Today IBM announced that it has invested in blockchain trade finance platform we.trade as part of an “enhanced collaboration”. IBM was the original technology partner for the enterprise blockchain network. However, its role was reduced when we.trade hired new general manager Ciaran McGowan who has a software background. He built an in-house development team in Ireland.
To date, we.trade has only had two banks fully in production. That will change in the next month or so, and the volumes on the platform will start to take off. The amount of IBM’s investment was not disclosed, but we.trade is aiming to raise €15 million ($16.5m) this year in total, with another round expected in September.
Currently all 12 we.trade shareholder banks are European: CaixaBank, Deutsche Bank, Erste Bank and its subsidiary Česká spořitelna, HSBC, KBC, Natixis, Nordea, Rabobank, Santander, Société Générale and its subsidiary KB, UBS, and UniCredit Italy. Eurobank, CSOB and UniCredit Germany are non-shareholder licensees.
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