Olea Global Pte. Ltd., a digitised supply chain platform that empowers sustainable trade, and Vayana Network, India's largest trade finance platform have announced a partnership which plans to provide exporters and importers in India with timely access to alternative liquidity.

Over the past few years, there has been growing interest in India as a manufacturing hub, as large multi-national corporations seek to diversify their global supply chains. In order to meet this increasing demand, businesses in India – especially micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) – have been looking for quicker access to sources of capital. Traditional lenders tend to have lengthy and opaque documentation processes which make it hard to access this capital. In fact, World Bank estimated that Indian MSMEs alone account for a $380 billion credit gap.

Sharing his views, Ram Iyer, Founder and CEO, Vayana Network, said, “The Government, through its “Make in India” program and Production Linked Incentives (PLIs), is offering incentives for Indian manufacturing to become more globally competitive. Combined with the ITFS (International Trade Finance Services) platform and our other cross border offerings, we aim to provide a wide array of trade finance solutions to businesses. The partnership with Olea complements our vision of connecting the smallest of businesses with the largest of lenders.”

The partnership will initially focus on making export finance readily available for small and mid-sized exporters. It will address the clear need for products which offer straightforward and fast access to capital. The synergies from the relationship between Olea and Vayana will bring together their unique offerings and provide a focus on long-term value. Olea brings its extensive structuring capability, state-of-the-art technology platform and extensive access to funding from alternative investors globally. On the other hand, Vayana is deeply entrenched in the Indian ecosystem and can leverage its close relationships with corporates in India to provide financing solutions.

Letitia Chau, Deputy CEO of Olea said: “Olea is passionate about bringing a fresh pool of international capital into the trade and supply chain finance market in India, specifically for small and medium-sized businesses. Indian MSMEs alone account for 45% of national exports and the value they contribute to the economy increases by around 12% per year. Addressing the credit gap for MSMEs directly impacts their ability to provide employment, among other things. Hence, the collaboration with Vayana strongly aligns with our desire to empower sustainable trade.”