Zurich-based digital promissory note fintech FQX raises $4.7 million in seed funding

Zurich’s short-term financing and payment tool FQX has raised $4.7 million in seed funding in a round led by Earlybird Venture Capital. The raise also saw participation from SIX Fintech Ventures and unicorn hybris co-founder Carsten Thoma. The funding is expected to help scale the company’s transaction volume.

“Short-term financing markets are widely fragmented and inefficient today, with $65 trillion+ in annual transaction volumes globally. The eNote by FQX is a truly disruptive instrument to untap liquidity in those markets,” says Earlybird Partner Dr. Christian Nagel. “As a first-mover, FQX has the potential to become the leading tech infrastructure and set the de-facto standard for eNotes globally. We are very excited to join their journey early on.”

Founded in 2019 by Frank Wendt, Benedikt Schuppli, Dr. des. Stephan D. Meyer, and Dr. Philipp von Randow, FQX is essentially taking the centuries-old promissory note, securing it with banking grade Blockchain technology (Swiss Trust Chain), and accelerating liquidity across borders and markets without rule-books. As FQX’s solution, eNotes is based on blockchain tech, they can be sold or transferred to a third party, i.e., an investor, and can be seamlessly integrated into existing infrastructures of banks and fintechs.

While the process of an “I’ll pay you this much, on this date” note is nothing new to the finance world, it has been gaining traction in the digital world over the past few years. Singapore, the UK, and the UAE have been working on blockchain-based solutions for the trade finance and money market worlds, and naturally enacting or initiating governing legislation for digital promissory notes.

“Closing the trade finance gap and enabling SMEs is a top priority of the ICC. Electronic promissory notes as offered by the FQX eNote infrastructure is a fantastic example of how new business models and technology can bridge the trade finance gap,” comments Oswald Kulyer from the International Chamber of Commerce.