In a notable role reversal, Xalts, a Singapore-based fintech startup established just 18 months ago, has made headlines by acquiring Contour Network, a digital trade platform initially established by a consortium of eight major banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, and BNP. While the terms of the acquisition remain undisclosed, reports indicate that the deal was valued in the high single millions and comprised a combination of cash and stock.
Founded in 2022 by Ashutosh Goel and Supreet Kaur, both of whom held senior executive positions at HSBC and Meta, respectively, Xalts has garnered support from prominent investors like Accel and Citi Ventures. The startup specializes in providing financial institutions with the tools to develop and manage blockchain-based applications. On the other hand, Contour, which began operations in 2017, serves as a platform designed to digitize trade and is currently utilized by 22 banks and over 100 global businesses, including prominent names like Tata Group, Rio Tinto, and SAIC.
The motivation behind the establishment of Xalts stemmed from the observation that large financial institutions and businesses often lack a unified process for managing their diverse financial products, such as corporate loans, letter of credit issuance, or bank guarantee processing. Typically, these activities involve multiple teams within and outside the organization, leading to inefficiencies and delays. In response to this challenge, Xalts aims to empower businesses to develop their own applications, facilitating seamless collaboration both internally and externally.
Xalts’ strategic vision involves leveraging the acquisition of Contour to create a robust ecosystem connecting banks, corporations, and other institutions. By integrating Contour’s capabilities into its platform, Xalts intends to enable its clients to build and share applications securely and compliantly. The initial focus will be on enabling banks and logistics companies to offer integrated trade and supply chain solutions on a unified platform, streamlining the complex processes involved in global trade.
Despite the anticipated growth in global trade, the industry continues to grapple with significant friction and inefficiencies. Transactions often entail lengthy processing times due to manual information exchange among various stakeholders, including importers, exporters, banks, logistics firms, and customs authorities. Xalts sees its primary growth opportunity in facilitating greater connectivity between banks and corporate clients, offering tailored B2B finance solutions, including trade finance and lending. For example, Xalts envisions enabling global conglomerates with vendors in multiple countries to access financing seamlessly through integrated applications, even if their banks are not present in those regions.
