SAN FRANCISCO, April 23, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlueVine®, a leading provider of working capital financing to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and GovQuote, the first online goods and services marketplace seamlessly connecting government agencies and private companies, announced a pioneering partnership to provide working capital financing to SMBs that provide goods and services to state, local, and education (SLED) government agencies.
The United States SLED market – comprised of 90,000 state, local and education government agencies – presents an attractive opportunity for small business owners, but has traditionally been a difficult market for them to break into. For example, knowing when contract opportunities are available and being able to quickly bid have historically been pain points for small businesses. Additionally, if the business is lucky enough to win a bid, they can often wait well in excess of 90 days to get paid by their government agency customer after goods or services are delivered. GovQuote, in partnership with BlueVine, has stepped in to provide short-term financing to business owners to address these cash flow issues.
"Our mission is to bring liquidity to the entire government procurement ecosystem, making it efficient and transparent, through the use of technology. It's that simple," said Jeff Rubenstein, founder and CEO of GovQuote. "We've partnered with BlueVine to deliver on that mission for small and medium sized businesses and give small, minority, and disadvantaged businesses the power to level the playing field in the government market and quickly get access to tailored funding solutions."
GovQuote provides businesses with full visibility into SLED procurement requests across all 50 states through a simple online dashboard. Once an opportunity has been identified, GovQuote enables business owners to bid online, making it easy to access SLED procurement dollars.
With BlueVine’s Business Line of Credit, GovQuote customers can now apply for up to $250,000 in flexible funding to cover their upfront expenditures (e.g., inventory, materials or hiring extra staff). BlueVine’s application is online, takes as little as five minutes to complete, and approvals can be delivered in as quickly as five minutes.
Once goods or services are delivered, GovQuote customers can also turn to BlueVine’s Invoice Factoring offering to get an advance on a net terms paid invoice. Instead of waiting to get paid, BlueVine enables business owners to get up to 95 percent of their invoice payment immediately, with weekly financing rates as low as 0.25 percent. The company provides up to $5,000,000 in advances to eligible clients, and does not require sign-up fees, funding minimums or cancellation fees.
“The government and education market is growing, presenting many growth opportunities to small businesses,” said BlueVine CEO and Founder Eyal Llifshitz. “But many business owners wrestle with cash flow challenges in a market where many agencies pay their bills on net 30-, 60- or 90-day terms. By combining the power and simplicity of GovQuote’s platform with on-demand financing options provided by BlueVine, we’re leveling the playing field for small business owners that serve state, local and education agencies. Together, we’re making it easier for small business owners to get the financing needed to find, win and deliver on opportunities in the SLED market. We’re very excited about our partnership with GovQuote and look forward to making a big difference in the lives of our mutual clients.”
About GovQuote
GovQuote is revolutionizing the way public procurement is done by providing a virtual environment where SLED government agencies obtain quotes by tapping into a massive database with thousands of highly qualified companies aggressively competing for government business.
Using powerful technology to cut out costly and outdated procurement methods, GovQuote provides procurement professionals an incredible opportunity to save their organizations countless work hours and millions of dollars in taxpayer money, facilitating crystal-clear transparency in the public sector while opening up a whole new frontier of business growth and expansion for private sector companies. GovQuote gives agency buyers the power to request quotes in 60 seconds or less, receive direct quotes, get the best price, and have a complete digital audit record - all in one intuitive, online platform. Learn more at www.govquote.us.
About BlueVine
BlueVine provides small and medium-sized businesses with fast and simple access to online financing. BlueVine’s advanced online platform is intuitive and offers a fast and convenient solution for a business’ working capital needs. BlueVine offers a suite of products designed to meet the diverse financial needs of today’s business owners. With revolving Line of Credit, business owners can access flexible funds on demand; with Term Loan, business owners can get a lump sum amount to grow their business. With Invoice Factoring, business owners can unlock funds online, from their unpaid invoices. Based in Redwood City, California, BlueVine has provided small and medium-sized businesses with access to nearly $2 billion in financing and is backed by leading private and institutional investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, SVB Capital, Rakuten, Nationwide Insurance, and M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Arm). All lines of credit and term loan products are issued by Celtic Bank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, Member FDIC.
For more information, please visit www.bluevine.com.
Contact:
Ali Mapplethorpe
Highwire PR for BlueVine
bluevine@highwirepr.com
415-675-1457