Envoy has partnered with leading trade digitalisation technology provider Bolero International to use Bolero’s electronic bill of lading (eBL)  as-a-service in its highly-advanced digital trade platform built on R3’s Corda.

Envoy employs blockchain technologies to bring significant efficiencies to global supply chain and trade finance – while injecting vital and once-unobtainable liquidity into the system by decentralising finance (DeFi) and smart contract controlled escrow on R3’s corda.

The partnership is the most recent solution added to Envoy’s tech stack as it approaches pilot phase. This news follows a recent announcement of Envoy joining the R3 Venture Development program in October.

The pilot phase, expected in Q1 2021, will see Envoy engage with R3 Enterprise’s vast network of potential customers and financial institutions to fund and process real-world trades through the Envoy platform.

Envoy will also be launching its dedicated SME payment rail and listing its NVOY Token on Liquid exchange imminently, which will facilitate the movement of funds on the platform and enable cross-border payments. The NVOY token is built on Stellar, the same blockchain used by the likes of IBM’s World Wire for its speed and security. 

Bolero is the number one provider of eBLs to blockchain-based trade and supply chain finance platforms.

As part of Bolero’s ambitious broader strategy to establish itself as the platform agnostic, interoperable eBL service specialist, Bolero continues to invest in global partnerships with trade platforms across all leading blockchain platforms such as Hyperledger, Corda and Ethereum. Bolero provides eBL as a service to Contour, a leading trade finance network, and earlier this year, became part of the Marco Polo Network, the world’s largest and fastest-growing trade finance and working capital network.

Lee Tarone, CEO of Envoy, commented: “Bills of lading are an everyday, but incredibly essential part of global trade. Hundreds of thousands of non-descript boxes and containers travel thousands of miles every single day – the bill of lading is there to identify and validate each package and trade.

“However, these paper documents aren’t at all effective in making the process fast, accurate, or secure. Bolero’s solution perfectly replicates the real-world contractual and receipt functions of a bill of lading, while also enabling much tighter monitoring and security of transfer of rights between parties.

“The integration, therefore, will allow all relevant stakeholders to have a completely transparent view of the location of goods. Envoy is then able to automatically execute contractual agreements upon the electronic confirmation of receipt and transfer of rights.

“This is one of many processes that Envoy has automated – bringing the archaic, unsecure and inefficient world of trade and trade finance into the modern day. We are confident that our pilot phase in Q1 will prove to be a success, and that we can help revive and expediate global trade - which has been severely damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Small businesses in emerging markets have struggled due to lack of trade finance being offered by banks and financial institutions. Envoy are here to bring alternative means of finance while automating and de-risking the process for everyone involved.”

As part of Bolero’s ambitious broader strategy to establish itself as the platform-agnostic, interoperable eBL service specialist, Bolero invests in global partnerships with trade platforms across all leading blockchain platforms such as Hyperledger, Corda and Ethereum.

Andrew Raymond, CEO of Bolero, said:  “As evidenced by our recent release of an integrated LC Multibank and eBL proposition, Bolero is continuously investing in new technologies and innovating to keep pace with evolving business models in digital trade. The partnership with Envoy reinforces Bolero’s strategy of easing the adoption of eBL services globally and will help grow the Bolero network of banks, corporate and carriers. This collaboration is very exciting because Envoy shares our vision of fully digital global trade finance flows with streamlined processes benefiting all parties.”