The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) today announces Dataswyft as the winner of the Global vLEI Hackathon in its Trade, Supply Chain, and SME Finance category. The winning solution demonstrates how verifiable organizational identity, leveraging GLEIF’s verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI), reduces friction in micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) financing workflows, creating faster, cheaper access to vital finance.
The newly launched Global vLEI Hackathon saw an impressive 110 submissions from teams around the world, collectively showcasing the innovative ideas shaping the future of Digital Organizational Identity.
Dataswyft’s award-winning solution helps small businesses get loans by turning their daily transactions — such as buying, selling, storing, and moving goods (e.g., farm inputs or crops) — into trusted, verifiable digital records. Instead of traditional credit checks, the Dataswyft Wallet generates portable “smart data” that farmers own. Through the Wallet, farmers receive vLEI-signed credentials from Dataswyft and Kuza OneNetwork — a network of 6,000 agriculture entrepreneurs and 1.5 million farmers across nine African and Asian countries. These credentials earn badges, such as the Stockist Pathway Graph Badge (SPG Badge), proving their reliability. Lenders issue digital credit vouchers against the badges, and suppliers verify them for transactions. This builds a clear, data-driven credit market where every verified exchange builds shared trust.
AEOTrade (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was named runner-up. They combined vLEI and blockchain to create a comprehensive framework, establishing a trusted collaborative network that significantly enhances the security, accuracy, and efficiency of global trade processes. Leveraging the “AEOTrade Chain+vLEI” framework, the solution ensures the authenticity, uniqueness, and compliance of every electronic bill of lading. Throughout the entire process — from issuance and transfer to verification and surrender — it guarantees the verifiable digital identities of all participants, thereby substantially reducing maritime fraud risks.
Davide Ceper, Sr. Director, Global Strategy & Growth, Dataswyft, said: "The Dataswyft Wallet+vLEI solution makes investable what was once invisible. By transforming MSMEs’ everyday actions into smart data that they control, the solution has the potential to become a new digital asset class that lets capital flow to truly productive areas of the economy that were previously out of reach."
Zetao Yang, CEO, AEOTrade (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. and Secretary General of TradeTech Alliance, said: “To overcome trust barriers in global trade, AEOTrade's solution integrates the vLEI with AEOTradeChain, creating a trusted digital infrastructure using electronic bills of lading as an example scenario. For the first time, the vLEI is embedded directly into the transfer of ownership of cargo, enabling seamless trusted collaboration across document transfer, logistics tracking, and fund flows.”
Alexandre Kech, CEO of GLEIF, said: "Both Dataswyft and AEOTrade have developed compelling propositions that illustrate how the vLEI's universal digital trust ecosystem can rapidly evolve digital processes and unlock value for businesses everywhere. We have been overwhelmed by the quality and depth of expertise demonstrated by all submitting organizations and express our thanks and admiration to all teams for their ambition, dedication, and amazing innovative thinking."
The winners were unveiled at the Global Forum on Digital Organizational Identity, hosted by Cyberport, co-hosted by Affinidi, the Asia PKI Consortium, and Certizen Technology.
All entries were rigorously evaluated by the international vLEI Hackathon jury, which comprises leading figures from global organizations, industry domains, and technical disciplines, ensuring a comprehensive and forward-looking assessment of every submission.
The vLEI is a digital, trustworthy attestation of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) tied to the ISO 17442 Standard. This secure digital credential links an organization's identity with a natural person and their role within it. By enabling peer-to-peer verification, the vLEI allows data, credentials, and transactions to be verified and shared without intermediaries, laying the foundation for a trusted global digital economy.
Since its launch in July, the vLEI Hackathon has challenged developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators worldwide to shape the future of digital trust by developing real-world solutions powered by digital organizational identity.
The winner and runner-up in the 'Industry 4.0'- Industry, Commercial & Finance Processes & Operations' category will be announced on 2 December in Frankfurt.
The vLEI Hackathon has enjoyed the steadfast support of leading organizations, including Affinidi, Apix, APSCA, Cardano Foundation, Chainlink, eBRAM, Cardano, EPA Asia, Esatus, Finoverse, Finternet Lab, FIWARE, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, fts.money, GFTN, Giesecke+Devrient, Hong Kong PKI Consortium, Hong Kong Web3 Standardization Association, ICC Digital Standards Initiative, INNOPAY, Key State Capital, LF Decentralized Trust, Vayana, Swift, Asia PKI Consortium, Vayana, Veriable.Trade, and more. Additionally, a rapidly growing network of Qualified vLEI Issuers (QVIs), including Certizen Technology, China Financial Certification Authority (CFCA), Finema, Global vLEI, Provenant, Shanghai Electronic Certification Authority (SHECA), Toppan Edge Inc., and TradeGo, has played a central role in helping participants in developing their submissions.
For more information on the vLEI, please visit the GLEIF website here.
