Supply chain agility becomes business critical

The outbreak of war in Europe, flight bans, shipping restrictions and economic sanctions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have deep knock-on effects for global supply chains and the global flow of goods.

Established companies like MAERSK, FedEx, and DHL have suspended operations in the region. Lufthansa, AirBaltic, and many other carriers have begun taking long detours around Russian and Ukrainian airspaces. And an industry which was already reeling from two pandemic year, is facing some of it's greatest compounding challenges yet.

With today's highly entangled international supply chains, how should companies prepare for disruptions? A highly competitive scene focused on costs, generates a combination of a no-inventory approach and specialization of suppliers that exposes vulnerabilities for companies in face of disruptions. Agility, in times of uncertainty, becomes business critical. 

The solution for supply chains disruptions could potentially be found in tech-enabled marketplaces, where a focus is on offering greater flexibility and ability to diversify connections with suppliers, sellers, and freight services to reduce procurement and sales cycles, which companies like Moglix, ScoutBee, and Mbiz already implement. 

Additionally, as marketplaces try to capture complete value chains and offer more supportive services in lending (ex: OfBusiness and Pipe) and insurance (ex: Bolttech and Simply Business) they provide more room for adaptation and flexibility to companies dealing with distress from supply chain disruptions.

On Dealroom.co, we've mapped 1000+ fintech marketplaces that specialize in logistics and delivery, insurance, lending, and more. 👈

Select deals from last week:

🇸🇬 Amber Group, a Singapore based digital asset platform, raised $200M in a Series B+ round to continue backing operations in Europe and the Americas, while also expanding to under-developed markets. Founded in 2017, the firm has already seen its transaction volume reach $1T dollars and AUM exceed $5B.

🇬🇧 PrimaryBid has raised a $190M Series C round led by Softbank's Vision Fund 2. The London based fintech platform connects individual investors with public companies raising capital. The funds will be used to expand product offerings, such as capabilities in SPACs, and expand to the US market. The company has recently seen significant growth, starting to work with fundraising in France and Netherlands while piling up 150 IPOs and follow-ons in the last 18 months.

🇮🇳 MediBuddy, an Indian digital healthcare platform, raised $125M in a Series C focused on strengthening hiring and product development. The startup connects over 700 corporate clients to its network of 90,000 doctors, hospitals and pharmacies.

🇰🇪 MarketForce, the Kenya based B2B consumer goods platform, raised $40M for expansion and to introduce its buy now, pay later service to merchants. The marketplace already enables lending and goods sourcing for informal and formal sellers. It plans to grow from 100,000 to 250,000 merchants (from 5000 that were signed up last year) and double its workforce to 800 employees in the next months.

🇸🇬 Beam, the mobility platform based in Singapore, received $93M in funding for expansion into new Asian markets and for the rollout of its new e-scooter. The startup offers electric bikes and scooters in 35 cities and has seen a 15x increase in revenue from 2020. 

Other notable marketplace deals from the last week: 

🇩🇪 ZenJob, a German staffin platform, raised $50M to fuel European expansion.

🇲🇽 Valoreo, a Mexican e-commerce holding startup, raised $80M to accelerate brand acquisitions in LATAM.

🇬🇧 Plum Guide, an English vacation home platform, raised $31M to ride the 'revenge-trip' of travel for 2022.

Read up on all the latest marketplaces deals in Dealroom.co

Exits:

🇮🇹🇬🇧 DoveVivo, a co-living platform, has acquired Altido, the hospitality management startup, to consolidate its position in the market. 

🇯🇵🇺🇸 Yanmar has acquired a majority stake in GetMyBoat, the boat rental and aquatic experience marketplace, in a bid to drive internal digital transformation through a $21M round.

Read up on all the latest marketplaces exits in Dealroom.co

Tip of the week

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Ivan Draganov

Senior Innovation Analyst
Dealroom

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