Given the development of supply chain financing over the last 20 years, firms have to look at offering financing where it was previously not possible, Linklogis' VP of network and partnerships, said.

«You can't just have one product anymore and must look at offering financing where it was previously not possible because every trade relationship is different,» Serge Thieulle told finews.asia in an interview.

«We offer financing early on in the process, or to mid-tier or smaller companies. It requires a lot of data and new types of technology, but you also have to find the right funding partners,» Hong Kong-based Thieulle, who leads business development for Linklogis International, said. 

The Hong Kong-listed blockchain supply chain platform was established in 2016, and in 2019 the company set up Linklogis International to focus on cross-border transactions and business outside China. 

 Singapore Growth

«The step we are in now is to grow beyond China, starting in Singapore,» Thieulle said, noting that its branch office in the city-state, which opened last month, would only house sales reps but also product managers and developers.

Linklogis opened a branch office in Singapore in November 2021 amid Linklogis was awarded a digital banking license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in December 2020, and is currently in the process of establishing a new Singapore-based entity, Olea, its trade finance joint venture with Standard Chartered. 

«I think Linklogis is very reasonable, and we make sure that any expansion makes sense for us. Singapore definitely was the perfect candidate with our joint ventures and could be important as a trade hub,» Thieulle said.

Asia Catching Up

«Digitization is growing and definitely supporting everything we can do behind in terms of gathering the right sources of data to have a reliable source of information to do the proper financing. And in this respect, Asia is catching up,» Thieulle, a former engineer who was most recently head of APAC at B2B payment firm Prime revenue, where he spent eight years, before joining Linklogis in 2020, said.

«I'm quite excited about the change that I'm going to happen because from our perspective, it's going in a good direction,» he added.