Collective Polymers, a plastics trading and distribution firm, will run its trading operations on Matium's financing, logistics, and software infrastructure. The company will retain its own brand, management, and customer relationships. Matium, the materials trading platform, launches its Agency program, providing infrastructure to help traders grow without giving up equity.
“Cash is king in this business. When you grow your volume, floating money for customers becomes the pain point,” said Jean-Francois Lapointe, Founder and President of Collective Polymers. “Now, I can focus all of my effort on growing our team and creating sales, knowing that the suppliers are paid, customers have terms, and everyone is happy. Matium will support our growth and provide innovative solutions for our customers that they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.”
A trader can match a buyer and supplier, but could still fail to make a deal because of payment terms, credit limits, or freight. Matium removes those constraints for its Agencies. As an Agency, Collective gains scalable financing, expansive credit capacity, automated logistics pricing and fulfilment, 1,000+ buyers and sellers in-network, and access to Matium’s CRM, ERP, and AI Matchmaker.
Bailey Robin, Co-Founder and CEO of Matium, added, “I started as a trader, and I was shocked that a market this big had no tools. I would begrudgingly do my job on software built in the ’90s, then would order groceries with one click on Amazon. I think the people inside the supply chain should have the same quality of tools as the consumers who buy from the supply chain. I looked at a lot of companies that tried to digitise this industry, but they all tried to replace people. Matium takes the opposite approach, where we build tools that help educate, connect, and empower people in the industry to compete at a higher level. We are committed to creating the best material trading platform in the world and putting it in the hands of everyone who wants to win.”
Matium’s move to license infrastructure is a novel concept for the plastics industry. The structure involves no equity and no cash; instead, agencies pay a simple fee on each transaction that covers financing, credit, and software usage. Agencies keep their books, relationships, and margins. Matium contracts with both sides of every trade and provides financing, guarantees of payment and quality, and settlement.
