Welcome back to the Fintech and Web3 Founders Monthly News August edition, where we quickly break down the most exciting topics in Fintech and Web3 ecosystem!
In case you missed last month’s episodes, here is a handy wrap up of what we learned during the Episode 28 with Henri Arslanian, Senior Advisor at PwC, Author of “The Book of Crypto”, and Episode 29 with Dave Nangle, Managing Director of VEF – the emerging market fintech investor.
Let’s deep dive in!
The Crypto Outlook: Bear Market, Regulations, CBDCs & the Big Hack
“It is normal for people to be sceptical, but education is important. It has never been easier than now to understand cryptocurrencies.“
Henri Arslanian, Senior Advisor at PwC, Author of “The Book of Crypto”
Terra-Luna crash fallout and big heists plaguing the crypto world have caused financial and trust damage to investors worldwide. In this episode, Henri’s outlook sees the current crypto market turmoil will bring about increased regulations and oversight by policymakers in the future. However, he also took on a more optimistic view that the current crisis will benefit by making the industry more mature and resilient and that we will soon see more risk management by crypto companies in conducting more due diligence and auditing.
During the session, the Author of “The Book of Crypto” shed some light on all the chaos occurring within the crypto market. Henri also announced the launch of his crypto hedge fund to help institutional investors wanting to allocate to the crypto space.
Whether or not you are new to the crypto space, discover topics from crypto market crashes, and CBDCs to massive heists making major headlines on financial news through this episode. Check it out now! 👇
What are The Hottest Emerging Countries for Fintech Investing?
“There are great long-term markets in the emerging world, but you need long-term buyers and robust founders.“
Dave Nangle, Managing Partner at VEF
The amount of ‘tourist capital’ pouring into emerging countries is distorting valuations of young startups, rendering certain investments not as profitable as expected in the long run. In this episode, Dave Nangle, managing director of VEF shared his thoughts regarding the company’s investment approach to building a successful Fintech portfolio, opinions on the VC boom in MENA markets and Dave’s career transition from banking to private investing.
Hence VEF adopts value investing into companies with viable concepts and scalable business models in emerging and frontier markets, making it a great entry point for growth-oriented investors to get access to this fast-growth asset class. Despite being a young investment company, VEF is already backed by highly regarded shareholders such as Fidelity Investments and Wellington Management.
One of the key highlights from the session was that emerging countries will continue to embrace a thriving fintech sector, and we will hear more and more investment initiatives in the region. Want to learn more about investing in emerging markets and how a permanent capital vehicle operates? Watch the episode now! 👇
What happened in Fintech last month in the MEASA region
In case you missed it, here are some of the must-read news pieces in the FinTech MEASA World. Egypt, UAE, Nigeria and Israel have witnessed various funding rounds and regulatory acts which highlight the promising growth plans for the region and Fintech hubs.
Female-founded fintech Topi gets $45M to offer Hardware-as-a-Service for B2B merchants
Topi, a Berlin-based fintech company, announced that it has raised $45M in a combination of equity and debt, of which $15M was equity led by Index Ventures and Creandum, with participation from Silicon Valley-based TriplePoint Capital. The announcement comes nine months after raising $4.5M in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Index Ventures and Creandum.
Nigerian fintech Duplo snaps $4.3M to make payments seamless for African businesses
Sub-Saharan Africa has a $1.5T B2B payments market, and in this market, manual invoices and ineffective processes are frequently used by merchants, burdening them and making them struggle with their businesses. In order to address these problems, Duplo, a B2B payments startup, has raised $4.3M in seed funding.
Kenyan fintech Pezesha raises $11M backed by Women’s World Banking, Cardano parent IOG
fintech Pezesha seeks to bridge as it expands into Nigeria, Rwanda and Francophone Africa following an $11 million pre-Series A equity-debt round led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II with participation from Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, cFund and Cardano blockchain builder Input Output Global (IOG). The round also included a $5 million debt from Talanton and Verdant Capital Specialist Funds.
Farther, a wealth tech firm, banks $15M Series A as valuation hits $50M
Farther is “a new kind of financial institution” catering to high-net-worth professionals building generational wealth but want the freedom of both an automated system and a professional. The company closed a $15 million Series A round of funding in May that was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and included Khosla Ventures and MassMutual Ventures as new investors.
Indian lendtech EarlySalary raises $110m Series D funding
Pune-based digital lending platform EarlySalary has raised $110 million in a Series D funding round at a valuation of around $300 million. The round was co-led by TPG’s The Rise Fund and Norwest Venture Partners, with existing investors Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Ltd also participating. EarlySalary says it plans to use the new cash to hire for senior leadership roles, expand into new markets and increase its loan book.
YC-backed Zywa, a neobank for Gen Z, raises $3M to expand across MENA
Dubai-based Zywa, a neobank for Gen Z, plans to fuel its growth in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE), and to kick-start its expansion to Saudi Arabia and Egypt after raising $3 million seed funding at over $30 million (110 million AED) valuation. The new funding follows the $1 million pre-seed backing it secured in February this year.
Real estate fintech platform Stake raises US$8mln in pre-series A funding round
Dubai-based digital real estate investment platform, Stake, secured over US$8 million in an oversubscribed pre-series A funding round. This follows a US$4 million seed round the company closed back in June 2021, bringing their total raised funds to over US$12 million.
Saudi BNPL firm Tamara raises $100m Series B
Saudi Arabian buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Tamara has raised $100 million in a Series B round led by Sanabil Investments, a portfolio company of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The latest raise brings the fintech’s total funding to date to $216 million in equity and debt.
South Africa’s TymeBank to acquire SME funding fintech Retail Capital
South African digital bank TymeBank is set to acquire Retail Capital, a fintech that provides funding to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), for an undisclosed sum. The deal would see Retail Capital become a division within TymeBank, forming the foundation of an expanded business banking offering which already has 100,000 customers.
Kenyan fintech startup FinAccess raises $500k funding round
Kenyan startup FinAccess, which digitises Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs) and farming cooperatives in the East Africa region, has raised US$500,000 in funding from Cape Town-headquartered venture capital (VC) firm HAVAÍC. Founded by CEO Barclay Paul Okari in 2017, FinAccess offers a market-leading, fully proprietary SaaS solution to SACCOs and co-ops.
You can find all of the sessions of Fintech and Web3 Founders Series here.
