Praxis leveling the playing field by financing truckers in the heart of Europe

Advance Global Capital, Ltd. (AGC) works to reduce poverty by putting capital to work in underserved communities in developing countries that have a significant unmet need for financing. The two strategies that AGC uses are financing solutions to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and providing invoice discounting or factoring to clients which transfers credit risk from small, harder-to-finance businesses to the larger companies that buy their products.

Working in various parts of the world with differing business conditions, the organizations’ investments deliver tailored financing to local partners and flexible working capital to SMEs so they can grow and continue to positively impact the local economies around them.

Impact Story: Nord Speed – Czechia

Despite nearby military conflict and challenging economic times, Jaroslav, one of AGC’s Czechia-based partners, has continued to make an impact in the supply chain and logistics industries by financing individual truck drivers. Their client, Nord Speed, headquartered in Jablonec nad Nisou, Czechia, is a two-person trucking company located in the north of Czechia near the Polish and German borders serving clients in Italy, Slovakia, Spain, and Poland. The company specializes in transporting goods for the automotive industry and recently won a long-term contract with Volkswagen. Nord Speed is owned by Ladislav Hanuliak who is responsible for mechanical and technical affairs, and Blanka Voplakalová who handles everything else.

Before the conflict in Ukraine started, the company had three trucks and drivers. They had to sell two of the trucks both because of a drop in trade with their eastern neighbors, but mostly because they couldn’t find qualified drivers. Before that, the company weathered the COVID-19 pandemic when car production dropped due to the shortage of chips, and business in the automotive industry declined. On the flip side, online sales jumped because online orders increased dramatically as the business was transporting people’s online orders.

Today the business has around 100 clients and can access invoice discounting, legal advice, credit insurance and more through AGC's partner. The business owners are also paying it forward by helping young truck drivers establish their own trucking companies and find new clients.

The Praxis commitment
Praxis Mutual Funds supports organizations such as Advance Global Capital through investments in Calvert Impact, an impact-investing institution that helps people around the world through community development financing. It’s part of the Praxis commitment to place approximately 1% of each of its funds to benefit neighborhoods and individuals through community development investments.