New Delhi, July 3 (KNN) To help small and medium businesses (SMBs) scale up their operations, Facebook has announced partnership with Venture Capital (VC) funds in the country.

The VC Brand Incubator Program will be a first in the series of programs by Facebook that will be geared towards laying a strong foundation for SMB growth in India by providing them with timely skilling and guidance, enabling these businesses to hasten socio-economic growth of the country as well.

For the first edition, the US-based company is working with Sauce.vc, a Mumbai-based early-stage venture capital fund that among others has partnered with startups in the food and beverages, personal care, apparel, and the lifestyle space.

The VC Brand Incubator program is a series of events that will be held across Mumbai, Bangalore and other key cities, where SMBs will be provided with skilling and training sessions by Facebook experts on a range of themes and topics that will help them build their brands on the digital medium more effectively.

The first VC Brand Incubator program was held last month in collaboration with Sauce.vc and saw participation from 25 brands of which five were women-led businesses.

“With the VC Brand Incubator programme we hope to unlock the potential of SMBs in India, enabling them to enhance their and the country's socio-economic growth. SMBs are the backbone of our economy and Facebook is the default destination for them to thrive and grow, said Archana Vohra, director, small and medium businesses at Facebook India.

She added, several SMBs 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.