Facebook Teams With Surge For India VC Brand Incubator

Facebook has connected with Sequoia Capital India’s Surge accelerator initiative to roll out the fourth version of the VC Brand Incubator program in India, Deal Street Asia reported.

The social media company started the VC Brand Incubator in June 2019 to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in India by working with venture capital funds. The partnerships bring mentorship, industry insights, guidance on best practices, and other resources to SMBs.

“With the VC Brand Incubator, our aim is to help our brands gain more insights into leveraging the Facebook family of apps for growth,” said Sequoia Capital India Managing Director Rajan Anandan.

Before its Surge collaboration, the program worked with three VC firms through which it mentored over 70 brands through different growth stages and verticals.

mCaffeine, a personal care startup based in Mumbai, and The Moms Co., a baby care startup based in Delhi, are some of the companies that have participated in past incubator programs.

“We know from our experience with 140 million small businesses across the globe that timely skilling and mentorship are critical for young brands to succeed,” said Archana Vohra, director of SMBs at Facebook India.

Surge was started in January of last year as a scale-up platform for early-stage companies in Southeast and South Asia.

In July 2019, Facebook announced partnerships with an array of VC funds as part of its VC Brand Incubator initiative. The incubator’s first phase saw Facebook working with Sauce.vc to collaborate on ways to support SMBs by offering know-how and guidance.  Sauce.vc focuses on early-stage startups in the apparel, food and beverage and personal care industries.

“With the VC Brand Incubator program, we hope to unlock the potential of SMBs in India, enabling them to enhance theirs as well as the country’s socioeconomic growth,” Vohra said at the time. “Working with VC funds is crucial, as it allows us to scale and support SMBs at an early stage itself, fast-tracking their growth.”