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Africa, Fintech


#400
Fintech Goes Global

Published:

Aug 14, 2021


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Posted In:

Africa, Fintech

Published:

Aug 14, 2021


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Pack your bags, checkbooks, and fill out your passenger locator forms folks, it's time to take a trip to the emerging markets. Fintech investment is growing in emerging markets. Incubators are alive and thriving and public markets have grown fond of emerging market listings.

In particular, the African continent has seen an influx of capital into local fintech startups. In the first half of 2021, African fintech companies have secured $330m of funding, which is 2x the funding received in all of 2020. While geopolitics and FX issues deterred VCs in the past, recent headliner financings including Moove, Yoco and FairMoney highlight the ongoing opportunity in the region.

Other emerging markets have also seen major recent successes. Brazilian neo-bank Nubank hired investment banks to advise on a $2b raise on the Nasdaq following a fundraise in June that cemented the company’s valuation north of $30b. Adding to this was news that Mexican fintech Credijusto is in talks with Tidjane Thiam’s SPAC, which could lead to a merger at a valuation of $1.5b. Furthermore, SoftBank revealed that it’s commitments in Latin America have paid off handsomely with assets valued at $6.9b, after investing about $3.5b in the region.

With rapidly growing populations, rampant mobile adoption, and the potential for technological leapfrogging, the amount of actionable opportunities have become palpable to most. Fintech currently resembles Pitbull in the early 2000’s, ready to take on the world one country at a time…DALE!

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Fintech Goes Global


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Is Africa fintech's next frontier? - Despite a large youthful, digitally savvy population and growing mobile usage, Africa has lagged behind even its emerging market peers, like Latin America, when it comes to venture capital activity. But the African fintech market has been accelerating, with startups securing around $330.5m in H1 2021, more than double the amount raised the entire year before, according to a report from Disrupt Africa, a tech-focused research and news organization based in the region. Read more

Kavak announces four global tech centers in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina. - Mexican startup Kavak, Mexico's first unicorn, announced on Tuesday four new global tech development centers with headquarters in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. The company plans to hire more than 500 software developers engineers in Latin America. Read more

Mexican SMB fintech Credijusto could be listed on NYSE this year - Mexican fintech, Credijusto announced that it is in talks to go public via a SPAC merger with Tidjane Thiam’s Freedom Acquisition I. The deal is reported to be valued at $1.5b and follows Credijusto's acquisition of Banco Finterra. Read more. 

Softbank Group's commitment to Latin America is paying off - In its quarterly report, Softbank showed that investments in Latin America returned JPNY219b (about US $1.98b) in profit in the three months to the end of June 2021. Highlighted in the report was a shift to focus on Latin America and away from investments in China. Read more

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Select Financings


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FreshBooks - Canada based cloud-based accounting software company raised $80.75m in Series E funding led by Accomplice. Read more

Gusto - San Francisco based benefits, payroll, and HR software provider raised $175m in Series E funding led by T. Rowe Price. Read more

Jerry - San Francisco based car-ownership super app and insurance comparison site raised $75m in Series C funding led by Goodwater Capital. Read more

Kroo - London based provider of banking services with social features raised $24.5m in Series A funding led by Rudy Karsan. Read more

Liquality - New York based crypto wallet raised $7m in new funding led by Hashed and Galaxy Digital. Read more

Moove - Nigeria based mobility fintech company raised $23m in Series A funding led by Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital. Read more

Pave - San Francisco based compensation platform for companies to manage wages raised $46m in Series B funding led by YC Continuity. Read more

Pintu - Indonesia based crypto exchange raised $35m in extended Series A funding led by Lightspeed Ventures. Read more

TaxBit - Utah based crypto tax and accounting software provider raised $130m in Series B funding led by IVP and Insight Partners. Read more

Trust - Los Angeles based corporate card startup to help small businesses with marketing investments raised $9m in Seed funding from Lerer Hippeau, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures, and Upper90. Read more

Upgrade - San Francisco based fintech company that offers affordable credit to consumers raised $105m in Series E funding led by Koch Disruptive Technologies. Read more

XpertSea - Canada based company focused on developing efficient technology and financial solutions for the seafood industry raised $20m in Series B funding led by QED Investors and Atlantico. Read more


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