As the world has become one big opportunity hub, the key is to focus on finding affordable and reliable tools enabling businesses to enjoy the benefits of a hyper connected environment.
75% of CEOs say strategic partnerships are essential to their growth, but more than half report trouble finding and connecting with partners. The fact is, companies are missing out on new strategic partners because they lack the resources and networks of larger firms and we don’t believe that’s right.
At Powerlinx, we believe there’s a better way to find new partners — and we’re using a combination of smart technology and the power of the Internet to build it. We have also narrowed down the opportunity creation process to only three steps, for your business to have the most exposure as quickly as possible.
From a networking perspective, as we are now more connected than ever, the opportunities for synergistic partnerships, increasing geographical reach, diversification of distribution channels, increasing revenue or just seeking new customers can be unlimited, but daunting and costly to look for.
Fortunately, platforms like Powerlinx are breaking down the barriers to allow players of all sizes to take advantage of these types of opportunities, allowing businesses to drive growth. Dubbed ‘The Tinder for Business’ by Calcalist, a reference also made by Israel’s N12, and with the goal of helping as many businesses as possible, Powerlinx allows companies to showcase their products or services to potential interested parties, look for strategic partners and act on business opportunities listed by other firms, on-the-go, with its mobile app.
“For times like these, you can rest assured Powerlinx will be there to help you uncover opportunities for sustainable growth to accelerate your path to prosperity” Meir Shachar, Powerlinx CEO.
We’d love to hear about your business and how to help you scale!
Moving forward, digitization is prime to transform nearly every aspect of the logistics industry. With the future potential of Industry 4.0 becoming our present-day reality, the industry is in the midst of rapid change. Over the last two years, the logistics industry faced unique challenges, from lockdowns to lack of global supply chain coordination, and even a war. And the time has come for innovative solutions to tackle these problems.
Cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, and the Internet of Things are all changing how businesses operate. Industry experts and CEOs see digitization as the best way to achieve cost reduction and revenue growth, and companies like Flexportare already tackling this challenge from a freight forwarder perspective. With the industry becoming more efficient and advanced, companies that fail to adapt will find themselves lagging behind their competitors.
The process of finding strategic partners is no exception to this dramatic trend. Creating and maintaining an advanced, nimble supply chain is vital to a business’ long term health. Examples of new strategic partnerships abound today, such as the deal struck by Uber Freight and Waymo Via recently. Even the reasons for forming new partnerships is changing. Instead of mitigating risk or entering new markets, CEOs are looking for new technologies and innovation capabilities. As customers increasingly demand environmentally sustainable products, it will become increasingly important to find environmentally aware suppliers and partners to best satisfy consumer demand. New shipping methods and techniques are helping make the Logistics Industry more energy efficient and cost efficient than ever before. As political instability rages across the world, it is vital to select knowledgeable, and established strategic partners to best navigate these uncertain times.
With an increasingly fragile global market, seeking to connect with other businesses in a reliable, trustworthy and direct way can be challenging, and companies need to count with the most comprehensive array of business tools to cope with these new reality. At Powerlinx, we aim to become a valuable resource and an extension of a company’s business development team. As a B2B business matchmaking app, you’ll be able to cut through the noise and find only relevant opportunities you can act on in just two clicks.
We are thrilled to announce that we now have access to business verification via D-U-N-S Number(Data Universal Numbering System) through our partnership with CIAL Dun & Bradstreet and Dun & Bradstreet Israel to continue improving B2B interactions and further position ourselves as the trustworthy platform for companies to engage in business with each other.
This will bring even more trust to businesses looking to partner on opportunities with other firms, while avoiding the complex due diligence process that getting to know the other company entails.
Plus, you’ll even belong to the exclusive group of D&B Verified Companies offering business opportunities:
If you have a D-U-N-S Number, just put it and get your company verified. And if you don’t have one, you can easily order one with just one click on Powerlinx!
Start-ups and fledgling small businesses are facing a cash crisis in capital raising efforts amid falling public comps valuations. According to PitchBook, the average public listing valuation fell to $993.1 million in Q1 2022. While the figure is still elevated on a historical scale, it represents roughly one-third of 2021’s $2.8 billion.
Hardest hit in the recent drop in venture capital raising have been the mega deals. A mid-March PitchBook analysis found that, from their post-money valuations at exit to their current market cap, the top 10 VC-backed IPOs were all down 18% to 68%. Public market headwinds have already had — and will continue to have — trickle-down effects into VC. Only 28 VC-backed companies were listed publicly in Q1 2022, the lowest quarterly count since Q1 2020.
