Trade and supply chain finance (SCF) platform Finverity has raised US$5mn in an equity funding round as it looks to expand its technology to offer additional funded trade finance and working capital products.

The fintech’s latest investors include London-based venture capital fund Outward VC, Amsterdam-headquartered Acrobatur Ventures and US-based S16vc Founders’ Fund, with follow-on investments from Mena-based B&Y Venture Partners.

“When we started this fundraise the market was just starting to go through a rough spot, so there was a lot of talk about negative sentiment. However, what we found is that there is a significant amount of venture capital out there,” says Viacheslav Oganezov, chief executive and co-founder of Finverity.

The funding will also be used to increase Finverity’s employee headcount from 40 to 60 and complete office openings in Dubai, Poland and Kenya.

At the start of last year, the trade finance marketplace announced it had raised US$2mn in an equity funding round, and last December it brought in a new head of distribution and funder relations as part of its bid to attract further investors.

“The pace at which our industry is evolving is truly impressive,” says chief operating officer and Finverity co-founder Alex Fenechiu. “Five years ago, SCF barely ever made the headlines. It wasn’t even a ‘real’ financial product in many countries. Today, it’s deemed a key requirement to fuel economic growth for the years to come.”

Andi Kazeroonian, investment manager at Outward VC, adds that “some of the world’s most important emerging economies have been somewhat left behind” in the growth of the SCF sector.

“Prohibitively high set-up costs, immediate and complex integration requirements and insufficient anti-money laundering/know-your-customer capabilities of existing platforms all act as contributors to manual and paper-based processes remaining the market norm,” Kazeroonian says. “Finverity team’s deep understanding of these acute pain points has enabled the creation of a solution that is truly fit for purpose.”

Founded in 2017, Finverity offers both a funding platform for corporates seeking working capital and funders looking to deploy capital into mid-market assets and a software-as-a-service solution for financial institutions.