B2B upstart Bizongo secures $50Mn in fresh capital

Mumbai-based B2B vendor-digitisation platform Bizongo has successfully secured a fresh $50 million in Series E funding round. The round was led by Schroder Adveq, a prominent private equity firm based in Zurich, Switzerland. The round comes after Bizongo raised nearly $110Mn back in late 2021.

Some of the other notable participants in the latest bout of funding include International Finance Corp, Chiratae Ventures, B Capital, and British International Investment. The Series E funding round puts the new valuation of the B2B e-commerce platform at a staggering $980 million – an increase of 63% higher compared to its last round of funding last year (at that time, the platform had secured a total of $25 million from Liquidity Group’s Mars Growth Capital). It also puts it within touching distance of entrance into the coveted ‘unicorn’ club.

Bizongo will look to strategically expand its operations. Going forward, Bizongo aims to post a profit before tax in the fiscal year ending March 2024, and is even exploring a potential acquisition, according to Bizongo CEO Sachin Agrawal, and further details on the matter are still pending.

Speaking more about the startup, the eight-year-old startup has evolved much from its days of focussing on various segments of vendor digitisation, with a primary focus on packaging, textiles, and apparel. However, in response to changing market dynamics, it shifted its focus to core industries, including metal. Today, more than 50% of the raw materials procured by SME vendors on Bizongo’s platform comprise steel and aluminium, and the consolidation of raw material and purchasing of workflows for small and medium-sized vendors makes up half of the company’s revenue.

“We have reduced our dependence on apparel as a sector quite a lot. It was becoming a sizeable portion. But we wanted to diversify and get into more core industries, so we entered new areas and expanded,” Agrawal commented on the matter.

The startup also offers software-based vendor management and supply-chain automation and financing, and has successfully facilitated access to unsecured financing for small and medium-sized vendors, fostering economic growth and empowerment. In this endeavor, Bizongo has formed partnerships with over 40 banks and non-bank financial companies, streamlining the loan disbursement process and providing vital financial support to vendors. Some of its noteworthy clients include BigBasket, Nykaa, Swiggy, and Delhivery. The last two years saw its customer base expand by 200-300 customers, and today, it serves an impressive roster of 450 to 500 enterprise customers, with an astounding 7,000 to 8,000 SME vendors onboarded onto its platform.

While Bizongo reported a net loss of around ₹100 crore in each of the fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023, it has maintained a steady trajectory toward profitability. In FY23, the company generated positive cash flow in the range of $7-8 million and aims a moderate net revenue growth of 25-30% for FY24.