1st June 2021 – Zurich-based FQX secures $4.7M in seed funding to scale their revolutionary eNoteTM infrastructure. Earlybird led the round with participation of SIX Fintech Ventures, the nonstrategic corporate venture arm of SIX, and the unicorn founder Carsten Thoma.
FQX is radically facilitating trade finance & money markets by using eNotesTM, a disruptive short-term financing & payment instrument. In essence, an eNoteTM is an unconditional promise to pay a specific sum to another party at a specific future date. The eNoteTM is based on Blockchain technology and can be flexibly sold and transferred to any third party (i.e. an investor). When compared to other financing options, eNotesTM as negotiable instruments outperform through their financial steering capabilities and global transferability.
eNotesTM are based on the globally proven, formerly paper-based “promissory notes”. The enforcement regime applicable to eNotesTM is recognized in over 165 countries. FQX is the first market-ready solution for eNotesTM built on a banking-grade Blockchain (Swiss Trust Chain) with a unique, patent-pending authentication mechanism (based on regulated and qualified electronic signatures provided by Swisscom). The eNoteTM infrastructure can be integrated into financing platforms of banks and Fintechs, allowing their customers to benefit from the entire eNoteTM lifecycle from issuance to settlement.
Just two years ago, eNotesTM were not on the agenda of most finance players. Since then, leading nations such as Singapore, the UK, the US, and the UAE (supported by UNCITRAL, ICC, BAFT and ITFA), have made a Blockchain-based solution for trade finance and money markets a top priority, enacting or initiating legislations that are supposed to govern electronic promissory notes. FQX, with its live and running eNoteTM infrastructure, is the leading tech company at the epicentre of a pivotal and exponentially growing market.
Frank Wendt, FQX’s Chairman & Co-Founder comments: “As a team, we’re immensely proud to have built an eNoteTM technology infrastructure we envisaged two years ago that is now uniquely positioned to transform trade finance and money markets. This funding enables us to scale our transaction volume over the years to come.”
Oswald Kuyler, Head of the Digital Standards Initiative at ICC commented: “Closing the trade finance gap and enabling SMEs is a top priority of the ICC. Electronic promissory notes as offered by the FQX eNoteTM infrastructure is a fantastic example of how new business models and technology can bridge the trade finance gap.”
Dr. Christian Nagel, Co-Founder and Partner of Earlybird adds: “Short-term financing markets are widely fragmented and inefficient today, with $65tn+ in annual transaction volumes globally. The eNote by FQX is a truly disruptive instrument to untap liquidity in those markets. As a first-mover, FQX has the potential to become the leading tech infrastructure and set the de-facto standard for eNotes globally. We are very excited to join their journey early on.”
