LatAm Trade Finance Platform Marco Books New Credit Line and Equity Stake

Miami-based trade finance platform Marco said Monday (Feb. 27) that a fresh $200 million credit line as well as an $8 million equity investment would enable it to pursue rapidly growing trade opportunities in Latin America.

According to a company press release, the FinTech has lent over $250 million in its first two years in business, as its financing helped Latin- and certain U.S.-based businesses access the global economy, while boosting its own business by 1,500%.

“[We are] addressing one of the most pressing yet underrecognized economic issues of today: the ongoing inability for small exporters in emerging markets to swiftly access capital,” Marco Co-Founder and COO Peter Spradling said in the press statement, adding that times of economic uncertainty are exactly the time when lenders should help businesses.

“The umbrella should be given to businesses when the forecast shows rain, not when it’s sunny,” Spradling added, noting the existence — and opportunity of a $350 billion trade gap in the region and $2 trillion globally.

The inability to secure trade financing disproportionately affects small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Marco said, suggesting that less than 10% of SMBs in Latin America have access to traditional financing even though they account for 90% of the region’s businesses.

The company said its mission is to simplify and accelerate cross-border trade through the provision of funds and financing tools to SMBs, and it says it has done so with zero losses since its inception, and plans to use its new line and funding to expand its business.

The move comes at a time when new PYMNTS research for “The Digital Businesses’ Guide to Latin America,” a PYMNTS and Payoneer collaboration, shows that while the region’s thriving economy offers great growth opportunities, it is also presents obstacles in areas like cross-border payments.

“The LatAm economy is in the middle of a historic digital commerce boom, with a wave of innovation rapidly reshaping and expanding the markets,” the report states, a trend that is “creating newfound opportunities for global companies to tap the burgeoning LatAm FinTech and labor markets to drive international expansion.”