Tuesday 10th September, 2013

In the latest shift in the supply chain finance industry, Tradeshift have announced a new deal with CapitalAid to launch a $3bn factoring business in a bid to ease lending to cash strapped SMEs. The deal follows hot on the heels of the announcement only last week of OB10's move within the market and their takeover by Tungsden.

The CapitalAid fund will be fully embedded into the Tradeshift platform which currently connects hundreds of thousands of suppliers to some major global players such as Lear, DHL and the NHS. Of course the aim is to ensure a stronger, more resilient supply chain which these global comapnies can rely on.

The current funding environment in this space has not been an easy one for small and medium sized businesses to navigate. As noted by the Guardian just this summer, lending to such businesses, despite the recent Funding for Lending scheme, has consistently fallen over the past year. Many feel that the banks’ resistance to provide such funding is stalling much needed economic growth across the UK and the rest of Europe.

“Access to cash has always been one of the hardest, yet most critical components to sustaining and growing any small and medium sized business. In recent years we’ve seen the rise of alternative funding options - from private funds to crowdsourcing. Tradeshift is in a unique position to bring another alternative financing option to businesses across Europe and the UK. This was the perfect opportunity to have a fund created for the Tradeshift platform,” commented Tradeshift CEO, Christian Lanng.

“CapitalAid is bringing a new funding solution to the market which is simple, fast and competitive and we’re confident its positive impact will be felt throughout Europe and the UK. There is an urgent need amongst small and medium sized businesses, not only for cash and liquidity, but also for innovation in the financing and lending space which is dominated by dinosaurs. The current models are slow and outdated and are failing those needing to sustain and develop their businesses. CapitalAid will address this failing and deliver the cash and liquidity  businesses need in order to prosper and grow,” stated CapitalAid CEO, Torben Pedersen.

The Tradeshift platform connects over 500,000 businesses worldwide and processes tens of millions of B2B transactions every year. The integration of this new fund, which is backed by several large hedge-funds, into Tradeshift aims to allow users of the software to benefit from real-time credit analysis based on the data that exists within the platform - uniquely from both buyers and suppliers.