Incomlend, a global online invoice exchange platform headquartered in Singapore, has raised US$20 million in Series A round of investment led by Sequoia India.
Existing investor CMA CGM Group, a company operating in the shipping and logistics industry, also participated.
The fintech firm will use the funds to drive expansion into Europe, Southeast Asia and North Asia, while advancing its technological development in digital invoice finance underwriting and processing.
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In December last year, e27 had reported that Incomlend was in the final stages of closing its Series A fundraising with large global equity investors.
The new round comes more than two years after it received an undisclosed sum in funding from GTR Ventures, an investment and venture-building platform specialised in trade and supply chain.
Incomlend was established in 2015 by former Columbia Business School classmates Kouchnirenko and Morgan Terigi as software that could provide finance directly to trading companies from a private investor pool.
Its invoice exchange platform connects exporters and importers with institutional investors. Through Incomlend, exporters can get paid early for supplied goods and services while importers are able to extend payment terms and minimise the risk of supply chain disruption.
Investors, meanwhile, can access an attractive new alternative asset class and accelerate return on capital.
Incomlend’s innovative model is designed to solve the credit crunch hampering growth among cross-border trading companies worldwide.
More than 40 per cent of trade finance applications from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are rejected by banks, according to a 2019 report by the ADB.
The impact is acute in high-growth Asia where SMEs — which account for more than 95 per cent of all businesses and provide two out of three private-sector jobs in the region — need more financing options to meet their growing demand.
Further, low-interest rates in Asia — and negative rates in Europe — are prompting many global investors to seek alternative asset classes.
“Incomlend’s mission is to increase financial inclusion on non-recourse basis for companies of all sizes across the globe while offering investors real alternatives non-correlated to financial markets to existing asset classes,” said Terigi. “International trade is the cornerstone of Asia’s economy, and we aim to help exporters develop their business by providing alternative working capital finance when and where they need it.”
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To date, Incomlend claims to have facilitated over US$330 million in financing and covered invoice finance trades across 50 countries.
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