Fintech Tinubu Square secures €53M investment from Long Arc Capital & Bpifrance

Paris, October 2nd 2017 - Tinubu Square, a leading provider of trade credit risk management solutions, announces the investment of €53 million from Long Arc Capital and Bpifrance to accelerate the development of its technology solutions for credit and surety insurers, trade finance banks and export credit agencies. With this capital injection, US-based investment firm Long Arc Capital takes a majority stake in Tinubu Square, while Bpifrance, a shareholder since 2011, reaffirms its role as a long-term shareholder by participating in this strengthening of equity capital through its fund Large Venture.

*A key step in the evolution of Tinubu Square, enabling digital transformation of the trade credit industry*

The equity capital increase will enable Tinubu Square to pursue growth in areas where the company already operates (Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific), evolve its solutions and open up new market segments.
The French software provider intends to invest in R&D to address new markets (financial institutions, including multinational banks and factoring companies) and to continue to develop ground-breaking solutions for credit insurance, surety and bonding companies.

Jérôme Pezé, Tinubu Square founder and Chairman, said: “We have spent the past year working with the team at Long Arc Capital to drive the next phase of growth for Tinubu Square. The Partners at Long Arc Capital bring a wealth of experience to help Tinubu Square’s business to scale. Bpifrance has long been a supporter and their reinvestment gives us renewed confidence in our partnership. Tinubu Square’s management confirms its commitment to the implementation of our growth plan by retaining a significant share of the capital”.

Gaurav Bhandari, Managing Partner of Long Arc Capital commented: “We have great respect for enterprise software businesses like Tinubu Square that are market leaders in their verticals. The team at Tinubu Square has executed on a bold vision with remarkable skill and creativity to build a product that has the potential to become the software industry standard for the trade credit insurance business”.

Nicolas Herschtel, Investment Director of Bpifrance explains: “Tinubu Square has undergone a profound transformation since we became an investor in 2011. In addition to its strong growth, its software has established itself as the benchmark in the credit insurance sector. The company is now in a key phase of its development with numerous market opportunities. Long Arc Capital's expertise will be a major asset to support the company in this new phase. Bpifrance wished to renew its support to the management by participating in this fund raising alongside Long Arc Capital".

*A strategy focusing on innovation and international development*

Tinubu Square has modernized the management of trade credit risk through the application of technology. Its solutions integrate data analysis, advanced decision support and process automation. The software vendor enables credit insurers, banks, financial institutions and multinationals to enhance the effectiveness of their risk management with greater efficiency and operational control.

Tinubu Square is at the heart of the trade finance value chain, which is undergoing digital transformation with the emergence of technologies such as blockchain, big data and advanced data analytics. The company will continue to invest in the deployment of these leading-edge technologies.

Tinubu Square’s management has seen its role and strategy strengthened with a clear roadmap for the next five years.
“We’ve reached a crucial stage in our growth and we now have a clear roadmap for the next five years, so we are delighted that Long Arc Capital and Bpifrance are helping us continue our entrepreneurial journey,” says Jérôme Pezé. “It’s a real show of confidence that allows us to speed up our strategy aiming to make Tinubu Square a global leader in the trade credit industry’s digital transformation”.

About Long Arc Capital
Long Arc Capital LP (“Long Arc”) is a private equity firm based in New York dedicated to building and scaling breakthrough businesses. Founded in 2016, Long Arc has eight Partners with significant investing and operating experience. The firm has a philosophy of “active ownership” and partners with entrepreneurs and management teams to build successful businesses.

About Bpifrance
Bpifrance, a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts and the French State, is a trusted partner of entrepreneurs which provides companies with credit, collateral and equity financing support - from start up through to stock exchange listing. In partnership with Business France, Bpifrance also provides guidance and enhanced support services for innovation, external growth, and export. Bpifrance offers companies a range of financing for each key stage in their development, and an offer adapted to regional particularities. With 48 regional offices (90% of decisions are made regionally), Bpifrance offers entrepreneurs a tool for economic competitiveness. Bpifrance works in support of the public policies pursued nationally and regionally by the French government, to meet three objectives: • support the growth of businesses • prepare for future competitiveness • contribute to the development of an ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship. With Bpifrance, companies benefit from a strong and effective local contact able to meet all their financial, innovation and investment needs. Further information: www.bpifrance.fr – Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance - @BpifrancePresse