New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS): Pune-based startup BuyHive, which offers a global B2B sourcing platform for small and midsized buyers, is now a case study on Harvard Business Publishing platform, it said on Friday.

The case study, titled 'BuyHive: A Digital Platform for the Transformation of Global Sourcing' focuses on key decisions facing BuyHive that is on the cusp of disintermediating the sourcing business with a new business model.

It has been authored by Dr. Kannan Ramaswamy and Dr. William E. Youngdahl, the faculty of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University in the US.

The startup was founded in 2019 by Minesh Pore, along with sourcing and supply chain professionals Brent Barnes and Michael Hung, to address the growing demand of experienced buyers for more efficient ways to source quality products without expensive and exhausting annual travel to sourcing fairs in Asia.

"As a bootstrapped startup, we are honoured to have BuyHive's case study by Thunderbird School of Global Management published on Harvard Business publishing platform," said Pore, CEO of BuyHive.

Harvard Business Publishing is a not-for-profit, wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University, reporting to Harvard Business School.

"We are also hopeful that this case, covering key strategic choices facing BuyHive - including whether to raise capital from strategic investors or from conventional VCs - will be an important learning asset for management students and teachers from around the world," he added.

BuyHive provides buyers, including small and midsized retailers or D2C brand owners, with a trustworthy and high-quality sourcing experience through its platform.

It connects the buyers with freelance sourcing experts based in the world's leading sourcing markets who know the best suppliers from their own professional work experience.

"We have already built the world's largest network of sourcing experts and are now looking for the right strategic investors to fuel the next stage of our growth," Pore said.

The majority of D2C brands and e-commerce sellers do not have global sourcing expertise and are frequently unable to afford full-time sourcing experts to find and qualify suppliers in markets such as Greater China, India, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia.

BuyHive's platform offers buyers worldwide access to more than 5,000 independent and local sourcing experts specialising in all major consumer product categories.