Nov 11, 2021

By SHARE Pune-based digital trade financing network Vayana Network Services Pvt Ltd has raised Rs 283 crore in a Series C funding round led by venture capital firm Chiratae Ventures and the UK development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor CDC Group, the company said in a statement. The funding round also witnessed participation from Jungle Ventures, March Capital, Marshall Wace and some large family offices from India and abroad, the company said. Vayana, which terms itself as India’s largest supply-chain finance platform, also claims to have financed more than $8 billion through business-to-business (B2B) card flows to over 22,000 MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) for more than 1,000 supply chains in 25 different sectors. The company also connects more than 1,000 corporates and their trade ecosystems to the digital arena and offers affordable access to credit for their payables and receivables. “Over the last four years, we have grown 20 times on quarterly financing volumes and have reached $8 billion in total financing to date,” said Ram Iyer, founder and chief executive officer, Vayana Network. “Our investors Chiratae and Jungle placed trust in us from the beginning and now we have some incredible global financial institutions, development institutions and growth funds strengthening us to accelerate our journey to this goal,” he added. Vayana said its network spans across 600 cities and more than 1,150 pin codes in India. The company’s network also extends to 20 countries across the globe. The company has been catering to small MSMEs in the long tail of the supply chains, it said. Vayana also is one of the largest goods and services tax (GST) provider in the country and facilitates GST, e-way bills, e-invoices for many corporates and SMEs (small and medium enterprises). The company claims to have 25% share in e-invoices since it started this platform. “Across the globe and especially in India, MSMEs play the crucial role of being growth engines of an economy, and despite this they suffer from delayed payments and lack of access to low-cost formal sources of finance. Vayana not only facilitates access but has worked towards making MSMEs credit ready through its GST compliance and analytics business,” said TC Meenakshi Sundaram, managing director and co-founder, Chiratae Ventures. Meanwhile, for the CDC Group, Vayana’s investment adds to its portfolio of logistics and warehousing companies. On Monday, the CDC Group had closed a debt financing round of Rs 104 crore in Leap India Food and Logistics Pvt Ltd, an agricultural warehousing and logistics company.