In the closed community of investment banking, which primarily thrives on personal connections,large companies are being served by the marquee investment banks whereas mid-market deals are catered by boutiques. Tragically, the large and vibrant SME community has long been ignored by the industry world wide, blaming on their inability to afford the expensive processes. Quelling this injustice by democratizing the market is SMERGERS Online Services, India's largest online Investment Banking Company, which isnot just cost-efficient but also time-efficient.

Unprecedentedly Vast Global Network

Harnessing internet technology to bring transparency and a level playing field for all businesses endowed the 2013 established company's online platform (smergers.com)with a splendid 2000 businesses, 1800 investors and 300 financial advisors from 55 countries. As globally investors are increasingly interested in betting on Indian talent, opening the gates with its vast global network aided SMERGERS to establish the strongest brand presence in clients' minds over its competitors, not to mention the quality of introduction, which is also far superior."Our customers act as our brand ambassadors who market us via

word of mouth, which has the strongest impact," says Vishal Devanath, Founder & CEO, SMERGERS.

The idea of SMERGERS struck Vishal while he was assisting larger companies with M&A and PE fundraising processes, where he noticed that the industry is turning a blind eye towards SMEs.

As the name suggests, SMERGERS helps SME business owners with Mergers, Acquisitions and Fundraising, aside from enabling individual investors, NRIs, HNIs and small funds among others. Unlike traditional methods that require years of networking, SMERGERS allows its clients to scrutinize prospects' background and clarifies who can actually close the transaction with those prospects in a matter of days. "Once the profiling is done, our clients can find, connect and transact with each other easily through our simple, cost-effective and time-efficient platform," explains Krishna Bharadwaj, Co-Founder, SMERGERS. The company also provides ancillary support services such as information memorandum preparation and business valuation to interested business owners.

The Exciting Journey

The idea of SMERGERS struck Vishal while he was assisting larger companies with M&A and PE fundraising processes, where he noticed that the industry is turning a blind eye towards SMEs. After joining hands with tech-savvy Krishna, his ex-colleague, together they felt that a tech-enabled platform where match making could be done between businesses,

investors and advisors, was an efficient way of solving this problem. Thus SMERGERS came into existence by cloning the experience of an investment bank online in a cost-effective manner without compromising on the professionalism, expertise and contacts it could offer. Started with mere Rs.10,000 as a two member team,being innovative and frugal empowered SMERGERS to make more than 5000 introductions, generate an impressive traction and emerge as the market leaders in Indian investment banking platform space within a short span of two years.

Having a small but impactful team that is evenly split between technology & finance, SMERGERS has an interesting work culture and relaxed ambience, where everyone can contribute towards the company's growth. Operating in a niche segment, SMERGERS' team members feel that the company is creating a different market, where no investment banking company has gone before, and they need to be associated with such a pioneering firm that helps SMEs realize their potential. This explains why its employees have sacrificed good pay checks and legendary brand names,and interns from prestigious institutes are clamouring to be part of its exciting journey.

SMERGERS aims to partner up with other professional firms to provide legal, due diligence and acquisition financing services to alleviate the burden of its users after transaction; there by building an ecosystem by stitching more elements to make smergers.com an end-to-end platform.The company wishes to increase its presence in U.S., UK and Europe aiming to enable more cross border transactions. SMERGER Senvisions making Investment Bankingas a well-established strategic instrument directly accessible to SMEs as well. "There are numerous SMEs in our country, which need our services, butare not even aware of us. We would like to become a one-stop-shop for all of them,"concludes Vishal.