India's Power2SME raises $7m Series C round

Kalaari and Inventus previously invested $2 million in Power2SME in a Series A round in October 2012. The pair were then joined by Accel in July last year when they returned for a $6 million Series B round.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Gurgoan, Power2SME is a free platform that aggregates demand for raw materials - such as steel, chemicals and polymers - from small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), negotiates the best prices directly with suppliers and handles payments to them. It cuts out distributors and wholesalers by then selling the materials directly to SMEs and delivering the goods to them. Its profit is the difference between the buying and selling prices.

Power2SME claims to be the first company of its kind, connecting with over 25,000 SMEs over the last two years. The business also has offices in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata, and over 150 employees.

The company will use the new injection of capital to invest in expanding its business across the country. It will also use the funds to reach out to more SMEs, enhance its product portfolio, diversify its sourcing channels and increase focus on imports.

"The fact that SMEs are operating on low margins and raw materials procurement- which is close to 65-70% of the cost of goods sold- continues to be one of key concern areas for SMEs in India," said Parag Dhol, managing director with Inventus Capital, in a statement. "Power2SME's business model has enabled thousands of MSMEs to procure raw materials at competitive prices, over the past couple of years."

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Early-stage
• Industrials
• India
• Venture
• Kalaari Capital
• Accel Partners