More than ?2,500 billion is spent on public procurement in Europe every year, yet, astonishingly, 25 per cent of all public tenders receive only one bid. Most only receive two or three bids, while the vast majority of companies (98 per cent) only bid for projects in their own countries.
Consequently, European SMEs are missing out on thousands of opportunities to expand their businesses, while public procurers are potentially wasting millions by operating in a less than competitive market.
Tenderio is a tender search engine that opens up the world of international public tenders to SMEs, bringing the latest relevant opportunities directly to its members. It also identifies possible partners and recommends expert consultancies to help write bids and translate materials into the appropriate language for each offer.
Helping SMEs overcome barriers like language, bureaucracy and the timely exposure to relevant opportunities has been the key motivation behind the development of Tenderio. The platform was developed by Slovakian business development consultancy PEDAL Consulting, and through its cutting edge search engine it already provides access to 1,500 new tenders in Europe every day for its subscribers, with a bank of 40 consultancies ready and waiting to offer support for SMEs wanting a share of the millions of Euros in funding for public procurement.
By targeting tenders that suit the expertise of its SME members and offering local support across Europe, Tenderio is already opening up the public tender market across the EU.
New services
Now, with new funding worth ?250,000 from the Programme for Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME), the group behind Tenderio is looking to expand these services further, adding country-specific guidelines, a benchmarking model on public procurement, national training sessions, business-to-procurers days and matchmaking opportunities, tailored coaching and mentoring services, partner search activities, a “bidding laboratory”, and the organisation of an e-conference and webinars on “how to win a tender abroad”. These tools will be rolled out in the following months.
The founder of Tenderio and the CEO at PEDAL Consulting Robert Miskuf explains: “The low level of SME participation in public tenders is frustrating. There are business opportunities lying on the pavement for entrepreneurs and SMEs, yet for various reasons they are not able to pick them up”.
“We keep searching for ways to leverage our decade-long experience in European public procurement and offer it to the public. We are delighted that we will now be able to offer more services to SMEs through the further development of Tenderio and help them bid successfully for work all over the EU.”
This new development phase for Tenderio is being coordinated by PEDAL Consulting and involves the EU partners Estonian management consultancy CIVITTA, Q-PLAN International Advisory from Greece, Portuguese marketing and communication company GLOBAZ, and the research dissemination agency Insight Publishers from UK.
“All SMEs that want improved access to the millions of Euros of public funding available every year should watch this space,” says Miskuf. “Tenderio promises to provide a set of unique tools allowing access to a whole new world of opportunities.”
