EthicHub, the collaborative financing blockchain platform, directed to unbanked farmers, closes the requited investments for the existing model and its subsequent scaling.
For the closure of this seed-round BIDlab (innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank) stands out as a reference partner. It will contribute with 600,000 dollars for the development of new platform functionalities, increase of small producers open to receive new loans, and an EthicHub-pilot on a second country. Colaborativo also stands out as a reference investor, which is an essential entity in the Mexican investment area, that selected EthiHub for its accelerator.
Jori Armbruster, CEO of the Spanish startup, states that the closing of the round is “a significant success for all of us because it gives us the crucial resources to scale the EthicHub proposal and become global.”
The EthicHub official launch took place in November 2017. In light of an enthusiastic community of acquaintances, friends, and family, the project officially began. Its use of blockchain technology has managed to prototype a valid and functional model directed to fund small unbanked farmers with profitable activities. Before the arrival of EthicHub, these small producers could only manage to finance themselves with the little cash available at their locations. The shortage of this money shot up interest rates on loans above 100% annually. Now, with EthicHub, these same farmers can have more resources and rates below 30%, in addition to being able to opt for other innovative services, provided by the Spanish startup.
Two years after launching, the EthicHub team has achieved the necessary funding to optimize a model that has already been proven valid and functional. At this time, EthicHub has managed to spread out an operational blockchain platform that has already helped more than 120 families located in Tapachula, Mexico. That way, six agricultural communities have been able to have access to a new source of financing much cheaper and open interest rates. The success rate in loan repayment is 100%. The EthicHub proposal has been recognized and awarded several times not only by the blockchain community but from the impact investment sector and the Spanish fintech industry. In addition to going through Collaborative and Ship2b acceleration programs in Spain, EthicHub is currently immersed in a third acceleration process with Cuatrecasas Acelera.