A Silicon-Valley based Blockchain trade finance startup Crowdz has collected $5.5 million in Series A investment round. The firm is going to release the banking industry's first global Invoice Exchange, developed in a way to revolutionize the $9 trillion worldwide receivables market. The news was released via a press release on May 28.

The round was being directed by the British Investment Bank Barclays and venture capital company BOLD Capital Partners. Apart from these two, some of the other firms also invested includes TFX Capital Partners, Techstars Ventures, and First Derivatives. The funding will be utilized for product development, marketing, sales, and hiring for Crowdz.

As per the press release, the firm's blockchain-based invoice exchange will allegedly make invoice processing more effective by digitizing and automizing the conventional manual system. The technology has a built-in business-to-business(B2B) payment gateway, hence it will automate the process of finding financial banks or investors and getting offers from financiers at the lowest possible rates. 

Payson E. Johnston, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Crowdz highlights the importance that this speedier invoice processing has for small and midsize enterprises. He said,

"Today, small and midsize businesses often have to wait for a financially crushing 90 to 120 days or more to get paid. It's no wonder that more than half of them suffer cash-flow problems during any given year. However, with the Crowdz Invoice Exchange, these often struggling companies can get paid within a few days or less-at rates usually far less than available elsewhere in the market.”

The latest change will not only make the life of small and midsize company leaders simple but allow these businesses to grow and prosper in every way they can. 

Crowdz's mission to transform the payment industry aligns with the support for financial innovation at Barclays. The press release also mentioned that the startup's main purpose to push the boundaries of B2B payments with the revolutionary Invoice Exchange. 

John Stecher, who is the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Barclays said, “Our team is excited to see them enter this next phase of growth, and look forward to supporting them further as they work to disrupt the payments industry, providing superior service to our customers and clients.”