India’s leading online search platform and one of the largestdigital SME marketplaces in the country, the AskMe Group organized Finclave 2016 at The Westin, Gurgaon. The event was organized to showcase Askme Fin, an initiative aimed at addressing the finance requirements of SMEs by offering them a suite of financing options.
The conclave was aimed at discussing the existing and emerging solutions of finance for both offline and online SMEs in India to really accelerate SME growth. It included sessions around AskMe Group, AskmeFin, the details of the portfolio of loans offered as well as the group’s future plans for the proposition. It also shared insights on the outreach plans for the online as well as the offline sellers.There is big opportunity now with offline SMEs in India and AskMe is in a great position to enable this opportunity. The conclave was attended by AskMe’s existing lending partners including Bajaj Finserv, Capital Float, Mahindra Finance and Religare. Also, in attendance were representatives from private and public sector banks, NBFC, P2P lending institutions, Fintechcompanies and SME Aggregators.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sudeep Gupta, Head-Askme Pay said, “For over three decades, the AskMe Group has been at the forefront of fostering an ecosystem for SMEs in India where they can grow their business through the group’s various initiatives. We are currently working with over 14 million SMEs and have an in-depth understanding of their requirements. We understand that easy and hassle free finance is one of the key roadblocks to the growth of the SMEs in India and we believe that AskMe, with its digital focus and its strong access to long tail SMEs, can act as a catalyst and pave the way for SMEs to connect with the right kind of financial partners.”
Mr.Pawan Lohia, CEO AskmeFin added, “We are committed to helping the SME owners get the funds they need in a hassle-free manner. Through Finclave, all our finance partners and sellers gathered together under one roof to get clarity of the process and know the benefits that we all will mutually get through this initiative.”
AskMeGroup had recently announced a series of strategic alliances to facilitate faster financing for SMEs, irrespective of the size of their business last month. It had tied up with Mahindra Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Capital Float, Religare, SMEBank.in and Mandii.com, and will be offering loans ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 crore to its sellers, available for tenure ranging from 15 days to 6 months.