Serai, an HSBC-founded venture based in Hong Kong that offered a B2B supply-chain platform, has shut down.
The move was foreshadowed in an executive change last month when Vivek Ramachandran, formerly CEO of Seria, was appointed as Head of Global Trade and Receivables Finance (GTRF) at HSBC.
Serai’s website shares a stark statement:
“We regret to inform you that Serai will be winding down all operations. Despite a huge amount of progress made by the team, it has proven difficult to build a commercially viable business. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our doors. We are grateful to our customers, partners and colleagues who have supported Serai since its inception.”
Serai was launched to “simplify global trade.” Only recently, Serai touted that it service over 20,000 businesses from 140 different countries. Serai enabled users to search, find and connect with new buyers and sellers, addressing a market that is highly fragmented but offering a digital solution for users to navigate new and existing markets with a higher degree of trust.
Reuters reported that HSBC had invested about $70 million in the Fintech startup with the bank explaining the decision to shutter the operation a “purely commercial decision.”