LONDON, U.K. – March 30, 2023 – nChain, a world leader in Web3 and enterprise blockchain technology and the developer of the BSV Protocol, today announces it has entered into a heads of agreement to take a 19.99% stake in TradeWindow (NZX: TWL), a leading international TradeTech company. The investment deal is valued at USD 7 million and nChain will also identify a new member to join TradeWindow’s board of directors.
In addition to cash, the strategic investment by nChain would see the company provide TradeWindow additional software engineering capabilities to accelerate its Web3 transformation journey and delivery of its global trade platform. nChain brings leading-edge blockchain computing infrastructure to the partnership along with extensive software development and enterprise sales capabilities.
AJ Smith, CEO of TradeWindow, added “This agreement would provide TradeWindow with what it needs – additional funding, access to additional expert developers and already built product. The partnership would be complementary – building on TradeWindow’s existing strengths and significantly increasing what we would be able to deliver to our customers.
“Through the partnership outlined in the heads of agreement, TradeWindow would access various components of cutting-edge technology, under numerous nChain patents that could immediately be utilised into our platform. Further, the availability of resources to TradeWindow would reduce the need for TradeWindow to build this technology thereby reducing cost and time to market.
“The heads of agreement envisages a long-term partnership that brings both the funding and additional high-quality capability needed to accelerate TradeWindow’s global ambitions. Through new pools of resources, and leading web3 technology and speed, TradeWindow will be in an even stronger position to compete globally.
Founded in 2015, nChain is a global leader in blockchain research and development with over 500 registered patents which include the BSV blockchain protocol. TradeWindow would be upgrading the performance of its global trade platform with the adoption of BSV as the blockchain protocol. With throughput capacity of 4MB per second, BSV can meet the demands of large enterprise applications including international trade.
TradeWindow would also join a growing ecosystem of blockchain-powered solutions that require high transaction processing capabilities. Over 400 companies use nChain’s BSV infrastructure to power solutions including energy metering, asset tracking and cross-border payments. Driving ecosystem growth is a priority for Christen Ager- Hanssen, nChain’s recently appointed Group CEO.
Christen-Ager Hanssen, commented that “nChain is focused on powering software solutions that have maximum social impact. In taking equity and being a stakeholder, TradeWindow is joining us on our journey to a Web3-powered economy. They recognise the potential of our technology and are moving from Hyperledger to BSV.”
The democratisation of trade through digital trade solutions has the power to increase productivity of all supply chain participants, as well as make export more accessible to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. nChain’s push to grow adoption of the BSV protocol saw the company recently welcome Gate2Chain and Simplify to the ecosystem.
The deal will see nChain become a distribution partner for TradeWindow on an exclusive basis for the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. nChain’s expertise in B2B software sales force and an extensive network spanning exports, shipping, banking, and Government provides for an effective go-to-market partner. nChain joins TradeWindow’s existing sales agency network covering Southeast Asia and North America.
Leandro Nunes, Chief Revenue Officer at nChain, stated that, “beyond what we can provide TradeWindow through our IP and technology, nChain offers market expansion, commercialisation of their offering and digital transformation in global trade in the U.K. and EU markets”.
nChain’s investment in TradeWindow would come as the U.K. market is poised for mass adoption of digital trade solutions. Legislation is a key enabler of digital trade. The Electronic Trade Documents Bill is currently passing through the U.K. Parliament. Once enacted electronic trading documents will be on the same legal footing as paper documents, thereby removing the need for wasteful paperwork and needless bureaucracy. This will enable businesses to move from paper-based to digital-based transactions when buying and selling internationally. This will help increase business productivity and support economic growth. The World Bank reports food and agricultural exports from the U.K. are significant at US$57.6 billion per annum, which represents 6.47% of worldwide export share.
TradeWindow, led by AJ Smith, an experienced innovator and investor in rapid-growth companies, offers digital solutions designed to deliver increased value and transparency to exporters, importers, freight forwarders and customs brokers to maximise productivity and minimise cost. Their digital trade platform enables organisations in global trade to securely exchange data across the supply chain ecosystem, while seamlessly integrating into their back-end operations.
TradeWindow’s solutions allow trade compliance, data sharing and collaboration with global supply chain stakeholders to provide instantaneous access through their enterprise-grade platform. With TradeWindow, users can access an immutable record of activity created in the platform. This single source of data improves visibility across customers, ports, terminals, shipping lines, banks, insurance companies and government authorities.
The heads of agreement is subject to agreeing long form documentation setting out full details of the strategic partnership, and approval of those final terms by TradeWindow shareholders.
About TradeWindow
Founded in December 2018, TradeWindow is an NZX-listed software company that provides digital solutions for exporters, importers, freight forwarders, and customs brokers to drive productivity, increase connectivity, and enhance visibility. TradeWindow’s software solutions integrate to form a cohesive digital trade platform that enables customers to more efficiently run their back-end operations, share information and securely collaborate with a global supply chain made up of customers, ports, terminals, shipping lines, banks, insurance companies, and government authorities.
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