LONDON, UK: Schroders Capital Global Innovation Trust plc has made an investment of $8.0 million (£6.3 million) in India-based vendor digitisation company, Bizongo.
This investment formed part of the $50.0 million Series E funding round that was led by Schroders Capital with participation from other investors including IFC, BCap, Chiratae Ventures, and British International Investment.
Bizongo, which was founded in 2015, is transforming supply chain operations for large enterprises, as well as for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India, through its foundational vendor digitisation platform.
Bizongo enables vendors to source raw materials across a broad range of categories, including steel, aluminium and textiles, and to optimise their procurement processes.
Customers leverage 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 has a capital efficient, inventory-free operating model, that connects vendors directly with suppliers.
The vendor digitisation platform has seen a three-fold rise in its gross merchandise value, the total value of sales through the platform, from ~$215 million in FY22 to ~$750 million in FY23.
With its platform, the company has also opened doors to embedded financing through its network of more than 40 partner banks and non-banking financial corporations (NBFCs), who can evaluate MSMEs based on deep transactional and behavioural insights, allowing them to take better financing calls, and enabling MSMEs to scale their growth through efficient working capital.
Tim Creed, Lead Portfolio Manager, and Harry Raikes, Co-Portfolio Manager commented: “The Company’s investment in Bizongo is in line with the portfolio’s sub-strategy of backing innovative growth businesses while utilising the Company’s broadened global investment remit.
Schroders Capital has been an investor in Bizongo since 2019, over which time we have seen the company grow exponentially, achieve scale, and expand into more sectors. The company is playing a transformational role in enabling vendors in India to digitalise their supply chain, which has accelerated since the COVID pandemic. We are excited that the Company is now participating in Bizongo’s future growth.”
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