Funding Societies and SGeBIZ team up for Singapore B2B finance

Funding Societies, a SME digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has declared a strategic collaboration with Singapore E-Business (SGeBIZ), a provider of digital procurement, payment, and sourcing solutions.

The objective of this partnership is to introduce business-to-business embedded finance (EmFi) solutions to businesses in Singapore. This initiative will incorporate Funding Societies' digital financing capabilities into SGeBIZ's procurement solution, EzyProcure, specifically through the ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) feature.

The partnership aims to extend customized financing solutions to over two thousand businesses currently utilizing the EzyProcure platform, predominantly consisting of SMEs operating in the food and beverage sector and their associated suppliers. These financing options, supported and underwritten by Funding Societies, are intended to assist businesses in managing their cash flow effectively.

Representatives of Funding Societies expressed the company's commitment to serving SMEs and highlighted the collaborative effort as a means to embed digital financing capabilities into the existing framework, thus supporting the BNPL offering via EzyProcure. The partnership is envisioned to enhance the value propositions of both companies and expand their outreach to underserved SMEs in Singapore.

According to forecasts, the Asia Pacific region presents significant potential for EmFi solutions, with a projected market revenue potential of USD 306 billion, which accounts for more than half of the global market potential of USD 606 billion. Moreover, the global B2B ecommerce market, already six times larger than its B2C counterpart, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22% until 2030, with Asia Pacific leading the trajectory.

Innovative payment options like BNPL are identified as crucial differentiators in the B2B buyer-merchant ecosystem, particularly considering that a substantial majority (95%) of B2B online buyers prefer credit terms for payment, which is often unavailable, with less than 10% of merchants offering such options.

Representatives of SGeBIZ underscored the significance of the partnership in providing liquidity support to SMEs, particularly amid economic uncertainties and rising operational costs. The BNPL offering is positioned as a complementary addition to the existing EzyProcure platform, which has already streamlined operations for buyers and suppliers within the ecosystem.

Launched in 2016, EzyProcure is a cloud-based platform designed to automate business-to-business ordering, invoice reconciliation, and payment processes for food and beverage businesses and their suppliers. The platform aims to eliminate manual processes, thereby freeing up time for SMEs to focus on business growth.

Since its establishment in 2015, Funding Societies has facilitated over SGD5 billion (approximately SGD3.67 billion) in business financing through five million transactions, benefiting over 100,000 SMEs across its operations in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.