(From left to right) Hsiang Low, General Counsel & Director of Operations at Riverchain; Ben Wong, Chief Executive Officer at Riverchain; Tommy Chung, Director of Business Development at Riverchain
Riverchain, a Hong Kong-based fintech startup committed to fostering a resilient future in construction through advanced technology, has launched a HK$400 million fund to support the city’s subcontractors and construction suppliers on their working capital needs.
Hong Kong's construction sector is facing some of its most challenging times with a financing gap that continues to widen. Back-to-back payment arrangements, long receivable tenors and time-consuming paper-based processes are locking up an estimated HK$53.8 billion in the construction supply chain each year, creating a need for accessible and efficient working capital solutions for the industry.
Riverchain is on a mission to optimise the industry’s capital flow and address the growing working capital gap by leveraging technology and attracting new capital to the sector. Riverchain’s pioneering digital platform and data-driven risk assessment model serve the needs of subcontractors looking for efficient and transparent short-term financing solutions as well as private and institutional investors who are interested in alternative investment opportunities with an attractive risk and reward profile.
Managed by an SFC-licensed subsidiary of Arta TechFin, the HK$400 million open-ended fund will utilise Riverchain’s extensive knowledge and platform capabilities to bring an innovative funding alternative to the sector.
Riverchain is helping Hong Kong’s construction sector address the financing gap by building resilience in tough times and tread the path to sustainable growth. We believe in being a partner to a core sector that contributes to Hong Kong’s economic growth and this latest milestone provides a major boost in our mission to unlock more capital to support good businesses, complete projects on-time and safely, and get workers paid on schedule,” said Ben Wong, CEO of Riverchain.
Riverchain has built a trusted and transparent platform leveraging blockchain for authentication, ensuring information integrity. Its pioneering digital platform features a proprietary risk model that capitalises on deep industry knowledge and the ability to unlock value from both unstructured and structured industry data. These key factors attract new liquidity providers who value this unique source of insight to make more informed, data-driven investment decisions.
Today, Riverchain engages with over 1,000 subcontractors and suppliers across the construction industry in Hong Kong, offering working capital funds to projects and enabling timely payments.