Gresham House Ventures has made the first external investment in Azarc, a business process automation company that uses technology to streamline cross-border supply chains.
Azarc’s software platform helps business’ reduce costs in their international trade by automating customs clearances. Since its launch in 2021, the business’s highly scalable technology has already been adopted by leading companies, including BT Group.
Addressing a significant cross-border trade market globally and particular challenges around UK trade caused by Brexit, the business offers a compelling value proposition for importers. Recent trials have demonstrated the platform’s potential benefits, including an 85% faster processing time, a 30% reduction in labour hours and a 75% decrease in errors for customs checks when using its technology.
The investment, the size of which cannot be disclosed, will be used to expand Azarc’s team, support the development of further software capabilities and accelerate the company’s expansion into new international import and export hubs through the development of partnerships. Having been self-funded since its launch, this is the first external investment in the company.
The deal continues a busy period of dealmaking for Gresham House Ventures and extends its investment activity in the area of business process automation. The Gresham House Ventures existing investment portfolio includes Patchworks (an e-commerce business automation provider), Fu3e (a digital management process platform) and Legatics (a legal transaction management software provider).
Zixin Pan, associate director at Gresham House Ventures, said:
“We have been impressed with the growth of Azarc®’s technology platform since its launch and believe the company’s offering has enormous potential to help businesses streamline their cross-border operations at a time when both cost efficiency and traceability are acute challenges. This investment will play a significant role in driving further adoption of Azarc®’s technology and helping more leading businesses tackle the growing complexity of international supply chains.”
David Robbins, CEO at Azarc, said:
“This is the first external investment in Azarc® and we are proud to have secured this backing from a recognised leader in supporting and growing tech-focused businesses like ours. Having already developed a strong customer base in the last three years, we are confident that this investment will enable us to go further in addressing the huge demand we are seeing for genuinely innovative solutions to the challenges of cross-border trade.”
