HK's LFX Digital launches Air8 supply chain fintech for SME suppliers

An LFX digital venture, Air8 is building an insight-based technology platform that capitalises on Li & Fung’s ecosystem with more than 115 years of supply chain experience, connecting suppliers, buyers, and funders in over 50 markets. Air8’s goal is to combine supply chain insights with financing expertise and digital technologies to channel capital to vendors. Air8’s vision is to promote sustainable financing while bridging the supply chain working capital gap, the company said in a media release.

Ed Lam, CEO of LFX, said, “No other financing provider has a deeper insight into the supply chain than Air8. We intimately understand the end-to-end supply chain and are building a digital technology platform that capitalises on those insights to make funding more readily accessible for SMEs.”

The huge trade finance gap is a global challenge, especially for suppliers in emerging economies that lack access to traditional financing programmes. Leveraging their experience from Li & Fung, the Air8 team will focus on SME suppliers in the apparel and general merchandise supply chain to help alleviate the pressure of obtaining the necessary funding to fulfil their working capital requirements.

“COVID highlighted the vulnerability of SMEs and their struggle to survive. Air8’s mission is to stabilise the supply chain by helping SMEs to better manage their working capital with optimal funding solutions,” said Spencer Fung, chairman of LFX.

Ming Mei, co-founder and CEO of GLP, added, “Our strategic partnership with Air8 extends our investment and partnership with Li & Fung into the trade finance arena. Since we joined forces with Li & Fung, we have been collaborating on both sourcing and logistics opportunities, and now with Air8, we are pleased to expand into the fund flows underpinning the supply chain to provide a more holistic solution to both customers and vendors.”

The company is developing a proprietary credit risk management model that provides financial institutions and investors an additional channel to invest in high-quality assets. In turn, Air8 will connect suppliers and buyers to a large and diversified group of funders via an end-to-end insight-based technology platform that quickly facilitates cross-border trading.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)