TASConnect introduces efficient ‘multi-bank’ working capital solutions platform as a service

The startup comes up with a breakthrough platform that provides working capital solutions to address the pain points of businesses’ cross-border value chains. 

Convincing banks to hop on to the supply chain finance trend could be difficult, but TASConnect has developed a platform to turn this hurdle into a thing of the past.

TASConnect is a bank, industry and Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) agnostic SaaS platform connecting complex enterprise ecosystems to unlock sustainable economic value with visibility and control.

The platform significantly enhances efficiencies in accounts payable and accounts receivable financing programmes; enabling access to increased working capital sources; automating and simplifying complex workflows; and allowing businesses to control their programmes securely and sustainably. 

The CEO and co-founder of TASConnect, Kingshuk Ghoshal, said they are unique from other supply chain platforms because they address the pain points of the entire value chain.

“From pre-to-post shipment finance in a procurement leg to your buyer finance and distribution finance on your sales leg is where we can bring value to enterprises with modular, scalable, and customisable solutions,” Kingshuk informed the Singapore Business Review.

So, how do they make a profit? TASConnect follows a pay-per-use model which scales as the processing volume increases. Kingshuk cited the example of Lenovo, their first client, that uses the TASConnect platform for digitalisation of their payables financing programs with multiple banks.

Approved invoices are pulled directly from Lenovo’s ERP system, which are then straight-through processed to the respective banks for financing via the TASConnect platform. TASConnect collects a usage-based fee based on the volume of such financed invoice flows through the platform.

“It’s simple and similar to your monthly mobile usage billing model,” explained Kingshuk. 

A wholly owned subsidiary of SC Ventures Holdings Limited, and incubated by SC Ventures, the fintech and investment arm of Standard Chartered, TASConnect has an initial capital of US$10m.

Breakthrough idea

At the end of 2019 when Kingshuk was working with Standard Chartered Bank’s corporate banking client coverage team, along with his team (called Project Litmus), he saw an opportunity to create an efficient and scalable digital platform for supplier and receivables financing with one of his technology sector clients’ which had a large and  complex supply chain.

When the client was pleased with the solution prototype, Kingshuk said “we knew we could not stop there”. But there were bumps along the way that needed to be resolved before the startup could be formalized — from securing venture funding to convincing banks to join the platform for access to working capital for the anchor clients of TASConnect. 

Eventually, everything worked out and the platform went commercially live in February 2022 with multiple international banks connected. The platform is in the progress to integrate with more banks to provide stronger coverage, particularly in Asia. TASConnect is now focused on establishing a strong brand name by working alongside reputable global clients to create lasting value in trade and supply chain for them. 

Kingshuk said they chose the name “TASConnect” to represent their purpose of “connecting” enterprise ecosystems with their Treasury or Trade and Supply Chains, hence the “T” and “SC” in the name.

Data security certifications

To ensure stakeholders’ trust, TASConnect has invested heavily in cybersecurity measures that follow the culture of bank compliance for data security. 

The platform appointed a chief information security officer to oversee that cybersecurity requirements were up to mark for top-grade security. Kingshuk shared that the company had also undergone a rigorous evaluation process to achieve the certification for ISO 27001:2013, which they first achieved in the fourth month of their launch. The certification also serves as a testament to the company's commitment to maintaining the highest levels of information security throughout its operations. 

Furthermore, the cloud-based platform is hosted on Amazon Web Services, known to be extremely secure, robust, and reliable in disaster recovery modes and data security modes. 

Cybersecurity compliance is also overseen by its parent, SC Ventures through the latter’s own strong governance standards. 

Asia’s best platform

TASConnect is positive revenue generating today and is keeping its sights focused on achieving an EBITDA positive status in the first quarter of 2025. 

TASConnect’s mission is to become the number one platform as a service for working capital solutions in Asia in the next 2-3 years. 

“In Asia… we have to be No. 1 and probably the top few alternatives when it comes to large enterprises wanting to help working capital solution providers in this space,” said Kingshuk. 

To keep ahead of the competition, he said TASConnect is also investing its resources and customising its solutions for Asia, an underpenetrated fintech market for supply chain finance.

“Asia Pacific will be our sweet spot market. There is a market where supply chain exists and this is a market where fragmentation needs to be solved and it is a hugely scaling market,” added Kingshuk.