MIAMI, Jan. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Marco, the first tech-enabled trade financing platform built for small and medium-sized businesses in the United States and Latin America, announced a partnership with CARGOES Finance By DP World, a platform that enables rapid and seamless access to working capital for emerging-market small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As an approved lender for CARGOES Finance, Marco enables SMEs within CARGOES Finance by DP World to access the financing they require to grow and ultimately help close the growing $1.7 trillion global trade finance gap that prevents small exporters from competing in global markets.

DP World is one of the largest logistics companies in the world, operating 90 terminals — including 12 in Central and South America — across six continents that handled over 10% of global container trade in 2021. In July, DP World announced CARGOES Finance, a fintech platform that offers trade, logistics and inventory financing solutions to SMEs. This growing group of exporters handles 50% of global trade and accounts for 60% of total employment in advanced economies (80% in developing countries) but often lacks the capital and resources needed to drive global expansion. Payment cycles for SME exporters can last an excruciating two to four months. Banks, traditionally the primary trade finance providers, reject 50% of SME financing applicants and largely retreated from SME trade lending in the tighter regulatory climate following the 2008 financial crisis.

“DP World’s global footprint and tremendous cargo volume opens exciting new opportunities for Marco to help close the trade finance gap that is disproportionately impacting small exporters and stymieing their access to the global economy,” said Jacob Shoihet, CEO and co-founder of Marco. “As an authorized lender on the CARGOES Finance platform, we have embedded MarcoScan, our new document recognition and analytics tool, into one of the world’s largest logistics providers, allowing us to scale and support more SMEs in need of the working capital they typically cannot access. This partnership with DP World represents a major step in Marco’s growth toward an embedded finance model that reimagines a more equitable and democratic trade finance ecosystem for the 21st century.”

Marco’s artificial intelligence (AI) trade finance platform is designed specifically for the needs of SMEs in emerging markets. Marco leverages AI to eliminate traditional manual processes and serve clients across the trade ecosystem with rapid access to working capital, enabling SMEs to grow businesses and investors to access a trade finance asset class. Marco recently enhanced its trade finance platform with the introduction of MarcoScan, a document recognition and analytics tool that allows seamless collaboration across the entire value chain, helping drive efficiencies, increase revenues and lower risks for SME exporters. Using AI to enable advanced document understanding at scale, MarcoScan addresses the root cause of trade finance inefficiencies — paper — and extracts information from both structured and unstructured documents, a process fundamental to the embedded finance market.

“Continuing our journey to bridge the global trade finance gap, we have partnered with Marco to accelerate the progress made so far,” said Sinan Ozcan, Senior Executive Officer, DP World Financial Services Limited. “With a strong presence in the US and Latin America, Marco enhances our coverage to geographies that have a huge underserved SME base and access to credit has been a key challenge that remains unsolved.”

Backed by a $7M equity seed round led by Arcadia Funds LLC and Kayyak Ventures, Marco —which is based in Miami and has offices in New York and Montevideo, Uruguay — offers factoring, asset-based lending, purchase order financing, supply chain financing and other forms of non-dilutive capital through a team of experts with over a century of collective experience in helping SMEs grow.

About Marco
Marco is on a mission to simplify and accelerate cross-border trade by providing reliable working capital for SMEs in the United States and Latin America. Marco addresses the $350 billion financing gap in Latin America by developing an innovative and proprietary risk model that processes data in real-time to dynamically assess risk and mitigate capital loss. Its factoring approach to trade finance reduces risk and frees up cash, enabling underserved SME exporters to continue operations and invest in growth. Marco has built its very own cutting-edge neural networks and utilizes computer vision and AI to enable advanced document understanding and data extraction at scale with the introduction of MarcoScan. This tool allows for seamless collaboration across the entire value chain, helping drive efficiencies, increase revenues, and lower risks. Founded in 2019 by Peter D. Spradling and Jacob Shoihet, Marco is headquartered in Miami, FL, with offices in New York and Montevideo. For more information on how Marco can help power your business with working capital, please visit marcofi.com.

About DP World
We are the leading provider of worldwide smart end-to-end supply chain logistics, enabling the flow of trade across the globe. Our comprehensive range of products and services covers every link of the integrated supply chain – from maritime and inland terminals to marine services and industrial parks as well as technology-driven customer solutions. 

We deliver these services through an interconnected global network of 190 business units in 68 countries across six continents, with a significant presence both in high-growth and mature markets. Wherever we operate, we integrate sustainability and responsible corporate citizenship into our activities, striving for a positive contribution to the economies and communities where we live and work.

Our dedicated, diverse and professional team of more than 58,500 employees from 147 nationalities are committed to delivering unrivaled value to our customers and partners. We do this by focusing on mutually beneficial relationships – with governments, shippers, traders, and other stakeholders along the global supply chain – relationships built on a foundation of mutual trust and enduring partnership.

We think ahead, anticipate change and deploy industry-leading digital technology to further broaden our vision to disrupt world trade and create the smartest, most efficient and innovative solutions, while ensuring a positive and sustainable impact on economies, societies and our planet.

About CARGOES By DP World
“A suite of enterprise services and products for the world of logistics & trade”
In a continuously moving world with a growing population, the need for smarter trade is more important than ever before. DP World created our digital service CARGOES based on over 40 years of experience in logistics to solve challenges in the supply chain that create inefficiency and slow down trade. CARGOES provides solutions that support shippers with tracking to ports around the world. It also helps nations manage their operations or regulatory logistics needs.

If there is an issue you need to solve, we’re ready to hear from you. Together, we can make trade better.

About CARGOES Finance By DP World
Financial services offered on the CARGOES Finance By DP World Platform are associated with CARGOES by DP World (A suite of enterprise services and products for the world of logistics and trade) and provided by DP World Financial Services Limited. DP World Financial Services Limited is a company registered under the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and regulated by Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

Marco Contact:
Darren Weiss
SHIFT Communications
dweiss@shiftcomm.com

For CARGOES By DP World media enquiries, please contact:
Roland Buerk, Head of Media Relations
DP World
Tel: +971 50 628 7856
roland.buerk@dpworld.com

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SOURCE Marco