A SMALL Brisbane tech firm has secured a deal with one of the mightiest shipping businesses on the planet.
IncoDocs, an online trade documentation tool for small and medium businesses has closed $1.2m in so-called “seed funding” from investors including Maersk Growth.
Maersk Growth is the corporate venture arm of shipping behemoth, A.P. Moller – Maersk.
Explaining their concept, IncoDocs co-founder Ben Thompson noted how the World Bank estimated an average international trade transaction involved 27-30 different parties, 40 documents, 200 data elements and the rekeying of 60-70% of all data at least once.
“As a small business we looked towards technology to help us improve operations. The solutions we found were not built for our size business,” Mr Thompson said.
“They were complex, often required training and were simply unaffordable. So, we decided to build our own. A targeted solution, easy to use and accessible for SMEs.”
The IncoDocs’ founder describer the platform as offering “a library of trade document templates with smart auto-fill, copy and compliance check features which allow users to easily manage their documentation processes with more efficiency and accuracy”.
During the past 12 months IncoDocs has had more than 4000 SME’s from over 100 countries join the platform looking to streamline their operations and transition to paperless trade.
Maersk Growth operating partner Betty Yan Liu said they had studied trade documentation extensively.
“We instantly liked IncoDoc’s solution for its simplicity and the virality of the product, and we are convinced the IncoDocs team has the skills and persistence to solve this significant pain point for SMEs,” Ms Liu said.
IncoDocs plans to further invest in its product in order to further serve its user base. Part of this plan involves a custom template creator and several new features for enhanced internal collaboration.
IncoDocs cofounder chief executive and Brandon Boor said he saw “a future where every SME participates and thrives in global trade”.
“This new round of funding and strategic support helps move us another step closer to this vision,” Mr Boor said.
