On Wednesday, Jan 25th Maple will launch a new lending pool in partnership with AQRU and Intero Capital Solutions. The launch is a moment of disruption for one of the oldest commercial financing instruments – receivables financing – by bringing it on-chain. It also signifies Maple’s move away from the ‘uncollateralized defi lending’ niche and towards becoming a category of one.
- The pool is managed by AQRU, a subsidiary of listed firm AQRU plc (AQSE: AQRU). Separate from this initiative, AQRU operates an accelerator programme to build, operate and scale fintechs in the UK.
- The pool can scale to $100 million and enables lenders to generate a targeted interest rate of ~10% on USDC from a relatively low-risk traditional finance instrument.
- The lending pool will provide US Government tax-credit receivables financing to corporates and institutions who are owed rebates from the IRS.
- The lending pool is secured by the underlying receivables owed by the US Government And uncorrelated with volatile crypto markets.
- The permissioned pool ensures a secure process where institutional lenders are required to complete KYC/AML onboarding.
Why it matters?
- Blockchain technology has broad use cases beyond what we’ve seen to date
- Maple diversifies and moves away from ‘uncollateralized defi lending’ niche
- Maple to become category of one – ‘on-chain capital markets’
- Maple 2.0 just launched attracting new delegates to launch pools on the platform
- The pool delegate structure is unique to Maple – credit experts can build and scale lending pools with different strategies, risk profiles, in different industries
- A US Treasury product and Refinancing pool will soon launch – solidifying Maple as a category of one
- AQRU chose Maple after researching other protocols and exploring traditional routes
- AQRU and Maple have had a long-standing positive relationship – AQRU first started lending on Maple in 2022, and made Maple pools available to their customers via an app.
“Receivables financing is one of the oldest commercial finance products and we’re thrilled the pioneering team at AQRU chose our technology to disrupt the status quo. AQRU wanted low-cost, secure loan management and the marketplace to expand volume – we’re proud to be the chosen provider and wish the team every success with the pool,” said Sidney Powell, CEO and Co-Founder of Maple Finance.
“We are proud to join Maple as a Pool Delegate today. With Maple’s lending technology and the added benefit of its marketplace we cut intermediaries and overheads, and provide a leading player in the receivables space with a loan facility. We look forward to inviting risk-off holders of USDC access to a targeted 10% return by depositing into the pool. We were impressed to see that lntero has the necessary origination, credit underwriting and transaction execution expertise to comprehensively underpin the structure of this funding programme. The compelling nature of the opportunity to work in this space with Intero as our borrower was apparent from the outset,” said Philip Blows, Chief Executive of AQRU.
Quick facts
- Open to: Accredited Investors
- Minimum deposit: $500,000
- Lock up: 45 days
- Targeted rate: 10%
- Digital asset: USDC
- Pool capacity: $100 million
Recent publications from Maple:
Maple 2.0 and 2023 strategy: https://maple.finance/news/maple-2-0-new-smart-contracts-products-and-our-2023-strategy/
Note from founders, look back and ahead: https://maple.finance/news/looking-ahead-2023-note-from-founders/
About AQRU Plc
AQRU is an incubator specialising in opportunities in decentralised finance (DeFi), a disruptive technology using blockchain and cryptocurrencies to remove financial intermediaries from transactions, creating a cheaper, more efficient and more secure way of providing financial services. Listed on the Aquis Exchange in London, we apply our expertise to the business operations and strategic plans of FinTech companies in the UK, USA and Canada, and act as an accelerator for start-ups and early-stage companies. Website: www.aqruplc.com
About Intero Capital Solutions LLC
Intero actively provides high-quality, dynamic, and holistic funding solutions that fully exploit the inherent commercial value locked in quality receivables and other real-world assets. Intero achieves this by bringing together traditional and digital investors, asset originators, and other enabling entities to create and execute funding transactions. Through its partners, Intero also provides additional capabilities in longer-term project finance and other blockchain enabled structures that are complementary to the shorter term receivables programmes.
Website: https://intero.capital
About Maple
Maple is an institutional capital network that provides the infrastructure for credit experts to run on-chain lending businesses and connects institutional lenders and borrowers. Built with both traditional financial institutions and decentralized finance leaders, Maple is transforming capital markets by combining industry-standard compliance and due diligence with the transparent and frictionless lending enabled by smart contracts and blockchain technology. Maple is the gateway to growth for financial institutions, pool delegates and companies seeking capital on-chain.
Website: https://maple.finance/