."
"We were among the initial investors in Vayana and steadfast supporters of their vision to be a one-stop solution for all trade finance solutions for MSMEs, enterprises and lenders on their technology and underwriting platform across rounds. Vayana is fulfilling a vital gap for MSMEs in their growth to significantly contribute in India's journey to become 3rd largest economy," said TCM Sundaram, Founder & Vice Chairman, Chiratae Ventures
Ram Iyer, Founder and CEO of Vayana, added, "MSMEs in India contribute 30% to GDP and 62% towards employment. Their continued success will leverage India's population demographics and equitable growth across the country. Access to affordable and embedded trade credit represents the best catalyst to aid their success. We also believe that this goal requires the support of highly experienced financial services investors and we are glad to have the backing of SMBC Asia Rising Fund as well as our current investors in this round. We owe a huge gratitude to over 400 Vayanians working relentlessly in this mission and to the corporates, banks and MSME customers who have encouraged us on this journey."
Manpreet Ratia, Partner, Jungle Ventures, said, "Vayana has transformed trade finance by simplifying and democratizing it for businesses of all sizes. Since our initial financing in 2017, Vayana has facilitated over $33B in financing, served over 300,000 Indian enterprises, and covered 3,000+ supply chains. We're excited to continue supporting Vayana in building India's largest and most affordable Trade Financing Institution and providing solutions across every layer of the supply chain."
