Belt Road EPC

Platform for Belt Road Initiative EPC Ecosystem
Startup name
Belt Road EPC
Web address
www.beltroadepc.com
Founding date
May 2017
Incorporation
Yes
Total team member
5
Startup stage
Users
Category
Enterprise, Software
Sector
E-commerce & online marketplaces, Financial & payment services
Product usage or interact
Desktop, Mobile/Tablet (iOS), Mobile/Tablet (Android)
City
Hong Kong, China

Elevator pitch

BeltRoadEPC is a P2B platform that serves three groups of customers, namely i) Project contractors ("Contractors"); ii) local SME suppliers along the Belt and Road Initiative ("BRI") ("Suppliers"); and iii) funders wanting to gain exposure on BRI ("Funders"). We are in a good position to offer a solution to all groups of customers as we are building an ecosystem to facilitate project execution

Team

Thilan Kiridena

Entrepreneur,Ex-Banker. Passionate about small business & international trade finance.I believe SME development can leapfrog Asian economies. My experiences have been enhanced with cross functional and cross border experience in delivering solutions to my clients

Ningwa Lau

Number crunching, relationship driven, problems solving and deal/tech savvy individual with extensive cross cultural and border experience.He is currently serving as the MD at Joy Rich Finance, a licensed moneylender based in HK specializing in structured financing for both capex and working capital

Chandika Mendis

Primary Background: Head of Engineering, Chief Software Architect. Involved in providing leadership to the technology and testing practices at Virtusa Polaris. Drive continuous improvement of engineering processes and productivity/quality with innovative tools and solutions.

Business

Business model

Target customer

We have 3 types of customers - Contractors, Suppliers, Funders

Customer acquisition strategy

3 contractors have already signed up, Direct marketing, Social Media

Revenue model

Two revenue streams: i) Commission fees from procurement and trade finance (from suppliers); and
ii) Servicing fees for funders.

Commission fees will be 1-2% invoice discounting fee, Whilst service fees will be around 1-2% per annum.

Market info

Market size

$ 1,000,000,000

Competitors

Competition

No Direct Competition.

Qupital is a hong kong based online invoice discounting entity.

Our product offering is specific to the EPC contractors coming on board and we are financing invoices which are verified by the contractors. Hence we are combining a market place (Contractors and Suppliers) with a financing platform (Suppliers and Funders)

KPI's

  • 100,000 Invoices Funded

Startup traction

We aim to validate the business model in Sri Lanka and we have already engaged three Chinese EPC Contractors and 10 local Suppliers to roll out the system. A SPV was set up to fund the working capitals requirements of the five suppliers. Before we open the platform to 3rd funders, we want to ensure the platform is in compliance with both Hong Kong and local regulatory requirements. To this end, we are engaging an international law firm in Hong Kong and its Sri Lankan partner for legal opinions.

Future Plan:
There are a number of opportunities in Sri Lanka which are in the BRI pipeline. We are also exploring the possibility of rolling out the platform to other markets where we have already existing connections and resources given our experience and network at Standard Chartered Bank.
On the funding side we want to onboard select 3rd party professional investors and to educate them on such initiative with the aim of providing local suppliers sufficient funding and earn platform fees

Other information

Soft launch at Disrupt Asia 2017 which is a Start up conference organised by ICTA Sri Lanka.
Selected as one of Top 8 at Seedstars Hong Kong in August 2017.

Add comment

We aim to validate the business model in Sri Lanka and we have already engaged three Chinese EPC Contractors and 10 local Suppliers to roll out the system. A SPV was set up to fund the working capitals requirements of the five suppliers. Before we open the platform to 3rd funders, we want to ensure the platform is in compliance with both Hong Kong and local regulatory requirements. To this end, we are engaging an international law firm in Hong Kong and its Sri Lankan partner for legal opinions.

Future Plan:
There are a number of opportunities in Sri Lanka which are in the BRI pipeline. We are also exploring the possibility of rolling out the platform to other markets where we have already existing connections and resources given our experience and network at Standard Chartered Bank.
On the funding side, we want to onboard select professional investors and to educate them on such initiative with the aim of providing local suppliers sufficient funding and generate platform fees.

Team
Publication date: 30 September 2017