From idea to trade finance platform on blockchain in just nine months
tradeXpad is a Trade Finance platform all about creating transparency in global trade finance.
CHALLENGE
A Johannesburg-based agriculture and land investment company wanted to diversify its portfolio. It launched a number of fintech initiatives to grow its investment portfolio and benefit from its knowledge and large network in international trade. Together with GlobalOrange, TradeXpad was developed as the most progressive initiative.
APPROACH
After a product discovery, an experienced team started developing the product, working closely with tradeXpad’s product owner and CTO. The product owner from Johannesburg was actively involved in the fortnightly sprints and came to our Amsterdam office every other month to meet the team in person.
RESULTS
- From idea to launch in 9 months
- Compliance and security by design
- Scalable platform on blockchain technology
Product development without worries
The client saw the need to be strong in product management itself, but at the same time wanted to avoid the hassle and risks of building and maintaining its own IT department. Therefore, the client decided to look for a partner with experience in fintech and SaaS development. A partner that could help develop a unique, scalable and secure, globally deployable trade finance product in a short time. The goal of this product was to provide unparalleled transparency through a dedicated implementation of blockchain technology.
“When I show the product developed by GlobalOrange to industry colleagues, they assume the development took at least two to three years. We only needed nine months!”
Experts in SaaS and fintech development
In late 2018, GlobalOrange was approached by the CTO of tradeXpad with an idea for a Fintech platform. GlobalOrange had extensive experience in other Fintech and scalable SaaS development projects and at the time had just completed the refactoring of Tikkie, one of the Netherlands’ most successful fintech products.
“With this team, we can build anything!”
Approach and quality assurance
GlobalOrange’s teams organised a number of workshops to define the product vision and scope. GlobalOrange presented a high-level architecture plan and a proposal for phased development with a cost estimate for each phase.
The proposal included GO’s quality assurance:
- No vendor lock-in
- Scalable and future-proof technology
- Dedicated and experienced team
- User-friendly interface
- Rapid development and innovation
No concerns
This guarantee enabled our client to launch a product that made users happy and was ready for growth. Moreover, the client did not have to worry about IT during the project and could concentrate on all other aspects of successfully launching a new product.
Approach
After a product discovery, an experienced team started developing the product, working closely with tradeXpad’s product owner and CTO. The product owner from Johannesburg was actively involved in the fortnightly sprints and came to our Amsterdam office every other month to meet the team face-to-face.
Using agile and lean start-up methodologies, the business value of each feature on the wish list was assessed based on end-user perceptions before the feature was actually developed. This prevented waste and greatly reduced time to market.
Unique use of blockchain technology for unparalleled transparency
TradeXpad facilitates global trading by connecting parties within a supply chain. On the platform’s marketplace, importers and exporters post their trade projects. These projects are accompanied by credit applications for trade finance, which in turn are presented on the tradeXpad marketplace.
The platform provides end-to-end management of all transactions, shipping documentation and invoices. In addition, it organises and secures contracts entered into, while monitoring compliance is largely automated. The platform also provides monitoring of funds and ongoing conditions. All trade documentation is recorded in the blockchain and can be accessed directly by those involved.
TradeXpad is a trade finance product as it should have always been. It provides users with secure access to the global market – virtually paperless. TradeXpad makes the complete trading process completely transparent to all involved at all times.
Paying customers immediately after launch
Because GlobalOrange assumed responsibility for the development of the tradeXpad platform, the tradeXpad team was able to devote sufficient time to the market launch itself. That time was needed to approach potential customers, draft contracts, set up customer support, work out the proposition and develop the marketing material.
This process resulted in the first paying customers being active on the tradeXpad platform immediately after launch – just nine months after development started. Given the complexity of a trade finance platform, especially when combined with the unique blockchain implementation, this is an impressive joint achievement.
Expertise provided by GlobalOrange:
-
AWS expertise
for continuous deployment and the ability to launch new features and releases at lightning speed.
1 -
Blockchain expertise
to establish a unique combination of a hyperledger blockchain and identity management software for ultimate transparency for end users.
2 -
Business analyse
to help the tradeXpad product owner prioritise and set out the requirements for the MVP.
3 -
UX and graphic design
to design an easy-to-use application and a slick corporate website.
4 -
Architecture expertise
for setting up an architecture that is scalable, high performance, secure and easily extended and maintained.
5 -
SaaS and fintech expertise
in the form of a dedicated and experienced development team.
6
Ready for next level product development?
Let's create a digital product that end users and business stakeholders will love and that is also future-proof, scalable, secure and easy to maintain.