GIC leads $220m Series C for China supply chain finance player

Existing backers Tencent Holdings, Loyal Valley Capital, CITIC Capital, and Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) also took part, while Global Logistic Properties (GLP) and Welight Capital came in as new investors.

The proceeds will be used to Linklogis' database and risk control systems – key considerations for any financial technology player – and also to establish partnerships with other technology businesses, said Qun Song, the company's CEO and founder. Linklogis recently collaborated with Tencent on a blockchain-based supply chain finance platform that targets small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.

Based in Shenzhen, the company was founded in 2016 and provides short-term credit to suppliers and buyers in different industry supply chains, enabling them to optimize working capital. In addition to helping small businesses obtain loans from traditional institutions, Linklogis works with online peer-to-peer lending platforms, matching borrowers with individual and institutional investors.

A host of fintech companies have been established in recent years to serve as a bridge between individual lenders and small-scale borrowers. However, Linklogis' latest round comes amidst a wave of defaults in the P2P lending space as a result of government efforts to crack down on fraud and broader restrictions on the flow of liquidity to the country's informal banking market.

The company previously received RMB100 million ($14.4 million) in Series A funding from investors including CITIC Capital and Loyal Valley in 2016. Last year, it secured a RMB200 million Series B, with Tencent, BAI and China Merchants Venture Capital among the participants.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Financials
• Technology
• China
• Growth capital
• GIC Private
• CITIC Capital