Facebook ties up with Matrix Partners India to scale early-stage SMBs

Facebook on Thursday said it has tied up with early stage venture capital fund Matrix Partners to scale small businesses in India by providing them with digital skills.

The tie-up is a part of Facebook's VC Brand Incubator Program that collaborates with venture capital funds to help early-stage small and medium businesses (SMBs) to maximise their digital potential, Facebook said in a statement.

"With the tie-up with Matrix Partners India, the programme also completes one year during which it has collaborated with six VC Funds - Sauce.VC, Fireside Ventures, SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital, DSG Ventures, and Matrix Partners India - and skilled, trained, and mentored more than 150 brands at various stages of their growth journey," it added.

The 'Boost with Facebook' program went virtual in May reaching out to 4X more people than in an in-person event. The 'FB Advertiser Vintage' program that focussed on skilling young businesses, pivoted to webinars offering custom solutioning, customer acquisition, and test and learn assistance. This program will skill more than 3,000 businesses this year, the statement said.

Facebook India Director (SMBs) Archana Vohra said the company is committed to supporting the growth of small businesses in India.

"...this charter is stronger than ever as we work towards enabling their recovery from the pandemic...In light of the current constraints, we've taken the initiative online along with a host of our other skilling initiatives such as Boost with Facebook and Advertiser Vintage program to ensure uninterrupted skilling and support for small businesses," she said.

Matrix Partners India is an early-stage investor that partners closely with SMBs across sectors including consumer technology, B2B, enterprise, and fintech among others. In India, it has invested in companies like Ola, Quikr, Practo, Dailyhunt, Mswipe, Country Delight, and Razorpay, among others.

Brand building is a crucial part of growing and scaling your company, and Facebook's incubator program is a great stepping stone for early stage consumer-focused companies who are looking to build awareness and engagement with a digital audience, Sanjot Malhi, Director at Matrix Partners India, said.

"Over 20 companies from our portfolio, including Country Delight, Stanza Living, OZiva, ManMatters, Zupee, The Whole Truth, Dealshare, have now partnered with Facebook on this program," he added.

As part of the VC Brand Incubator Program, Facebook has also started Campaign Lab that helps direct-to-consumer small businesses get creative solutioning support, and go live with mobile friendly creatives and strategy in under 72 hours.