- Singapore’s blockchain fintech firm, Partior, declared the successful closure of its Series B funding round, securing $60 million.
- Launched in 2021 with the collaborative efforts of banking titans JPMorgan and DBS, alongside Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, Partior was established with the mission to optimise and streamline cross-border payment mechanisms.
OUR TAKE
Partior’s success in securing significant investment highlights the growing recognition of blockchain’s role in enhancing cross-border payments. With major banks backing its innovative platform, Partior is poised to disrupt traditional financial systems, offering faster, more secure transactions. This marks a pivotal step towards modernising global payment infrastructures.
–Vicky Wu, BTW reporter
What happened
Partior, a blockchain-powered cross-border payment platform supported by major banks JPMorgan Chase & Co., Standard Chartered Plc., and DBS Bank Ltd., has successfully secured $60 million in its Series B funding round. The investment was led by Peak XV Partners, with backing from new participants Valor Capital Group and Jump Trading Group, in addition to existing shareholders J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, and Temasek Holdings Ltd.
Founded in 2021 with initial backing from Temasek, JPMorgan, and DBS, Partior was designed to streamline the typically sluggish cross-border payment processes between financial institutions. By harnessing blockchain technology, Partior enables swift transactions of bank deposits and assets directly on its network, removing the need for outdated systems. This leads to near-instantaneous payments with heightened security through blockchain verification.
Standard Chartered came on board as a founding shareholder in 2022. Currently, DBS, J.P. Morgan, and Standard Chartered utilise Partior’s platform for customer payment settlements. Prominent clients, including Siemens AG and digital banking service provider iFAST Financial Pte Ltd., have harnessed Partior’s network via Standard Chartered to significantly cut their payment processing times, demonstrating the platform’s efficacy in accelerating financial transactions.
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Why it’s important
The recent capital injection into Partior is intended to enrich the platform’s service spectrum, introducing innovations such as intraday foreign exchange swaps, software-driven enterprise liquidity management, and just-in-time multibank payment solutions. Partior plans to utilise this investment to expand its global reach and integrate a broader selection of currencies into its network, extending beyond the current trio of the US dollar, euro, and Singapore dollar.
“Partior is breaking down silos and rewriting the rules for cross-border clearing and settlement. We see a very bright future for blockchain-based frictionless, cross-border transactions,” said chief executive Humphrey Valenbreder. “Having some of the world’s best banks and investors back our vision validates this even further.”
Recognising the potential of blockchain to streamline cross-border payments, major industry players, including JPMorgan, have been at the forefront of innovation. JPMorgan introduced an Ethereum-based platform in 2017, aiming to revolutionise international transactions. Coinciding with this development, SWIFT—the global standard for international financial transactions—expanded its blockchain initiative, the Global Payments Innovation Initiative, to encompass a wider range of banks, reflecting a growing consensus on the technology’s transformative capabilities within the financial sector.