This funding chill comes in the wake of significant markdowns in valuation of multi-billion dollar companies, reflecting growing unease within the VC community about the ability of such big bets to deliver on their original promise. It also reflects a consolidation of VC dollars, as investors chase lucrative stakes in companies that have already gained a lot of traction while passing over more nascent market entrants.
For newly minted companies seeking a life-giving injection of cash from venture investors, this comes as potentially very bad news. While “dry powder” (namely, the amount of dollars VCs have readily available to invest into startups) is at an all time high with more than $230Bn, startups are now facing bigger funding hurdles.
The hurdles in the capital raising market
There’s a huge oversupply in the market. The collapse in the cost of launching a tech startup has caused an explosion in the number of startups looking to raise capital, while, on the other side of the aisle, given the new macro environment, investors risk appetite has turned sour.
The most precipitous drop in the data comes from the QoQ decline in capital exited, where Q1 posted only $33.6 billion after three consecutive quarters over $192.0 billion. The tech sector is facing a harsh reality check that has already seen companies like Coinbase and Tesla being forced to shed staff, and some dominant incumbents like Uber exiting viable markets due to a drop in profitability. While many of these larger companies may survive this capital crunch, smaller businesses and startups that are looking for the support they need to get their ideas off the ground face a tough fight.
The benefits of joint ventures
For businesses meeting only dead ends and closed doors in the venture investing scene, alternative sources of funding offer a potential lifeline. Government grants and contracts, such as those offered through the SBIR program, offer up one possibility. Another possible route is online crowdfunding through websites like Kickstarter and WeFunder; that’s how Oculus Rift and the Pebble Time Smartwatch got started.
The third alternative — ideal for startups that can’t afford to invest a lot of sweat equity or don’t want to spend countless hours pitching to skeptical investors — is to find the right strategic business partnerships.
Regardless of your funding status, it’s always worth starting the partnership conversation as early as possible as a way to accelerate your company’s growth. For an example, one need look no further than Uber; their partnership with Google Ventures, which leveraged the search giant’s maps and GPS technology, ultimately resulted in Google investing $258 million in the popular ride-sharing company.
As this shows, the most successful partnerships tend to be those that have a mutual benefit. Uber’s integration with Maps gave its customers real-time updates on ride availability, while keeping users off competitors’ map apps.
Innovating the search for partners
However, finding the right strategic partner can be a lot of work in its own right, especially when differentiation is so hard to achieve and the right professional networks can take months or years to build.
Platforms like Powerlinx are designed to address these concerns by presenting opportunities to new businesses that are aimed at bringing their products to commercial viability more quickly. Powerlinx’s partner-matching technology acts as a bridge connecting companies through actionable opportunities in areas such as capital acquisition and financing, geographic expansion, customer acquisition and exit planning.
For businesses that hope to expand into new markets, or simply need enough money to get away from the starting block, the decline in venture investment shouldn’t be viewed as a disaster. In contrast, it’s an opportunity to pursue more agile and innovative paths to success.
At Powerlinx, we believe that enabling businesses to connect with each other in the fastest, most direct way is the way forward for companies to drive growth. That is why we put together some of the most straight-forward use-cases of the Powerlinx platform.
Pavegen is a cleantech company that harvests the energy of our footsteps and converts it into electricity. Poised to bring its technology to the world, Pavegen connected with a surprising new distribution partner through Powerlinx.
When Barry Kayton joined Powerlinx, he connected with another Powerlinx member, Dave Carter of Integrity Solutions, around opportunities for making his customers’ experience even better. Integrity Solutions provides interaction-based consultancy services that emphasize organizational accountability, attitude, motives and values as key factors in improving both internal and external relationships.
OMilk is an artisan milk company based in Brooklyn, New York that needed to find a bottle supplier to help them expand nationally. OMilk founders Greg and Julie Van Ullen found their ideal supplier in an unexpected place.
For many small businesses, their small size is a crucial advantage. Small teams are able to move quickly and responsive to changing market trends. But what do you do when your business needs are beyond your size?
With almost 40% of all its trade taking place in North America, Panama has built a reputation of being incredibly business-friendly, making it almost a no-brainer for businesses looking to expand geographically across the region.
