Swedish fintech Enigio has raised €6mn from a group of investors including Lloyds Banking Group, as the firm works to accelerate the global rollout of its digital trade finance documentation product, trace:original.

Lloyds Bank led the latest investment round and invested €3mn, while existing investors Stockhorn Capital and Swedish family office Moor Holding also participated in the raise.

Lloyds Bank says its fintech investment team had identified the opportunity as one that could drive strategic growth and provide technology solutions for customers and clients.

Gwynne Master, managing director for lending and working capital at Lloyds Bank, says the lender has worked closely with Enigio for several years and is readying for greater legislative backing for digital trade.

In July, the UK followed the example set by Singapore, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, finalising legal reforms giving trade documents the same legal status as their paper equivalents. The reforms come into effect from September 20, 2023.

“As we head into an exciting time for the trade industry, with the UK Electronic Trade Documents Act round the corner, we look forward to being at the forefront of future innovation with Enigio and helping businesses unlock the benefits of digital trade,” Master says.

According to Enigio, the funding will help expand usage of its trace:original solution, which digitises physical original documents, such as promissory notes, bills of exchange and bills of lading.

“Today, around 4 billion trade documents are in transit around the world on any given day and less than 1% of those documents are digital,” it says.

“With Lloyds Banking Group’s investment in Enigio, we are welcoming a strategic investor who, alongside our existing major investors… will enable Enigio to accelerate the market penetration of trace:original,” says Torgny Gunnarsson, Enigio’s chairman of the board.

Enigio launched trace:original in 2019 and has since partnered with several other industry participants, including Surecomp and China Systems, as well as the International Trade and Forfaiting Association. Two years ago, the firm won funding totalling €2.7mn in a raise led by Moor.

The Lloyds Bank investment comes just months after Enigio announced the successful completion of its first end-to-end transaction using its trace:original product, for a shipment of paper products from Antwerp to Delhi.