MENA — Food and beverage B2B marketplace has partnered with New York-based fintech company Biz2X to facilitate digital loans for SME players in the food and restaurant sector across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The digital loans will be provided through Biz2Credit, Biz2X’s lending platform which has facilitated over US$10 billion in lending to SMEs across the US, Australia and India.
The lending platform will provide specialized loans for small and medium-sized food and restaurant businesses through Watermelon Ecosystem’s distribution channels across the MENA region.
Biz2X will match financing options with Watermelon’s digital network of restaurateurs and other food entrepreneurs.
The financial products included in the partnership include unsecured working capital financing, invoice financing and factoring options.
The New York-based fintech company revealed key financing partners have already been integrated into the partnership.
Biz2Credit boast of strong partnership agreements with several Fortune 500 companies and top US banks through which it issues digital loans to SME clients. These loans are backed by the US government’s Small Business Administration (SBA).
Lending partners will leverage Biz2X’s award-winning digital underwriting platform to establish customized credit guidelines and parameters before issuing loans.
Biz2X also revealed lending partners will have access to client’s financial transaction data through which they will promptly be able to assess creditworthiness, which makes the overall financing process more efficient.
Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2X welcomed the partnership by saying, “Business owners no longer have to wait until they have cash on hand to purchase things they need to operate and grow.”
“Vertical software companies like Watermelon know the value of delivering a complete client experience that includes access to financing to fuel their clients’ success. Watermelon is a partner with an excellent business in the food & beverage space, and we are proud to empower their merchants with financing that fuels growth.”
According to both companies, the partnership is set to transform the food and restaurant sector across MENA through diversifying financing options for players.
The Watermelon-Biz2X partnership is also expected to streamline the funding process, making capitalization more accessible and efficient for SMEs in the food and restaurant sector. The streamlined process should aid in facilitating growth of the sector.
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