June 21, 2018 (Amsterdam, London) – TradeIX announced today it has closed a new investment round of USD 16 million led by ING Ventures, the venture capital arm of ING Bank. The Series A investment was done by ING Ventures together with investor Kistefos, BNP Paribas and Tech Mahindra. The investors have a successful track record of partnering with innovative financial technology providers like TradeIX. Norwegian investment company, Kistefos was a prior investor in TradeIX and increased its stake as part of the transaction.
The cash injection will be used to boost hiring, further accelerate customer acquisition and to invest in the development of the company’s open platform for trade finance.
TradeIX is disrupting the market with the world’s first open platform for trade finance leveraging blockchain technology. The platform is powered by APIs (Application programming interfaces) connects with existing trade platforms and applications to enable trade business to become transparent, faster, and more efficient. TradeIX’s solution is decentralised allowing each client to add it to their existing platforms and applications to improve their connectivity to the wider trade ecosystem.
TradeIX has already established partnerships with various leading banks, corporates and ERP providers. Additionally, the company together with enterprise software firm R3 leads the Marco Polo initiative involving international trade banks aimed at further developing the use of distributed ledger into trade transactions. TradeIX recently launched the world’s first blockchain-enabled trade finance transaction for global logistics company DHL and received numerous awards such as “Best FinTech Firm”, by Trade Finance Magazine, which is part of Euromoney.
TradeIX CEO and Founder Rob Barnes said in a statement: “This round is a significant stepping stone for us. We are very excited to bring in ING Ventures, BNP Paribas, Tech Mahindra as new investors, and to continue our partnership with Kistefos. After having proven our technology with DHL and multiple banks, the investment will help us to further develop our open platform.”
Mark Buitenhek, Head of Transaction Services of ING highlighted: “TradeIX offers a great solution for trade finance that truly enables clients to become more efficient and transparent. TradeIX operates via an open platform and ‘open’ is what ING thinks the future of financial services is going to be. On top of that, we see a lot of opportunity in distributed ledger technology, so we’re happy to announce we are now intensifying our cooperation with TradeIX.”
Benoit Legrand, Chief Innovation Officer of ING and CEO of ING Ventures commented: “ING Ventures is constantly looking for fintechs that help us to deliver a differentiating experience for our clients. TradeIX has definitely proven that that is exactly what they are doing. Extending our existing partnership into an investment helps to bring this solution to even more clients in the near future, empowering them to stay ahead in their business.”
“We believe that TradeIX is at an inflection point, and look forward to working with the team to deliver several new innovations that we believe will fundamentally change how banks are offering and managing trade finance solutions for their corporate clients,” said Jacques Levet, Head of Transaction Banking EMEA at BNP Paribas at BNP Paribas.
“We are excited to partner with TradeIX in its next phase of growth. The partnership augers well with the global opportunity to simplify Trade Finance with the use of Blockchain technology. It is our continuous endeavor to work with new-age technology firms and bring the best and most relevant solutions to our global client base in Financial Services,” said Vivek Agarwal, Global Head Financial Services and Corporate Development, Tech Mahindra.
“We invested in the management and their vision from the very start. The recent development in the trade finance and Fintech market further has increased our conviction that TradeIX has the right people and technology to create substantial value for its shareholders, customers and the banking industry. This is the underlying reason why we continue to support TradeIX, and also increase our net position in the company,” said Erik Borgen, Investment Director at Kistefos.
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About TradeIX
TradeIX is rewiring the $8 trillion trade finance market with its open platform providing applications, technology tools, and core infrastructure for the trade finance ecosystem. The TradeIX Platform enables trade finance parties to more easily, flexibly and efficiently connect to the broader trade finance market, including suppliers, buyers, service providers, B2B networks, credit underwriters and financial institutions. The platform provides benefits to all trade finance parties through enhanced funding opportunities, lower cost and reduced risk. For more information visit: www.tradeix.com
About ING Ventures
ING Ventures is the EUR 300 million venture capital fund of ING. ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 51,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 countries.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA AS, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
Sustainability forms an integral part of ING’s strategy, evidenced by ING’s ranking as a leader in the banks industry group by Sustainalytics. ING Group shares are included in the FTSE4Good index and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Europe and World), where ING is also among the leaders in the banks industry group.
About BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is a leading bank in Europe with an international reach. It has a presence in 73 countries, with more than 196,000 employees, including around 149,000 in Europe. The Group has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. The Group helps all its clients (individuals, community associations, entrepreneurs, SMEs, corporates and institutional clients) to realize their projects through solutions spanning financing, investment, savings and protection insurance.
About Tech Mahindra:
Tech Mahindra represents the connected world, offering innovative and customer-centric information technology services and solutions, enabling Enterprises, Associates and the Society to Rise™. We are a USD 4.8 billion company with 112,900+ professionals across 90 countries, helping over 910 global customers including Fortune 500 companies. Our innovation platforms and reusable assets connect across a number of technologies to deliver tangible business value to our stakeholders. Tech Mahindra is also amongst the Fab 50 companies in Asia as per the Forbes 2016 List. For more information on Tech Mahindra, please contact:Email: ;
About Kistefos AS
Kistefos is a private investment company wholly-owned by Mr. Christen Sveaas. Value creation is achieved through active involvement through board representation in order to develop the companies where Kistefos has substantial ownership interests. The investment portfolio includes Norwegian and foreign companies within the segments offshore, shipping, financial services, telecommunications, real estate as well as financial Investments.