Fintech Tradeshift has exited a joint venture with HSBC, which was established to offer embedded trade finance solutions on a global scale by marrying the world’s largest trade bank with fintech know-how.
The enterprise, called SemFi, was launched in 2024 as a “world-first” effort to integrate invoice finance solutions into B2B e-commerce marketplaces. The collaboration also included a US$35mn investment in Tradeshift by HSBC.
Tradeshift’s 25% shareholding in SemFi was cancelled on July 20, a special resolution filed with the UK’s Companies House showed.
The company’s shares were valued at US$8.4mn but the document said Tradeshift would be compensated by SemFi assigning “certain intellectual property rights” to the firm.
San Francisco-headquartered Tradeshift’s initial subscription to SemFi’s shares was paid through its contribution of intellectual property, know-how, employees and “certain financial technology applications”, a company record showed.
HSBC declined to comment and Tradeshift did not respond to questions from GTR about the change in ownership and SemFi’s future.
SemFi also filed documents signed by directors stating the company is able to pay its debts as they fall due, a procedural requirement when a firm reduces its share capital. Tradeshift chief executive Michael Cowles remains a director of SemFi, according to company records.
Tradeshift’s exit comes after SemFi completed its first full calendar year of operations.
SemFi’s first accounts, published in June, showed a pre-tax loss of US$21mn between its inception in September 2024 and December 31 last year. The firm made revenues of US$1.1mn during that period, the accounts show, comprising US$778,000 in net interest income and US$325,000 in fees.
SemFi was headed by HSBC’s Vinay Mendonca until August 2025, before he left the bank in December that year and was replaced by Hetal Popat.
At a launch event for the media in 2024, Mendonca said embedding invoice financing products in B2B marketplaces would allow HSBC to offer dynamic and “competitive” credit limits to a larger range of customers by analysing the seller’s transaction history and plugging directly into their accounting software.
The bank also targeted fee revenue through other lenders and B2B platforms adopting SemFi.
Tradeshift co-founder Gert Sylvest said in 2023 that the partnership with HSBC meant “bringing together the world’s biggest trade bank and the world’s largest trade network”. Then-Tradeshift chief executive James Stirk described SemFi at the time as “truly a world first”.
In addition to its B2B marketplace offering, Tradeshift also provides accounts payable software and products such as e-invoicing services and virtual cards, according to its website.
Separately, Tradeshift’s UK entity reduced headcount and costs as part of a “significant restructuring programme” last year after suffering “recurring losses” and a “history of negative cash flow”, its most recent accounts showed.
Its ultimate parent company waived past breaches of note covenants and extended the maturity of those notes to the end of November this year, the accounts showed. The company said it began producing positive cash flow in early 2025 following the restructuring programme.
