Meta adds Sequoia India to the VC Brand Incubator Initiative to help upskill start-ups

Meta (Facebook) has announced its next edition of the VC Brand Incubator Initiative that works to help small and medium businesses accelerate their growth in the country. The latest edition will see a host of VC firms taking part in the initiative including the likes of Sequoia India. The VC Brand Incubator Initiative was launched in 2019 as an “industry-first” initiative by Meta, then known as Facebook.

This is the second time Sequoia India is participating in the VC Brand Incubator Initiative, the first time was in 2020 when Surge, Sequoia India’s rapid scale-up program, was a part of the initiative.

Meta’s VC Brand Incubator initiative is an India-focused program that works on “building solutions and programs to cater to the unique needs of small businesses in India”. Meta has tied-up with 15 VC funds and has skilled, trained, and mentored more than 450 small businesses at various stages of their growth journey over the last three years.

The other VC firms who are a part of the initiative besides Sequoia, include Fireside Ventures, Elevation Capital (SAIF Partners), DSG Consumer Partners, Matrix Partners, Anthill Ventures, Stellaris Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, etc.

“The startup ecosystem in India is thriving, fuelled by opportunities that the massive digital acceleration is providing for the sector. As young businesses move online and scale, we know that the need for timely business skilling becomes even more critical to enable growth. Meta and Sequoia India are both working towards the common goal of unlocking more growth opportunities for small businesses of India, and I am thrilled to have them join us for our VC Brand Incubator Initiative,” said Archana Vohra, Director, Small and Medium Businesses India at Meta.

“Early-stage companies need access to tools and services that can support their growth and learning as they scale up. Meta’s VC Brand Incubator Initiative allows these start-ups to access solutions and programs to aid this and we’re excited to see this take shape,” said Gayatri Yadav, Chief Marketing Officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Meta testing ways to let creators earn money within metaverse

Also Read: Hackers duped Apple, Meta and other tech firms with forged data requests for user information