Polytrade, a web3 protocol focused on global trade, has raised $3.8 million in a seed round led by Alpha Wave, Matrix Partners, Polygon Ventures and CoinSwitch Ventures, the startup told TechCrunch EXCLUSIVELY.
Other investors include Singularity Ventures and GTM Ventures. The company has been backed by the likes of Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and his QuickSwap co-founder Sameeep Singhania.
The protocol aims to streamline supply chains through real-time data, Polytrade founder and CEO Piyush Gupta told TechCrunch.
“The biggest challenge in global supply chains is the lack of transparency,” said Gupta. “Manual process, paperwork. You will be surprised when you submit a document to an Indian bank, but they still require you to sign the document with an ink-based signature. […] That’s a lot of manual work. “
Its first module contains a lending department that brings real yields to web3. The platform aims to provide access to working capital loans and invoices for small businesses and large corporations. About 2 million invoices have been issued to the platform to date, Gupta said.
By 2023, he said, he expects the scale of trade finance to reach $50 million. He added that the company expects $200 million of liquidity from him in its lending protocol next year, and that the volume of all trading ecosystems should exceed $1 billion for him.
Although the platform is open to the retail market, the main focus is on institutional investors. Gupta said the company also wants to expand into markets in Latin America, the United States and Europe.
Polytrade plans to continue building “various models for moving the entire trading supply system to the blockchain.”
“My sole focus is to bring all transaction documents, transaction financial players and counterparties together on-chain. you can know everything.”
