How Bizongo’s vendor digitisation is reshaping supply chain operations for enterprises, MSMEs

If you were to visit Ananda Dairy, one of India’s leading dairy and food manufacturing companies, you would notice a wide range of products sourced from various micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

From primary, secondary and tertiary packaging (flexi pouches, boxes, and cartons) to agri-input products like sugar and wheat, the company procures products via a vast supply chain system. 

For years, enterprises like Ananda Dairy relied on offline traders. Today, Ananda Dairy uses solutions built by Bizongo, a B2B platform to streamline its work. The Mumbai-based startup says it harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to help enterprises establish seamless communication channels with MSME partners. 

“Traditionally, both enterprises and MSMEs have relied on offline and manual communication methods to establish supply chain operations; however, with vendor digitisation, these large enterprises are now able to transform 100% of the supply chain over cloud. The presence of a unified platform would further enable the cohort to accurately forecast their supply chain from vendors without missing any demand,” explains Sachin Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO of Bizongo.

Bizongo, founded in 2015 by Sachin, Aniket Deb and Ankit Tomar, began its journey by connecting buyers and sellers in the packaging industry to make the system more efficient. The team soon realised that several industries worked with outdated supply chain models. It then shifted its focus on modernising these workflows.

“If Indian businesses are enabled with tech it will lead to their socio-economic transformation and that I had observed with my family’s business into textile industry,” says Sachin.

In the year of its inception, the startup raised seed funding, with Accel being one of its main investors. 

In December 2021, it secured around $110 million at a valuation of $600 million. At the time, Sachin attributed the company’s growth to the traction gained by its digital tools. 

The startup now caters to several industries, including textile, consumer durables, pharmaceutical, and agriculture, It saw more than five-fold rise in its operating revenue to Rs 1,711.1 crore in FY22 from Rs 315.2 crore in FY21. While the company saw a nearly 5X growth in its revenue, its losses also widened, according to filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Bizongo reported a 17% increase in its net loss to Rs 100.3 crore in FY22 from Rs 86 crore in the prior fiscal year

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How does Bizongo work?

A large enterprise like Ananda Dairy has to deal with the arduous task of deploying sales representatives to manually search for vendors, select the best ones, initiate orders, track logistics, and manage invoicing. 

The process is both complex and expensive. 

Bizongo says it has devised a web-based application to revolutionise this approach. The company helps enterprises centralise their supply chain operations via its application and access its network of vendors. 

Through Bizongo's application, enterprises can directly submit their procurement requests. The application leverages tech to provide users with a curated list of vendors as well as enables online price negotiations. 

The entire process, including order placement and invoicing, occurs in real-time and can be conveniently viewed on the enterprise's and MSME owners’ screens.

The pandemic-induced lockdowns exposed the kinks in India’s supply chains. Since then, B2B startups such as Ofbusiness and Zetwerk have built multiple solutions to help MSMEs interact with buyers and move their products across the country. 

OfBusiness, for example, recently launched a new app to help MSMEs procure raw materials and gain access credit.

“The market potential is huge,” says Sachin adding that B2B was an unchartered territory before but how Bizongo stands out from its peers in the industry by tapping large enterprises and reaching the MSME sector. “We operated in a ‘push & pull’ mechanism and we are doing great.”

Bizongo works with 300 large enterprises including Trident Group, Apollo Microsystems, and JK, and with nearly 8500 MSMEs across India. 

According to Bizongo, by capturing over 50 live data points and comparing them to millions of past B2B transactions, its platform identifies potential risks and provides a confidence score of MSMEs, ensuring proactive actions and smooth supply chain operations for enterprises. 

Leveraging this data, Bizongo has also opened doors to embedded financing through partner banks and NBFCs who can evaluate SMEs based on deep transactional and behavioural insights, allowing them to take better financing calls on SMEs and making it a potent tool for SME growth.

Talking to SMBStory, Santosh Dadheech, Founder and CEO of Agriconnect Solutions Pvt Ltd, who has leveraged Bizongo’s embedded supply chain financing, says that it has improved his company’s cash flow. 

“Our payment transactions are running in auto mode. All of the invoices are instantly created plus Bizongo’s resolution from the client side is super quick, ensuring the highest level of efficiency. Our growth has also become simpler,” he adds. 

In about a year, Agriconnect saw an increase in its monthly revenue, Santosh says. 

The next big move

Next, Bizongo plans to launch an AI-powered mobile app for MSME vendors. The app would feature an AI virtual assistant, providing smart recommendations for purchasing, invoicing, collections, raw material procurement, credit scoring, compliance, and operational efficiencies. 

The company is planning to raise funds, however, Sachin hasn’t revealed how much. According to him, the fresh capital will be used to strengthen Bizongo’s AI capabilities.