US-based social media group Facebook has launched VC Brand Incubator Programme to collaborate with venture capital funds on the development of their portfolio companies, Business Standard has reported.
Through the initiative, the corporate will provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with training sessions across several topics to help grow their brands.
The first program began last month in collaboration with Sauce.vc, an India-based venture capital firm that targets food and beverage, personal care, apparel and lifestyle startups.
The initial cohort includes 25 companies, with Facebook holding workshops and providing each of the startups with insights into its network of apps, such as photo and video sharing platform Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp.
Archana Vohra, director of small and medium businesses at Facebook India, said:“Several SMEs are actively working towards creating a larger social change, and many are empowering women entrepreneurs and generating impact in tier-2 and tier-3 towns. Their seamless growth can lead to consistent job creation, adding to the GDP growth.”
Facebook said it has more than 90 million small businesses on its platform and plans to launch more programs to help businesses in the coming weeks.
Last month, Facebook invested a reported $25m in India-based social commerce platform developer Meesho. The company is not part of the VC Brand Incubator Programme, it will be used to engage with other companies.