Flexport Capital gets $200mn credit facility from KKR

Flexport Capital, the trade financing arm of Flexport, has secured a credit facility of up to $200 million from separate insurance accounts managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm.

"The credit facility will allow Flexport Capital to continue to build an industry-leading financing product within the Flexport Platform, and to further invest in client growth and geographic expansion," says a release from Flexport.

Flexport Capital provides companies access to flexible working capital for inventory and logistics expenses, the release added. "Global trade has been tumultuous in recent years, leaving many businesses overstocked and struggling to pay vendors due to rising supply chain costs. As a result, demand for accessible and flexible financing solutions is greater than ever.

"Through Flexport Capital, businesses can access more flexible terms on shipments processed by the Flexport Platform. Flexport Capital uses logistics data to gain deep visibility into a customer's overall supply chain health and to understand their working capital needs. Flexport Capital then evaluates purchase order data and inventory-in-transit in order to provide liquidity to businesses across a broad range of industries, such as retail, industrial manufacturing and electronics."

Since inception in 2017, Flexport Capital has financed over $1 billion in invoices for over 500 importers and exporters across more than 20 countries, the release said. "In 2022, it expanded its loan offerings to customers in five new regions: Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Flexport Capital's portfolio size has grown 149 percent YoY, a strong indicator of client growth and trust in its innovative financing product."

Avi Korn, Managing Director, KKR says: "Flexport Capital's innovative and fully integrated financing solutions play a critical role in facilitating global trade for some of the largest companies in the world. We look forward to supporting the company's efforts with our long-term capital as industry demand for customised financing solutions continues to grow."

Justin Sherlock, Head of Flexport Capital, adds: "Flexport Capital began from the belief that a company's supply chain should be a core competitive advantage and growth enabler, not a working capital impediment. With deeper visibility into overall supply chain health, we can help businesses of all sizes – and their partners – to remove liquidity constraints in the midst of uncertainty. I'm thrilled to have KKR providing a credit facility to help us execute our vision to make global trade easy for everyone."