India, April 4 -- A few years ago, I sat in a warehouse with a distributor who was losing sleep over cash flow. His suppliers demanded upfront payments, his buyers took 60-90 days to clear dues, and banks wouldn't lend without collateral. He wasn't alone-this is the reality for millions of businesses in India's B2B supply chain.

Procurement is the backbone of any business, but for decades, it has been plagued by financial inefficiencies. Most SMEs don't have access to flexible credit, leaving them stuck in a cycle of delayed payments, missed opportunities, and high-interest loans from informal lenders.

Today, however, technology is rewriting the rules. Embedded finance-the integration of financial services into non-financial platforms-i...