Category: GTR Ventures News
GTR Ventures wins Capital for Good Award at Brands for Good
Brands For Good aims to recognise businesses that not only make a difference, but also commit to being stewards for a positive impact. It honours SMEs across Asia for embodying the principles of Social Responsibility in their business and operations. It was truly a great honour to be apart of such an incredible event, and we look forward to continuing the goal of providing capital for good!
GTR Ventures Tradetech Showcase @GTR Asia 2019
The confirmed participations for this year’s showcase so far include:
CarbonChain (UK)
The CarbonChain platform allows users to track assets directly across global supply chains. Utilising smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, the platform is able to track assets as they move from point of origin to the end customer. The CarbonChain platform has been built from the ground up to be highly scalable across multiple products and industries with opaque & easily manipulated supply chains.
Presenter: Adam Hearne (CEO & Co-Founder)
iLoan (Sri Lanka)
Founded in 2017, iLoan is an emerging fintech company that provides access to working capital for micro and SMEs in South Asian frontier markets. It has developed a proprietary loan aggregation engine and invoice verification protocol using distributed ledger technology to enhance transparency on underlying loan assets for financial institutions. The service enables lenders to reduce invoice fraud, lower processing costs and have enhanced traceability for each transaction.
Presenter: Lakshan De Silva (CEO & Co-Founder)
Obillex (UK)
Obillex is an innovative provider of trade finance solutions, with the goal of aiding SMEs to generate fast liquidity from their receivables. Their platform has been adopted by two major UK city councils and their platform provides the cutting-edge technology, support, and expertise that ensures partners get the most out of their product, as well as access to an extensive network of capital market investors.
Presenter: Harsh Khurana (CEO)
QNX Credit (China)
QNX Credit’s platform changes the traditional way of credit risk analysis and management for SMEs. Founded in 2017, the company aims to become a market leading credit risk underwriting and monitoring agency by deploying insurtech and big data analysis to support SMEs to get easy financing from various financial institutions.
Presenter: Hui Wang (Founder)
Nufin Data (Singapore)
Nufin Data is a fintech trade financing firm founded by Adera Global. With its proprietary cloud-based financing platform, NEMO, that enables connections between buyers and suppliers, Nufin Data offers alternative financing solutions to SMEs through trade related data and trade relationships. The platform was launched in April 2019 and has already funded SMEs in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia with total gross transaction value of $6 million SGD.
Presenter: Denise Ang (Managing Director)
SourceSage (Singapore)
SourceSage is a venture-backed fintech company founded in early 2015. The SourceSage platform is a plug-and-play fintech platform which aims to allow companies to build marketplaces, payments, financing and logistics gateways. The company’s mission is to digitize and execute transactions in traditional industries which have fragmented procure-sales-to-pay processes.
Presenter: Jian Min Sim (CEO)
Flowcast (USA)
Flowcast is a VC-backed fintech startup based in Silicon Valley (HQ) and Singapore. Its mission is to help the underserved market gain access to capital through using AI/machine learning and data sources to unlock SME finance. Flowcast’s advanced machine learning platform harnesses untapped complex data to automate credit decisioning. Smartcredit’s proprietary machine learning algorithms can draw on more diverse data types, more detailed, and up-to-date company data to provide credit-decisioning on thin-file, credit invisible SMEs.
Presenter: Ken So (Founder & CEO)
Our Panel of Expert Judges Include:
Moderator: Ow Kim Kit (Partner at Bird & Bird)
Jun Nitta (Co-Head of Financial Services Sector Funds at IFC Asset Management)
Lawrence Loh (Managing Director and Head of Group Business Banking at UOB)
Ricard Marzo (Venture Analyst at Amplifier Lab)
Jasmine Ng (CEO Fintech at Razer)
At the end of the day, the winners in two categories: ‘Most Bankable’ and ‘Most Sustainable’ will be announced.
Tradetech Partner Spotlight
Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides startups with the low cost, easy to use infrastructure needed to scale and grow. With the AWS Activate program, startups get access to the resources they need to quickly get started on AWS – including credits, training, and support.
We thank AWS for making available up to US$10,000 of startup promotional credits for this showcase.
Trade Rocks! Drinks and After Party by GTR & GTR Ventures
GTR & GTR Ventures, together with partners and co-sponsors will be co-hosting Trade Rocks! Drinks and After Party at the Monti at Fullerton Pavilion on Wednesday September 4th 2019.
Trade Rocks! – an exclusive private event organised by GTR and GTR Ventures – is an opportunity for multiple decision makers and professional communities from banking, trade, treasury, capital markets, venture capital, funds, and fintechs to come together and network in a convivial atmosphere.
