By JULES LAVALLEE
Growing up in a small town called Seremban, Malaysia, Cindy’s entrepreneurial drive emerged early on. She remembers collecting aluminum tin foils from rubbish dumps to sell for pocket money or cycling around her neighborhood to sell local cakes. Reflecting on her early years, Cindy says, “Our parents were quite poor, but my mother always encouraged us to learn, to be resilient, and to take risks.” This spirit of resourcefulness and perseverance would become the foundation for her future ventures.
Founding Dbix Systems (www.dbix.ai)
After earning a B.Sc. in Finance and an M.Sc. in Information Technology and Accounting from San Francisco State University, CA, USA, Cindy returned to Malaysia to make her mark. She co-founded Dbix Systems with her brother Jeff, combining her strategic business acumen with his technical prowess. As Cindy spearheaded client acquisition and positioned Dbix Systems at the forefront of the Asia Pacific software market, she saw firsthand the transformative power of technology. Over 15 years, she and her team enabled significant productivity gains, cost savings, and transparency for clients across healthcare, hospitality, banking, and telecommunications sectors.
Launching HorecaBid
In 2017, Cindy founded HorecaBid, a platform born from her conviction that procurement, especially in industries like healthcare and hospitality, could be revolutionized with the right tools. Cindy had been approached by a financial controller at a five-star hotel and later, a hospital, both struggling with manual processes for evaluating suppliers & product quality & safety and comparing prices. This challenge resonated deeply with Cindy, who understood that existing purchasing systems lacked critical features to ensure quality, supplier evaluation and drive cost savings.
Her vision for HorecaBid was clear: create an AI-powered cloud platform that empowers buyers to manage supplier sourcing, compliance, and price comparisons and group procurement seamlessly and at the same time provides business opportunities for suppliers, especially small suppliers who lack sales resources to reach out to buyers.
HorecaBid’s platform does more than streamline procurement—it drives Cindy’s mission to champion ESG principles, equal opportunity, and efficiency. Through consolidated shipments, & bulk purchasing, HorecaBid reduces carbon footprints while creating cost efficiencies. Cindy advocates for smaller suppliers, ensuring they have a fair chance to compete in markets dominated by larger suppliers. By facilitating group procurement, HorecaBid leverages the collective buying power of multi-branch entities, achieving significant cost reductions—up to 46%—and an impressive 80% efficiency improvement for clients.
Tell us about your background and what led you to launch HorecaBid.
After managing resource-intensive customized software projects for Dbix Systems, we were already considering developing an off-the-shelf, cloud-based software solution for similar industries. This approach would allow for faster and more efficient implementation, with significantly fewer development resources required due to minimized customization.
Beyond operational efficiency, an off-the-shelf cloud solution provides considerable financial advantages through an annual recurring revenue (ARR) model. By shifting to a subscription-based approach, we establish a predictable, stable revenue stream, while offering clients a lower upfront cost accelerating adoption and expanding our customer base compared to custom software which cannot be replicated for another customer,
Our journey began with a call for help from a friend who is a Financial Controller at a five-star hotel. Their Purchasing Officer was overwhelmed, buried in paperwork and manual processes—handling supplier evaluations, price comparisons, and contract approvals for thousands of items and suppliers, despite having a purchasing system in place. Shortly after, a hospital reached out with the same challenges: even with their own purchasing system, they were spending weeks on manual tasks such as supplier onboarding, product checks, and price comparisons.
For industries like healthcare and hospitality, basic purchasing systems just aren’t enough. These sectors have strict compliance and safety standards, requiring robust supplier management tools to handle procurement needs efficiently. This is especially critical for large hotel and hospital groups with numerous branches or entities.
With a cloud-based off-the-shelf solution, these industries gain access to a scalable, robust procurement system designed to address their compliance and supplier management challenges. The ARR model ensures that clients benefit from regular updates, enhanced security, and ongoing feature improvements, all without additional development costs. This not only simplifies compliance and operational processes but also provides our business with a stable and scalable revenue stream, supporting sustainable growth and continuous innovation. In this way, we’re not only solving complex procurement challenges but also building a strong, predictable revenue foundation that benefits both our clients and our business in the long term.
As a woman-founded startup in the growth stage, how important are consultants and partners to your success?
Partnering with established business consultants and strategic allies who already have strong relationships with healthcare and hospitality clients—such as hospital groups, hotel chains, and F&B networks, procurement consultants, logistic & supply chain providers —will enable HorecaBid to expand its network and accelerate business growth significantly. At this stage of rapid expansion, building a broad customer base is essential, allowing a growing number of clients to benefit from our platform’s efficiencies and capabilities.
In addition, collaborations with Fintech partners specializing in Supply Chain Finance (SCF) and Foreign Exchange (FX) payments create added value for HorecaBid’s ecosystem. These financial services benefit both buyers and suppliers who operate globally, facilitating smoother transactions and enhancing liquidity options for our users, which in turn increases engagement and adoption of our platform.
Logistics partners also gain substantial benefits from our expansive network of buyers and suppliers. With large-scale procurement, especially in industries like hospitality and healthcare, effective logistics solutions are essential. HorecaBid offers logistics partners the opportunity to serve a consolidated customer base, helping them meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements by reducing carbon footprints through optimized transport and shared routes. This not only supports sustainability but also enables cost reductions for clients, positioning HorecaBid as a leader in integrated, value-driven supply chain solutions.
Take us through the platform. Which verticals do you serve?
