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British banking giant Standard Chartered has announced that it has made a strategic investment into China-based supply chain firm Linklogis. The details of the investment have not been disclosed.
This marks Standard Chartered’s first investment in a supply chain platform in China. For Linklogis, this marks the first time that it has received backing from a global bank.
The partnership between the bank and Linklogis dates back to February 2019 when they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), under which Standard Chartered would leverage Linklogis’ blockchain-enabled supply chain financing platform to enhance its supply chain financing proposition and deepen client relationships in China.
In a press release dated Jan. 09, Standard Chartered said that it will continue to use Linklogis’ technology and expertise to provide large corporate buyers with greater visibility and transparency of their extensive network of suppliers, as well as cheaper and easier access to financing for suppliers further upstream.
In addition, the two parties will also team up to explore new opportunities, including the extension of these solutions to support cross-border flows.
“Our strategic investment into Linklogis not only allows us to better serve our clients by being a part of their integrated ecosystem, it also reinforces our efforts to support China’s opening by facilitating the flow of capital, particularly for the Greater Bay Area,” Benjamin Hung, Regional CEO for Greater China & North Asia at Standard Chartered, said.
Founded in 2016, Linklogis has raised over $260 million in various funding rounds and is backed by Tencent Holdings, GIC and others. In collaboration with Standard Chartered, it successfully completed a blockchain-based deep-tier supply chain financing transaction last August. The transaction utilized Linklogis’ platform, WeQChain, which is based on Tencent’s blockchain technology.
“We are much delighted with the deepening of partnership with Standard Chartered which shall invariably complement each other’s effort in the offering of supply chain financing solutions to the suppliers’ ecosystem,” Charles Song, Chairman and CEO of Linklogis, said. “It has always been the strategic goal of Linklogis to develop innovative tech-enabled supply chain financing platform for the betterment of market efficiency and in support of real economy.”