Chat over sunset drinks and enjoy an after party under the stars, while overlooking the Marina Bay waterfront!
Drinks start at 18:00h and Afterparty from 22:00h
Date: 4 September 2019
This event is by invitation only .
Please register here for your early bird tickets!
Our Sponsors
Our Partners
GTR & GTR Ventures Hosts Drinks @TheExchange to Kick Off Summer
GTR and GTR Ventures gathers the banking, trade finance, insurance, trader, fintech and VC communities together for an evening of drinks and networking at The Exchange, Asia Square
Summer drinks on 27 June saw over 100 professionals within the industry attending! Watch this space as GTR Ventures strives to be a pioneer in the digital transformation of areas related to trade, treasury, credit insurance, supply chain, and physical trade.
Download and view all photos from the events here.
Participants include the following companies/institutions:
- Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
- Enterprise Singapore
- International Finance Corporation (IFC)
- Korea Development Bank
- Standard Chartered
- Deutsche Bank
- Emirates NDB
- Euler Hermes
- Coface
- NEXI
- Louis Dreyfus
- SC Ventures
- Golden Equator
- Tryb
- Eastvine Capital
- Culum Capital
- Gozem
- Plug & Play
- Huobi
and many more!
Upcoming Announcements & Events
Look out for our announcements in the next few months, including new deals in the pipeline.
Block your calender now for GTR Asia on the 3 and 4 Sep, the world’s largest gathering for trade and treasury professionals, with over 1200 in attendance, at the Marina Bay Sands.
On 4 Sep, GTR Ventures and its partners from the broader banking, fintech, and funds community, shall be organising another fun-filled Trade Rocks! Networking Drinks and Afterparty. Register your early interest with dli@gtrventures.vc if you are keen!
GTRV Portfolio Company, Culum Capital, Onboarded to the NTP
Pictured above at the launch of the Networked Trade Platform (NTP), from left to right, Rupert Sayer Co-Founder and CEO GTR Ventures, Tingxi Tan Co-Founder and Head of Legal and Compliance Culum Capital, Ginnie Chin Co-Founder and CEO Culum Capital, Heng Swee Keat Singapore Finance Minister, Kelvin Tan Co-Founder and CIO GTR Ventures
Date: September 26, 2018
Location: Orchard Hotel Singapore
The Networked Trade Platform (NTP), which officially launched September 26 2018, combines all customs and trade-related services and brings together four government certification services required for trading in and out of Singapore. The Networked Trade Platform will replace TradeXchange and Tradenet, the two prior trade facilitation programs.
The NTP’s goal is to help digitize trade processing and bring the entire ecosystem to one platform, where individual entities can interact and trade together.
GTR Ventures’ portfolio company Culum Capital is one of the 90 organizations being onboarded to the Networked Trade Platform.
Tradeteq and GTR Ventures at SIBOS 2018
Date: October 22nd – October 25th
Location: Sydney, Australia
The 2018 SIBOS Conference returned to Sydney October 22 through October 25th. The event was held at the International Convention Center and had more than 7,500 attendees. The week’s themes related to financial technology, and the increasingly digitalized world of banking. Shayne Elliot, Chief Executive Officer of ANZ Bank, stated one of the weeks major themes in his keynote address, describing how banks need to become increasingly more agile and adaptive to the technological advances in society.
Kelvin Tan, Founder and CIO of GTR Ventures attended the week’s events along with portfolio company Tradeteq – represented by Mattia Tomba and André Casterman.
Mattia Tomba, Director Tradeteq and Head of Tradeteq Asia, pictured above at the HSBC Panel Event at Sibos 2018. The panel shared their thoughts on the evolution of trade finance as an asset class, and included Surath Sengupta – Global Head of Trade Portfolio Management at HSBC, Kah Chye Tan – Founder of CCRManager, Alexander R Malaket – CITP CTFP and President of Opus Advisory Services International, and André Casterman – Non-Executive Board Member and Chair Fintech Committee ITFA.
GTR Ventures is looking forward to SIBOS 2019, which will take place in London September 23rd through the 26th.
GTR Ventures Attends Singapore Fintech Festival 2018
Date: November 12 – 16, 2018
Location: Singapore Expo
Singapore Fintech Festival drew nearly 45,000 participants from over 130 countries. GTR Ventures was excited to attend, alongside partner companies Lucidity and iLoan. The festival featured more than 250 speakers, including Christine Lagarde, Managing Director International Monetary Fund, Barbara Novick, Vice Chairman Blackrock, Ashok Vaswani, CEO Barclays Bank UK, Ari Sarker, Co-President Mastercard Asia Pacific, and Aharon Aharon, CEO Israel Innovation Authority.
