Sustainable French Agribusiness Issues Blockchain

Zurich-based digital financial services provider Obligate has announced that French sustainable agriculture company Lamar Olive Oil has issued an on-chain bond via Obligate's platform built on Polygon, a first of its kind for the sustainable agriculture industry.

The bond is denominated in EUROe, the first and only EU-regulated crypto stablecoin. EUROe transforms a fiat Euro into a 1:1 pegged digital currency. Developed by Membrane Finance, EUROe enables transparent and near-instant payments around the world at near-zero cost. This joint effort will enable Lamar Olive Oil to develop and grow their sustainable agriculture practices.

The underwriting and structuring process, including the credit evaluation and ongoing risk monitoring conducted by our credit rating partner Credora, was conducted within a couple of weeks, as opposed to 6-8 weeks for a traditional bond process. The direct access to professional investors allowed Lamar Olive Oil to access international financing at lower cost, whilst the structuring of a strong security package gave investors an appealing risk/return matrix, thereby generating a win/win situation.

"We are thrilled to be working with Lamar Olive Oil on this groundbreaking bond issuance," said James Courtenay, Chairman of Obligate. "Lamar Olive Oil's commitment to sustainability in the agriculture industry is commendable, and we are proud to provide a solution that helps them, and other SMEs, gain access to much needed capital while also providing digital asset investors access to sustainable investments in the form of bonds."

"We are very proud to be the first olive oil company to issue our own digital asset bond in EUROe thanks to the cooperation with Obligate. We would like to thank both Credora and Obligate for their confidence to give us the opportunity to access this new capital market," said Mr.Ramzi Lahmar, CEO of Lamar Olive Oil.

Colin Butler, Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon Labs, remarked, "It's thrilling to see the functionality created by Obligate to support a company like Lamar Olive Oil in their mission toward sustainability via on-chain bonds. We knew that building the infrastructure for tokenization would be a launchpad for innovation, and Polygon Labs is proud to have enabled sustainability efforts like this in line with our own ethos. We expect that this is just the start of a world of new industries unearthing the benefits of blockchain."

Obligate supports SMEs by providing a secure and transparent way of issuing, tracking, and settling debt, making the entire process more efficient. Obligate's platform is designed to streamline the debt issuance process and make it more accessible to businesses and investors of all sizes. With the thresholds to issue bonds lowered, SMEs in both developed and emerging markets have increased access to funding. The platform is built on Polygon, one of the most developed crypto ecosystems, across both traditional finance and DeFi, that offers high scalability, speed and security.

"We are delighted to cooperate with Obligate on this issuance, which sets the stage for the next generation of compliant on-chain bond issuances," commented Juha Viitala, CEO of Membrane Finance. "With the regulatory clarity gained with MiCA coming into force next year, we are on the precipice of wide-scale corporate adoption of blockchain technology in their everyday financial operations. Fully fiat-backed and regulated stablecoins, such as EUROe, are crucial in enabling European business participation in on-chain financings, such as those made possible with Obligate today. With the first bond issuance completed, we are eager to pursue new ways to bring more companies into the era of digital finance."

Obligate and Membrane Finance both share a commitment to bridging the gap between DeFi and TradFi, leveraging the efficiencies of digital assets and blockchain technology while also providing regulatory certainty.

Obligate makes it easier, quicker, and cost-effective for businesses to raise capital and issue their own bonds. Smart contracts replace the role of the issuer and paying agent in the settlement layer of a traditional bond issuance, while the blockchain serves as both an asset register and trading venue.

Hopkins is Senior Online Editor for the CropLife Media Group at Meister Media Worldwide. See all author stories here.