Dublin-based Waybiz.com is an online marketplace for companies who want to find suppliers and buyers they can trust in local and international markets.
Based at the Synergy Centre, IT Tallaght, the B2B portal has already amassed more than 20,000 client recommendations from 50,000-plus businesses in 110 countries since starting out in May.
Founder and CEO Abhinav Chugh says Waybiz.com works by helping existing clients to win more customers,
Chugh himself moved to Ireland five years ago from India as he was working as a project manager with O2. After a few years he then decided to do an MBA at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
“It was while doing my MBA that I got this idea of helping build trust between global buyers and sellers who want to connect with each other but are afraid to do so because of a lack of credibility.
“The problem with dealing with unknown businesses online is that there is no information available about their credibility,” says Chugh.
“We started the development and launched the business six months ago. We are mainly focusing on four major markets at the moment – Ireland, India, the UK and China.
“But, because of SEO and other social media we have businesses from over 110 countries,” he explains.
The Irish-founded company employs three people in Dublin, while it also has development teams in India and in Malaysia.
“We got funding from Enterprise Ireland and raised seed capital through the Seed Capital Scheme.
Transparency online
Companies from any sector can post up a free profile showcasing their products and services on Waybiz.com.
He says the website helps businesses trust both local and global suppliers through transparency about clients’ details, their transaction history and customer feedback.
Chugh gives the example of a pharmaceutical company that is looking for a PR company.
“They only want to look for PR companies who have had clients in pharmaceutical industries in London, for example. The website can give you a list of companies on the basis of their client diversity in terms of their location and industry.”
Online referral marketing
He also describes Waybiz.com as an online referral marketing tool, whereby companies can use their existing clients to win new business.
“You can get your client recommendation posted on your profile to increase your online visibility and your business sales.”
Testimonials and credibility
Based on data analysis, Chugh and his team argue that around 8pc of testimonials that are currently on company websites are fake.
With this in mind, Waybiz.com recently launched a product called Verified Testimonial.
“Companies can get their testimonials verified and showcase them with a Verified Testimonial seal, which appears both on their website and profile. It also improves a company’s visibility on Google, Bing and Yahoo! searches,” says Chugh.