GTR Ventures announced three new partnerships with Lucidity, iLoan, and RM Tech on the first day of the festival [see press release here]. Other announcements included the launch of the API Exchange, an online fintech marketplace, as well as Vanda Global Capital’s opening of their $1.5 billion Asia agriculture technology fund, in collaboration with Shenzhen Dayshine Fund Management and Raffles Capital.
GTR Ventures also attended many of the post-festival industry events, such as the Innovation Lab Crawl hosted by MUFG Bank, ADB Asian Fintech Night, and the UK Singapore Fintech Bridge Networking Reception.
The Singapore Fintech Festival will return next year 11th – 15th of November, and GTR Ventures is looking forward to attending this 4th edition of the festival.
GTR Ventures attends Hong Kong Fintech Week 2018
Date: October 31st, 2018
Location: Hong Kong
Pictured above – Jolyon Ellwood-Russell, Partner at Simmons & Simmons and Advisory Board member of GTR Ventures, and Ningwa Lau, representative GTR Ventures (China and HK SAR), at Hong Kong Fintech Week 2018.
Fintech Week is the world’s first cross-border financial technology event, with over 8,000 senior executives and over 200 of the world’s leaders in the fintech industry including founders, investors, regulators, and academics. GTR Ventures was thrilled to be a part of this five day financial technology event that works to bring together innovative thinkers and industry leaders within the fintech and trade finance industries.
Significant takeaways pertinent to trade and supply chain included Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s launch of a new blockchain-based trade finance platform called “eTradeConnect”. This platform combines the services of 12 different banks, both domestic and international, with the goal of allowing better trading among the network of European and Asian organizations. Angie Lau, Bloomberg Television Asia’s former lead anchor, also announced the launch of her new blockchain-related news platform Forkast.news, where she will operate as the Chief and Lead Anchor.
On the 2nd day of HK Fintech Week LiqEase hosted a morning gathering of 25+ finance and industry experts to discuss the role technology is playing in disrupting trade finance and presenting access to new investment opportunities. Stakeholders, including deal originators, investors, and family offices, joined the LiqEase team at one of Hong Kong’s historical clubs and enjoyed a vibrant and interactive atmosphere learning about pain points in the international wine trade, and how LiqEase’s platform unlocks tied up capital in the supply chain – allowing firms and investors to both benefit from this new ecosystem and exciting asset class.
Prominent speakers throughout the week included Jim Lai, Tencent VP and Head of Fintech Greater China, Paul Chan, Financial Secretary the Government of Hong Kong, Norman Chan, Chief Executive HKMA, Ashley Alder CEO SFC, Jessica Tan, Executive VP, COO & CIO Ping An Group, Aldi Haryopratomo, CEO Go-Pay, Richard Mash, VP Paypal, Mancy Sun, Managing Director & Head (PSI) Goldman Sachs, and many others.
“Hong Kong Fintech Week, in its 3rd edition this year, is a splendid occasion in which to showcase to the world what Hong Kong has to offer” described Carrie Lam, CEO Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
GTR Ventures is looking forward to Hong Kong Fintech Week 2019.
GTR Ventures Makes New Appointments
GTR Ventures has recently appointed Sébastien Bruyant as a Senior Advisor at GTR Ventures, as well as Aidan Beresford as the new fall analyst. They join a well-established team led by co-founders, Rupert Sayer and Kelvin Tan.
Sébastien Bruyant : Senior Advisor
Sébastien Bruyant is a Senior Advisor at GTR Ventures. Sébastien co-founded and managed as CEO Alcora Global, a Fund Management Company in Singapore managing Alternative Trade Finance funds in Asia, investing in short term private trade financed debt issued by large and medium size materials player across the value chain, trade corridors, and industries.
Previously, Sébastien held various positions in public and private banks. He started his career working for the French State Investment Bank (Oseo) focusing on growing fast mid-cap companies in France before joining BNP Paribas in Singapore and then in Paris covering Natural Resources strategic projects and companies. Sébastien joined HSBC first in Paris to manage a the EMEA portfolio of Energy customers in the Commodity and Structured Trade Finance teams before being relocated to Hong-Kong SAR and prepare the ground for the deployment of the teams in Asia-Pacific. Lately, he was relocated to Singapore as Director (executive level) of the Strategic Energy Solutions Group at HSBC, and managed and developed a network of a strategic relationships with senior executives leading global and regional Energy enterprises in Asia-Pacific.
Sébastien has been a regular speaker to industry conferences.
Sébastien’s education includes MAP from INSEAD and a LLM (DESS) in Business Law from Paris-Dauphine University.
Aidan Beresford: Analyst
Aidan Beresford recently graduated from Brown University, and has previous experience as a Derivatives Group and Business Intelligence Intern at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.