Schroders Capital Global Innovation Trust has made an investment of $8.0m in an India-based vendor digitisation company, Bizongo. This investment formed part of the company’s $50.0m Series E funding round that was led by Schroders Capital with participation from other investors including IFC, BCap, Chiratae Ventures, and British International Investment.
What is vendor digitisation? I hear you ask. Well basically it is an online platform that enables businesses to source raw materials across a broad range of categories, including steel, aluminium and textiles, and to optimise their procurement processes. Customers can use the Bizongo vendor digitisation platform to source suppliers, optimise for cost, seamlessly place orders, all whilst managing invoicing and order tracking in real-time. Bizongo does not carry any inventory of its own. The platform has seen a more than three-fold rise in its gross merchandise value, the total value of sales through the platform, from about $215m in FY22 to about $750m in FY23.
Through its platform, the company also provides access to finance through its network of more than 40 partner banks and non-banking financial corporations. These businesses can evaluate potential borrowers based on transactional and behavioural insights gained from the platform.
INOV : Schroder Cap Global Innovation backs Bizongo