Singapore-based Incomlend, an online invoice trading platform, on Tuesday announced it has raised $20 million funds in Series A round led by Sequoia India. The CMA CGM Group, a player in shipping and logistics, also participated in the round.

Incomlend’s platform helps exporters and importers connect with institutional investors. Through Incomlend, exporters can get paid early for supplied goods and services while importers are able to extend payment terms and minimize the risk of supply chain disruption. Investors, meanwhile, can access an attractive new alternative asset class and accelerate return on capital.

The company will be utilizing the fresh funds to expand its operations into Europe, southeast Asia, and north Asia. The investment will also be used to advance its technological infrastructure.

“Incomlend’s mission is to increase financial inclusion on non-recourse basis for companies of all sizes across the globe while offering investors real alternatives non-correlated to financial markets to existing asset classes” said Morgan Terigi, chief executive officer and co-founder of Incomlend. He further stated: “International trade is the cornerstone of Asia’s economy, and we aim to help exporters develop their business by providing alternative working capital finance when and where they need it. Our partnership with CMA CGM and Sequoia India is a major milestone for Incomlend’s growth and drive toward creating a stronger, safer and more efficient trade finance environment globally.”

Marc Bourdon, senior vice-president–commercial and agencies network, CMA CGM Group, said, “As a world leader in shipping and logistics, the CMA CGM Group is committed to offering its clients ever-more dedicated and tailored solutions. In this regard, innovation and digitization are essential tools which offer us tremendous opportunities for growth, differentiation and performance. This is the reason why Incomlend’s approach resonated with us. Our partnership will allow us to create strong and innovative synergies between the financial and logistics flows, thus facilitating access to trade finance for our customers.”

“Incomlend’s technology platform is bringing much needed financial innovation to the backbone of global trade. The massive trade finance gap, combined with declining global interest rates and the high credit quality of Incomlend’s customers, has helped them create a compelling business that helps solve one of the most important challenges faced by global SMEs. We look forward to partnering with Incomlend in their next phase of growth,” said Abheek Anand, managing director, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore.

Founded in 2016 by Morgan Terigi and Dimitri Kouchnirenko, Incomlend’s model is designed to solve the credit crunch hampering growth among cross-border trading companies worldwide. Increased regulation in the post-Basel I and Basel II era has driven up compliance-related costs borne by lenders, prompting bankers to pull back, thus creating a trade finance gap of $1.5 trillion. The company till date has processed more than 2000 transactions and covered trade in over 50 countries.