Vayana, a trade credit infrastructure platform specializing in supply chain finance and B2B trade facilitation solutions founded in 2017 that also enables GST returns, e-way bills and e-invoices for several large enterprises and SMEs, has raised $20.5 million in its Series D funding round, the company said in a statement today, August 13.
The funding round was led by SMBC’s Asia Rising Fund, with participation from existing investors such as International Finance Corporation (IFC), Chiratae Ventures and Jungle Ventures, as well as family offices such as Quantum State Investment Fund and Emerald Company Private Ltd.
According to the company, the $65 billion strong SME sector in India is facing a significant credit gap. With the total addressable need being around $120 billion per month, banks and financial institutions currently cover only 45 percent of it. Hence, the company promises to provide a comprehensive package of trade credit screening, monitoring and trade document processing, backed by notable institutional investors such as IFC, Marshall Wace, March Capital, Jungle Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, BII, PayU and now SMBC Asia Rising Fund.
“We are pleased to support innovation in finance to create social value through our collaboration with Vayana, whose goal is to enable small and medium-sized enterprises to become part of supply chains. We look forward to combining the expertise of the SMBC Group with Vayana’s technologies to contribute to India’s continued growth,” said Keiji Matsunaga, General Manager of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).
TCM Sundaram, Founder and Vice Chairman, Chiratae Ventures, said, “We were among the early investors in Vayana and are relentlessly supporting their vision to be a one-stop solution for all trade finance solutions for SMEs, corporates and lenders on their technology and underwriting platform across all rounds. Vayana fills a critical gap for SMEs in their growth and is a key contributor to India’s journey to becoming the third largest economy.”
Ram Iyer, Founder and CEO of Vayana added, “SMEs in India contribute 30% to GDP and 62% to employment. Their continued success will boost India’s population demographics and equitable growth across the country. Access to cheap and integrated trade credit is the best catalyst to support their success. We also believe that this goal requires the support of highly experienced investors in the financial services space and we are delighted to have the support of the SMBC Asia Rising Fund as well as our current investors in this round. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the 400+ Vayanians who are working tirelessly towards this mission and the corporates, banks and SME clients who have encouraged us along the way.”
Manpreet Ratia, Partner at Jungle Ventures, one of the investors in Vayana, said, “Vayana has transformed trade finance by simplifying and democratizing it for businesses of all sizes. Since our first funding in 2017, Vayana has provided over $30 billion in financing, served over 300,000 Indian businesses, and covered over 3,000 supply chains. We are excited to continue supporting Vayana as it builds India’s largest and lowest-cost trade finance institution and provides solutions for every level of the supply chain.”
Vayana has stated that this funding round is intended to accelerate Vayana’s commitment to providing low-cost financing across the entire supply chain by launching new products to enhance its trade credit, compliance and risk management platform offerings.
