Singapore, Feb 20: Fintech firm Xalts is set to create a “Plaid for trade” following its acquisition of Contour Network from a consortium of leading global banks.
Contour Network, which links major banks such as HSBC, BNP, Citi, DBS, and ING with global corporations including Tata Group, Rio Tinto, and SAIC, is poised for expansion. Xalts plans to introduce an applications ecosystem for integrated trade finance solutions utilizing Contour’s infrastructure.
Xalts, supported by Accel and Citi Ventures, and renowned for providing digital finance application development and management tools to financial institutions and companies, announced the strategic purchase of Contour Network.
This network was initially formed by a consortium of global banks aiming to enhance the digitization of trade and supply chain finance.
Launched in 2017 as a collaborative effort by eight global banks, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, Contour has aimed to digitalize trade processes.
Presently, it serves over 22 banks and more than 100 international companies like Tata Group and Rio Tinto, offering digital trade finance solutions.
Xalts specializes in creating applications for digitization and tokenization that involve multiple parties. The company intends to utilize Contour’s standardized workflows and integration capabilities to streamline communications and transactions across the network of businesses and financial institutions.
Despite the global trade volume exceeding $30 trillion in 2023, the digital conduct of these transactions remains limited, with less than one per cent occurring online.
The complexity and regulatory diversity of cross-border trade often necessitate extensive paperwork, involving numerous stakeholders.
Xalts aims to follow in the footsteps of innovative Silicon Valley firms like Plaid and Stripe to fast-track the digitization of trade and supply chain finance.
CEO Ashutosh Goel expresses the company’s ambition to broaden Contour’s trusted network, transforming it into a comprehensive platform for accessing digital trade and supply chain finance solutions provided by banks, fintechs, and technology partners.
This integration will facilitate the quick development and deployment of tailored solutions.
Initially, Xalts will concentrate on embedded trade and supply chain finance solutions, allowing banks, logistics, and tech companies to deliver cohesive services through a unified platform.
Global and regional banks are increasingly seeking deeper integration with clients and platforms.
HSBC, for example, announced a joint venture with Tradeshift in 2023 to develop embedded finance applications.
Xalts’ COO, Supreet Kaur, highlighted the platform’s capability to foster innovation through blockchain and tokenization, anticipating that Contour will significantly contribute to the development of new applications in this domain.
Founded in 2022 by former senior executives at HSBC and Meta, Ashutosh Goel and Supreet Kaur, Xalts now boasts a diverse team of over 50 professionals spread across offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, India, UAE, and the UK, serving a wide range of clients including financial institutions, regulatory bodies, and technology companies.
Accel partner Abhinav Chaturvedi praised Xalts for its vision and capability to execute on a global scale swiftly. Similarly, Everett Leonidas from Citi Ventures lauded the merger for its potential to spur innovation in global trade finance.
Carl Wegner, the former CEO of Contour Network before its acquisition, is expected to assume a prominent leadership role within Xalts.
He expressed pride in Contour’s achievements and optimism for its future under Xalts’ visionary direction, which promises to amplify its strengths and meet critical customer needs.
Media & PR: editor@dailystraits.com. Copyright 2021–Present DailyStraits.com. All rights reserved.