Meesho partners Klub to finance MSMEs, boost local manufacturing

Social commerce platform Meesho on Wednesday announced its partnership with fintech startup Klub to provide financing options for MSMEs.

The partnership aims to finance MSMEs on Meesho’s platform through Klub to enable domestic sourcing and manufacturing in the current COVID-19 economy, the startup said in a statement.

The announcement comes at a time when Indian MSMEs are looking to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, and are seeking options for financing and growth.

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The collaboration entails providing end-to-end solutions to suppliers on the Meesho platform to raise capital for the growth of their businesses. The partnership, termed a 'Vocal for Local collaboration' by the companies, will ensure flexible financing for select Meesho suppliers to source input material through domestic manufacturing units.

Vidit Aatrey, CEO, Meesho, said the two companies have a "shared vision of converting business dreams to reality, despite the challenges of the current economic situation."

Meesho now hopes to encourage more local entrepreneurs to start-up businesses, and eventually, bolster the Indian economy by providing capital assurance through the Klub partnership.

Anurakt Jain, Co-founder and CEO, Klub, said, “As an embedded financing partner for Meesho, Klub will expand its reach to enable and empower brand building for and in Bharat. Klub’s goal is to enable local brands to reach their growth potential by offering flexible financing solutions."

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Founded by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Meesho claims to have close to four million women entrepreneurs and 50,000 suppliers on its platform, who have created over 100,000 jobs in Tier -II and III cities.

It enables individuals to start an online business without investment. It facilitates a three-way marketplace, enabling resellers, small and medium businesses (SMBs), and micro-entrepreneurs across India to connect with potential buyers using social media.

Meesho, which has raised $215.2 million, is today backed by prominent names in the country and across the world, including Y Combinator, Facebook, Naspers, SAIF Partners, Sequoia, Shunwei Capital, and RPS.

Started by Anurakt Jain and Ishita Verma, Singapore-headquartered Klub is building a platform to provide revenue-based financing to popular brands and local startups across consumer sectors in the Indian market.

In January 2020, Klub raised $2 million in a pre-seed round from Surge, Sequoia India’s rapid scale-up programme, and a group of angel investors.