GTR Ventures, labelled as the world’s first investment and venture-building firm specialised in trade and supply chain finance, has today announced five debut deals with trade fintech firms across London and Singapore.
The VC firm has taken equity positions in UK-based Tradeteq, as well as Singaporean-based Culum Capital, Trade Finance Market, eFundSME and Incomlend, collectively valuing them at around USD $50m.
The five fintech firms have facilitated over USD $160m of trade loan deals to date, with this latest investment from GTR Ventures destined to help the companies build their businesses through global expansion, new product development and connection to a global marketplace for digital trade finance assets.
Kelvin Tan, CIO of GTR Ventures, says that the firm’s expansion into fintech is designed to build “strategic first-move stakes in the future of trade”, helping GTR to establish diverse players across both the physical and financial aspects of the sector via digitisation and data-driven methodology.
“The rapidly changing landscape of trade presents exciting opportunities for investors,” added Rupert Sayer, CEO of GTR Ventures. “As our debut deals show, GTR Ventures is uniquely positioned to identify exceptional investments and, through partnerships and alliances, build a global network that will shape the future of both trade and trade finance.”
The VC firm also expects to close five more deals and global partnerships within the next quarter. For UK firm Tradeteq, the deal represents an opportunity for direct expansion into the Asean region.
“We are excited to partner with GTR Ventures as Tradeteq continues to grow,” said CEO Christoph Gugelmann. “This partnership will help us expand our reach to all players within the trade ecosystem and consolidate our European bases while expanding to markets in Asia, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.”
