4Trans, a Fintech specializing in financial products for supply chain and logistics companies, has secured an €18 million investment from backers “including Atmos, Tera Ventures, and Lighthouse.”
Impact investment fund management firm based in the UK, Advance Global Capital “has also extended a revolving credit facility to the firm.”
4Trans will use the equity funding “to strengthen domestic operations, expand to Poland, develop its platform and grow its international team.”
With the debt funding provided, it will be “supporting the working capital needs of small and medium sized businesses in the region.”
The announcement “follows a period of rapid growth in 2022 which has seen 4Trans customer base grow to 500 and monthly revenue increased 10-fold on the back of the supply chain crisis.”
To date, 4Trans has “provided more than €30 million in financing, protecting revenue from more than 50,000 invoices.”
4Trans provides financial products for small and medium sized companies operating in supply and logistics – “an industry that is currently poorly served by financial services.”
Businesses are able to protect their finances “by securing payment for their invoices up front via 4Trans AI driven factoring service.”
By using data analysis and automation, 4Trans is able “to do instant risk modelling and, as the service is fully digitalized, customers can receive payment of invoices of any size in five minutes.” This is “in contrast to the three month average for invoice payments.”
Jaroslav Ton, CEO of 4Trans, said:
“The supply chain crisis alongside political and economic uncertainty has led to a huge increase in delays to invoices being paid. This has put considerable financial pressure on Europe’s small and medium sized hauliers. Unfortunately, most traditional financial institutions simply do not cater to this group and those that do take too long to provide financing or require very large invoices. We’ve created a range of solutions that give the small and independent entrepreneurs within the European supply chain the protection they need and deserve.”
Hadi Solh, Managing Partner at deep-tech focused Atmos Ventures, said:
“4Trans is a pioneer in AI-enabled risk assessment in supply chain financing. The speed at which the company is able to understand the real-time credit risk of the counterparties is unparalleled in trade finance focused solutions in the market. We are confident that our investment will help 4Trans with increasing their international footprint.”
Stanislav Ivanov, Founding Partner of Tera Ventures, said:
“Innovation continues to penetrate new niches and verticals of the financial industry and 4Trans is a perfect example where designing products and services from the ground up using latest technology enables to provide customers with the much needed product and delightful experience unattainable by incumbent players. We are excited to partner with the 4Trans team on the journey of making everyday life of thousands of people in logistics that are powering the European economy a little bit better.”
Michal Zalesak, Co-Founder of Lighthouse Ventures, said:
“4Trans have created a solution that tackles a very real problem for Europe’s supply and logistics industry. Namely, there is very little financial protection for hauliers and SMEs. The simplicity and speed of 4Trans’ solution makes it a game changer for hauliers. It’s a great application of AI and digitalisation. We are looking forward to supporting 4Trans on its journey and confident it will soon be a major player in European logistics.”
Sudha Bharadia, Co-CEO of Advance Global Capital Ltd, said:
“We are delighted to support 4Trans with our debt financing. Their solution is vital in supporting SMEs in the region.”
As noted in the update shared with CI, 4Trans provides financing to SMEs and other operators in logistics.
A lack of working capital, 90-day invoice maturities and often expensive or unattainable bank financing “is something most of the 500,000 logistics companies in Europe struggle with.”
4Trans solves this “by factoring – immediate payment of issued invoices, verification of payment behavior of debtors, as well as a comprehensive financial offering for SMEs in logistics.”
Through a thorough understanding of financing, 4Trans provides “a real-time data-based ecosystem of financial services.”
With a total volume of financed invoices worth over €32 million, 4Trans aims “to become the leader in SME financing in Europe.”