SupplierPlus is a buyer-led Supply Chain Finance (SCF) platform that optimizes working capital allocation in trade relations. More simply put, the company simplifies invoice financing between buyers, suppliers and financiers.

Before becoming a fully-fledged SCF platform, the company started out in 2015 as a crowd-funded invoice finance platform. Soon enough, it became evident that crowdfunding would not do the trick – large buyers needed access to far greater volumes and lower prices, which could only be offered by financial institutions. This led them to ultimately creating a next generation platform fit for handling the sophisticated needs of bluechips on the one hand and highly regulated banks on the other.

Today, SupplierPlus operates a multi-bank platform that allows corporations to finance their entire supply chain. The solution taps into the strong credit profiles of the large buyers to make competitive financing available to their suppliers. Buyers get to improve their payment terms, pricing and delivery stability, while suppliers get paid early.

Reflecting on SupplierPlus’s time in the Lighthouse Program, COO Uve Poom shared, “Lighthouse represents a quality stamp. It provides validation from a globally respected financial institution called MasterCard. Prior we had already established contact with most banks in the region, but the program added wind in the sails.”

Following the trends in the industry, Uve adds that SCF is an in-demand industry right now,

During any economic crisis – and the one caused by Covid-19 is no exception – banks are inclined to cut back on SME credit, while interest concentrates with large corporations. However, large corporations also tend to extend invoice payment terms in this setting. This means that large companies can, and indeed should, take more responsibility for supplier finance. They otherwise face price hikes, supply instability and poorer competition as their supplier base is limited to companies that are financially strong enough.