CLARITY CAPITAL FINANCE

In 2023 Serge De Bruyn and Gert Ovart  launched Clarity Capital Finance (CCF), a multi-seller trade receivables finance platform catered for the diamond industry. With the purpose of providing alternative financing to mid-sized diamond dealers based in Antwerp, who for several years have been experiencing difficulties in accessing the traditional Belgian banking system and reinforcing Antwerp’s continuing role as a world leading diamond hub.

Innovation challenge

As the daily operation of the Antwerp-based financial start-up, specializing in receivable-based financing for mid-sized diamond traders, involves extensive manual administrative work the next step is to investigate how processes can be further digitalized and automated. A key challenge is the manual reconciliation of incoming payments. This process involves carefully checking if payments from clients' customers have been correctly received and identifying any incorrect payments, ensuring accounting records match bank statements. Manual checks take time and can lead to errors. Secondly, creating automatic reports for investors and clients can enhance customer service. Further digitalization and automation will enable the company's growth plans.

Solution explored

Following workshops that highlighted the current administrative workflow, several strategic solution avenues were explored. The initial, logical approach was to investigate off-the-shelf software from specialized financial technology vendors.

An in-depth review revealed that existing software would require added customization so as to provide the advanced reconciliation and reporting functionalities that the company requires.

Consequently, the most effective path forward is the development of a custom digital platform. This bespoke solution is not intended to replace the existing core calculation engine, but rather to build a robust system around it to orchestrate the entire data flow. The proposed platform will consist of a powerful backend application to automate all business logic and a modern web interface for administration.

It will transform high-risk, manual tasks within complex spreadsheets into a fully automated, auditable, and secure software solution. Key functions will include automated data ingestion from sellers, daily lockbox reconciliation that turns manual searches into a simple exception-handling process, and the automated preparation of data for the critical Borrowing Base Test. This tailored approach provides the necessary foundation to solve today's challenges and creates a scalable infrastructure for future growth and enhanced reporting.