We launched HorecaBid to address the complex supply chain management needs of the healthcare, hospitality, and F&B industries. As a comprehensive e-procurement software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, HorecaBid integrates supplier sourcing, compliance and evaluation scoring, contract management, purchasing and approvals, budget tracking, delivery, inventory, and e-invoice payments and also a vast and growing supplier network for more competitive bids.
We’ve found that many industries—not just healthcare, hospitality, and F&B—can benefit from HorecaBid’s focus on cost savings, quality, and compliance. The platform’s group procurement functionality also enables conglomerates with multiple entities to centralize procurement, unlock bulk discounts, reduce process inefficiencies, and streamline approvals.
Our client base now includes universities, manufacturing companies, and large conglomerates. Group procurement has become essential for enhancing
governance, consolidating logistics to reduce carbon footprints, and ensuring suppliers meet social and environmental obligations, aligning with today’s standards in sustainable and responsible supply chain management.
Why is the smaller supplier so important to you?
Small businesses make up 90% of the global economy, underscoring the importance of including them in growth opportunities. As a startup ourselves, we understand the critical role business leads play in driving expansion. Small businesses often lack the
sales and marketing resources to connect with a broad network of buyers, limiting their reach and competitiveness.
Our vision is to support small businesses by providing access to real business opportunities without the need for significant marketing budgets. Many smaller suppliers struggle to compete with larger ones because they lack the funds to promote their products effectively.
In sectors like hospitality and healthcare, we’ve observed market dominance by large suppliers who secure most contracts due to their substantial marketing resources, leading to monopolistic tendencies that hinder healthy supply chain diversity. We aim to level the playing field, helping small businesses connect with buyers and fostering a more balanced, competitive marketplace.
How is AI part of your solution?
HorecaBid leverages predictive and generative AI with advanced analytics to enhance supply chain and e-procurement processes, delivering transformative benefits for buyers and suppliers. Here are the key AI-powered features integrated into HorecaBid:
Supplier Quality Evaluation
With AI-driven evaluations, HorecaBid provides insights into supplier health across financial stability, operational efficiency, and customer sentiment. This enables buyers to assess supplier reliability and proactively manage risks within their supply chains.
Inventory and Backorder Optimization
HorecaBid’s predictive AI helps buyers optimize inventory levels and manage backorders before they occur, ensuring stock availability aligns with demand and reducing disruptions from stockouts or excess inventory.
Supplier AI Chat /Voice Bot
The multi-lingual generative AI bot simplifies supplier registration, allowing suppliers to onboard smoothly without navigating complex portals. This automated assistance expands accessibility for suppliers globally, enhancing platform adoption and supply chain diversity.
Spend Analytics
Generative & Predictive AI empowers buyers with instant spend analytics without requiring advanced BI tools. Users can simply ask questions, and the platform will generate clear analytics and trends, supporting fast, data-driven decisions and uncovering areas for cost optimization.
Price Trend Analysis
With AI time-series analysis, HorecaBid identifies price trends by aggregating purchasing data over time. This insight enables buyers to spot pricing patterns, anticipate cost fluctuations, and make more strategic purchasing decisions.
AI Contract Analyzer
An AI Contract Analyzer for supplier contracts streamlines risk identification, ensures compliance, and enhances cost savings. It quickly highlights risks, flags non compliant terms, and identifies cost-saving opportunities in pricing and discounts. By standardizing terms, tracking key dates, and improving negotiation insights, it enhances visibility and control over contracts. This automation saves time, reduces errors, and fosters stronger supplier relationships, allowing teams to focus on strategic, data-driven decision-making.
What are your plans for scaling?
i) Fundraising for Growth in Asia Pacific
Objective: Secure capital to drive marketing, business development, and an on the-ground sales force to capture greater market share in the Asia Pacific region.
Execution: Present a growth-oriented business case to investors, emphasizing HorecaBid’s unique value proposition in optimizing procurement for the Healthcare & Hospitality & relevant industries. Target venture capital, private equity, and strategic investors interested in tech-driven supply chain innovations.
ii. Strategic Partnerships for Ecosystem Integration
Objective: Forge partnerships with fintech firms (Supply Chain Finance & Forex payments), procurement consultants, supply chain management and logistics providers, system integrators, and strategic investors who can enhance HorecaBid’s network reach, particularly among hospitals, hotels, café chains, and large conglomerates.
Execution: Develop co-branded solutions or bundled services with partners, creating an ecosystem of value-added offerings. Consider revenue-sharing models or joint marketing efforts to create seamless entry points for new customers across HorecaBid’s SaaS platform.
iii. Development of a Certified Marketplace for Healthcare and Hospitality Suppliers
Objective: Establish a trusted marketplace within HorecaBid’s platform that exclusively features certified healthcare and hospitality suppliers, making it easier for buyers to source compliant, high-quality products that meet regulatory standards.
Execution: Curate a marketplace where only suppliers certified by relevant healthcare authorities (e.g., medical-grade equipment, FDA-approved products) and hospitality industry standards (e.g., environmentally certified or fire-rated products) can list their offerings. This marketplace would enable buyers—such as smaller hospitals, hotels, and cafés throughout South East Asia—to confidently source products that comply with industry-specific requirements. Additionally, highlight these certified products with verification badges, adding an extra layer of trust and attracting business enterprises seeking streamlined procurement with regulatory peace of mind. Partner with accreditation bodies to validate suppliers and create marketing campaigns emphasizing the certified quality of this marketplace.
This marketplace would provide a unique value proposition by catering to the healthcare and hospitality sectors’ strict standards, enhancing HorecaBid’s appeal to high-compliance buyers and suppliers.
