HeveaConnect Pte Ltd (HC), a Singapore-based, agri-commodities platform company, announced Monday that it has completed its series A round led by Provident Capital Partners (Provident), DeClout Ventures (DeClout) and HC management.
HC said in a statement that Provident and DeClout has joined SGX Group (SGX), DBS Bank (DBS), ITOCHU Corporation (ITOCHU) and Halcyon Agri Corporation (Halcyon) as shareholders of HC.
The management team has also bought in with the HC Chief Executive Officer Gerald Tan owning more than a 3 percent direct stake.
Proceeds from the investment will be used for working capital, technology development and continued business development in natural rubber industry as well as expansion into other agri-commodities.
HC has partnered World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore in the development of Hamurni, a practical, inclusive and scalable digital tool for the palm oil supply chain mapping and traceability. It aims to empower smallholder farmers and transform the industry towards transparency and sustainability.
“Being involved in HC since its inception, I am excited to see how the company has developed and the traction that it has gained. We are thankful for the support of our investors and the opportunities that the industry has provided us thus far. This is just the beginning of our journey, together with my team, our investment shows the management commitment and belief in the future of our company,” said Tan.
Founded in 2018, HC has built a digital trading platform for physical natural rubber trading, with more than 600,000 metric tonnes (mt) traded since 2019 and counts the world’s top tyre makers, rubber producers and traders as its customers.
“Provident has built businesses across a variety of industries, including infrastructure, mining, technology and renewables. We are keen to explore new opportunities within the sustainability space, especially in Indonesia where Provident’s business are mostly concentrated in,
“The investment into HC is a strategic one for us and it is an honour to be part of the journey in enabling traceability and increasing the transparency of agri-commodities through HC’s suite of products and trading platform,” said Gavin Caudle, Founding Partner of Provident.
DeClout Ventures Chief Executive Officer Lim Swee Yong said he sees strong synergies between HC’s offering and DeClout portfolio companies in the technology space.
“Our group’s expertise in facilitating cross– border trade through compliance, logistics and internet of things (IoT) asset tracking will complement the agri-commodities platform that HC is building. We are excited to back HC as it enters a new phase of growth and look forward to partnering with all stakeholders to further accelerate its expansion and sustainability impact,” he added.
As part of the deal, an Employee Share Option Scheme (ESOS) will be set up and Halcyon has sold $1.6 million of shares to the investors in a secondary share sale, reducing its stake to below 30 percent on a fully diluted basis.
HC will undergo a restructuring exercise post investment where the company will create a wholly owned subsidiary focusing on natural rubber, all existing products related to natural rubber would be licensed to the new entity.
The firm will set up a board of advisors (BOA) consisting of an equal number of sell and buy side customers. The purpose of the BOA is to help ensure data integrity, transparency and promote the adoption of the platform. This structure paves the way for future expansion into different commodities, with each commodity having its own products to be housed in a separate subsidiary with separate BOAs.