Singapore's GTR Ventures invests five fintech companies
GTR Ventures, a Singapore-headquartered VC firm launched last September, has made its debut investments in five financial technology companies.
The investee companies include four Singaprean digital trade lending companies, namely Culum Capital, Trade Finance Market, eFundSME, and Incomlend, which also operates out of Hong Kong. Tradeteq, a UK investor services platform operator that is planning a pan-Asia expansion, also received investment. GTR says it has taken equity positions that collectively value the group at around $50 million.
"The global trade sector is transforming with digitization and data-driven infrastructure connecting diverse players across the physical and financial aspects of trade,” Kelvin Tan, CIO at GTR, said in a statement. “The founders behind Tradeteq, Trade Finance Market, Culum Capital, eFundSME and Incomlend, are driving that change by using technology and data analytics to mitigate risks, make lending more efficient and close the trade finance gap. Our vision is to work with these companies and build strategic first-mover stakes in the future of trade."
GTR said it will support the portfolio in the development of new products such as trade finance indices, and connection to a global marketplace for digital trade finance assets. It noted a rapidly changing landscape in the global trade finance space, which although supporting annual trade of $16 trillion, remains a niche investment area. The five companies are said to have facilitated more than $160 million of trade loan deals to date.
GTR claims to be the world's first investment platform dedicated to the trade and supply chain sector, and maintains additional bases in Hong Kong and London. The firm leverages a partnership with trade finance intelligence publisher Global Trade Review to target trade-focused fintech companies. Focus segments transaction banking, trade insurance and risk management, small to medium-sized enterprise finance and supply chain services, and physical trade.
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