Hong Kong-based financial technology platform Qupital has raised US$150 million in a combination of series B equity funding and a receivables-backed securitization facility, the proceeds of which will be used to scale the firm’s cross-border e-commerce lending business into international markets, strengthen its technological capabilities and provide lower funding costs to its clients. 

The securitization facility, launched with investment bank Citi and supported by the Integrated Alternative Credit Fund, marks the first e-commerce merchant financing securitization in Asia.

This coincides with the closing of Qupital's series B round, led by the Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, with additional capital injections from investors that included the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government, MindWorks Capital, Silverhorn and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund.

Qupital harnesses the power of sales data to streamline credit underwriting for sellers on e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon, eBay, Lazada and Shopee, offering a win-win solution to both sellers and investors. The platform empowers creditworthy merchants that are traditionally underserved in the commercial lending market, and hews out an alternative asset class with attractive yield opportunities for both professional and institutional investors.

As of October 2021, Qupital has achieved over US$500 million in loan advancement to some 7,000 merchants onboarded on its digital platform, tracking an annualized gross merchandise value of over US$3 billion.

“As we aspire to improve financial inclusion and increase global trade ultimately, we are committed to backing SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] that have limited access to capital,” says Andy Chan, co-founder and president of Qupital. "Our ambition is to become the go-to digital financial institution for e-commerce sellers trading across the globe in the new economy."