Esker, a global cloud platform and leader in AI-driven process automation solutions for finance and customer service functions, today announced it has made a strategic investment in its partner LSQ, a leading provider of technology-driven working capital finance and payments solutions. As a first step, the investment is made through a USD 5 million convertible promissory note to strengthen LSQ and Esker’s partnership and accelerate the development and commercial expansion of their common supply chain finance solutions. The partners have agreed to potentially increase Esker’s financial involvement in LSQ based on the development of their common business.
Supply chain disruptions and increased economic uncertainty linked to the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed the need for companies to strengthen their ecosystems and better collaborate with customers and suppliers to optimise their common competitive situations. As global economies and individual companies become increasingly codependent, Esker believes the ability to generate positive-sum growth will be a key differentiating factor for long-term competitiveness and performance. As a result, the ability to optimise cashflow and working capital management across entire business ecosystems will emerge as a truly strategic objective. For Esker and LSQ, supply chain finance is an essential element in this effort and demand for it is expected to increase drastically in the near future.
Esker announced its formal commercial partnership with LSQ in December 2021. With this partnership, Esker customers will be able to leverage LSQ FastTrack®, the accounts payable (AP) financing (supply chain finance) and dynamic discounting platform, to maximise financing options and gain subsequent savings within Esker’s leading end-to-end business process solution.
“We are excited to be taking our existing partnership with LSQ to the next level with this equity investment, which will be used to expand the operations of the team, and our commitment to Esker Pay in the supply chain finance space,” said Steve Smith, U.S. Chief Operating Officer at Esker. “Esker Pay is central to our growth initiatives for 2022 and beyond.”
LSQ solutions are part of Esker Pay, a suite of fintech solutions, announced by Esker in October 2021. Esker Pay is an extensive set of integrated FinTech solutions designed to offer robust functionalities to global companies with one cohesive user experience. Esker Pay covers B2B payment solutions, including virtual credit cards, ACH and real-time payments, supply chain finance, dynamic discounting, or factoring solutions. With more than 400 billion USD processed on its platform every year, Esker is ideally positioned to leverage its position on the market and become a key player in the global digitisation of finance.
“We believe in the opportunity in the area of SCF and want to take advantage of it from an operational and capital standpoint,” said Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker. “Our strategic partnership with LSQ is instrumental as we continue to strengthen our payment offerings to our customers and their suppliers.”
