Facebook teams up with Ola investor Matrix Partners India to coach SMBs

Matrix Partners India is the latest venture capital firm in the country to sign up for Facebook’s VC Brand Incubator Program. The initiative seeks to support Covid-19 impacted small businesses with digital skills.

Apart from Matrix, earlier venture capital firms in the programme include Sauce.VC, Fireside Ventures, SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital, and DSG Ventures.

The social media firm’s programme has completed one year in the country and scaled 150 small businesses, a statement said.

The initiative was launched in July, 2019.

“Facebook is committed to supporting the growth of small businesses in India, and this charter is stronger than ever as we work towards enabling their recovery from the pandemic," Archana Vohra, director of SMBs at Facebook India said.

To curb further spread of Covid-19, the initiative along with Facebook’s other skilling initiatives such as Boost with Facebook and Advertiser Vintage programme has been converted into online mode, Vohra added.

As part of the incubation programme, Facebook said it has also started ‘Campaign Lab’ to help direct-to-consumer small businesses get creative solutioning support, and go live with mobile friendly creatives and strategy in under 72 hours. 

“We’re excited to create a platform of partnership between our portfolio companies and Facebook. 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,” Matrix Partners India director Sanjot Malhi said.

Founded in 2006, Matrix Partners India is currently investing from a $300 million fund that it raised in 2018. It operates over $1 billion under management with investments in startups such as shared mobility platform Ola, news content aggregator Dailyhunt and payments solutions provider Razorpay.