Goldman Sachs leads $250M funding round for supply chain Tradeshift

Having already pulled in $150 million in funding, cloud-based supply chain company Tradeshift launched another funding round that wrapped up on May 30. The money will go for blockchain innovation and development, and the company received an additional $250 million in this latest funding venture. It now has the support of several major backers, including financial powerhouse Goldman Sachs.

The funding will go to the Tradeshift Frontiers innovation lab. The lab was launched in January and focuses on research and development in blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

According to Tradeshift co-founder and CEO Christian Lanng, the investment will help the company “continue our rapid growth and consolidate our leadership position.”
“We have always believed that the future of supply chains is 100 percent digital and that connecting trade is just the first step to a digitally connected economy,” Langg said in a statement.

Aside from Goldman Sachs, other participants in Tradeshift’s Series E funding include Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), HSBC, H14, GP Bullhound, and Gray Swan, a new venture company established by Tradeshift’s founders.

The news investors join the startup’s existing backers, including American Express Ventures, CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund, Notion Capital, and Santander InnoVentures. The recent financing round brings Tradeshift’s total funding to over $400 million, while the company valuation has reached $1.1 billion.

The inclusion of Goldman Sachs as a backer is significant to both Tradeshift and Goldman Sachs. For Tradeshift, it gains support from a world financial leader with an endless supply of contacts and deep pockets. For Goldman Sachs, it helps the company continue its foray into the cryptocurrency and blockchain spaces. Goldman Sachs just recently announced that it was looking to expand into the industry, and anticipates launching a Bitcoin futures desk in the near future.

Tradeshift traces its roots to 2005 when a partnership was formed that created the world’s first open-source trading platform. The company was officially born five years later and now operates in nine countries. Last October, it became part of the Hyperledger project as a governing member. Its lab, Tradeshift Frontiers, works to create solutions that will provide real-world business value through the use of innovative technologies.

As witnessed virtually every day, the blockchain continues to spread deeper into the various industries. Companies such as FedEx, Wal-Mart, Australia’s PwC and many more have begun using the blockchain to support their efforts. Banks all across the globe have been testing the blockchain for use in trade finance and even governments are now exploring the technology to help them become more efficient.