Emerging Markets Roundup: August 23 - August 29 2023

Hi everyone, I’m Gautam. Every week I write the Spice Route newsletter, profiling tech in the five fastest growing regions in the world - India, SE Asia, MENA, Sub Saharan Africa and Latin America.

I’ve spent years immersed in these startup ecosystems as a founder and VC. If you’re a founder or PM building for these markets, or a VC looking to invest where the growth is, this newsletter is for you.

If you found this useful, share this with your friends and colleagues.

In Today’s Newsletter

🇮🇳 As a non resident Indian, I struggle to make payments when back home; the country’s vendors have moved to UPI, its open payments protocol, and I’m forced to use cash or my US Uber account. This week, CheqUPI raises $500K from YC to solve this. Also featured: India breaks its 11 month unicorn drought, with Zepto raising $200M to deliver groceries in 10 minutes.

🇸🇬 While we’re on the topic - what if you could pay and have the receipt show up on your phone automatically? No fumbling with paper receipts, no typing email addresses or entering phone numbers. Singapore’s Pi-xcels gets Hustle Fund backing to let retailers tap a customer’s smartphone to issue receipts. Merchants get actionable insights and a new marketing channel.

🇧🇷 Currency volatility no more; Brazil’s Nomad gets Tiger backing to provide locals with a USD denominated digital bank account and debit card they can use anywhere in the world. Also worth mentioning: Lightspeed makes its first Brazil investment, backing shared expenses platform Cumbuca.

🇳🇬 🇰🇪 🇿🇦 No deals in Sub-Saharan Africa this week. QED expects the region to be the fastest growing in terms of fintech revenue, unburdened by legacy infrastructure. Hurdles remain; for instance, Nigeria’s new foreign exchange policy has weakened its currency and eroded startup valuations in the country, resulting in closures - could a Nomad like solution work here?

🇸🇦 🇦🇪 Saudi Arabia’s Rewaa raises a $27M Series A to move inventory management in the kingdom into the future. Meanwhile, Web3 continues to thrive in the UAE; BitOasis, the region’s largest crypto exchange raises a round, and Lyvely bags funding to monetize the creator economy.

Who’s Getting Funded

Local companies building for local markets.

We’re going to see the emergence of regional unicorns in sectors from fintech to agtech, driven by knowledge of local idiosyncrasies or protected by local regulation.

Cleantech

🇮🇳 ScrapUncle, an Indian platform enabling users to sell scrap materials for recycling at pre-quoted prices, has raised ~$447K in Pre-Seed funding led by Bestvantage.

🇲🇾 CompAsia, a Malaysian platform allowing customers to trade-in or purchase secondhand electronic devices, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by Gobi Partners.

Consumer

🇺🇾 BrainLogic, a Uruguayan startup building a generative AI powered Whatsapp personal assistant, has raised $5M in Seed funding led by FactoryHQ, with participation from Kalei Ventures, Capital X and other investors.

🇧🇴 Facia, a Bolivian AI enabled app for community safety, has raised $1M in funding led by Acelera Ventures.

E-Commerce and E-Commerce Enablement

🇮🇳 Zepto, an Indian quick commerce platform delivering groceries in 10 minutes, has raised $200M in Series E funding from Nexus Venture Partners, Goodwater Capital, and other investors.

🇲🇽 Leadsales, a Mexican startup helping small and medium enterprises manage sales through Whatsapp and social media, has raised $3.7M in Seed funding led by Ulu Ventures and Blue Pointe Ventures.

🇧🇷 Vendah, a Brazilian reseller platform offering home, kitchen, and baby items, has raised $2.4M in Seed funding led by Y Combinator.

🇲🇽 Devolut, a Mexican startup streamlining the returns process for online sellers in Latin America, has raised $600K in Pre-Seed funding from Seedstars International and other investors.

Edtech

🇮🇳 GradRight, an Indian startup helping students select their university majors and finance their education, has raised $6.1M in Series A funding from IvyCap Ventures.

🇮🇳 Codevidhya, an Indian startup providing online coding classes for kids, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from high net worth individuals and existing investors.

🇮🇳 SpaceBasic, an Indian startup automating everyday tasks and communication within universities and student housing communities, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Epic Angels.

Fintech

🇧🇷 Nomad, a Brazilian worldwide digital bank account, international debit card, and investment platform, has raised $61M in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, with participation from Stripes, Abstract, and other investors.

🇸🇬 Qashier, a Singapore based smart point of sale and payments solution for merchants, has raised $10M in Series A funding from Antler, Cocoon Capital, and other investors.

🇻🇳 MFast, a Vietnam based fintech startup connecting rural customers with reputable financial institutions, has raised $6M in Series A funding led by Wavemaker Partners.

🇵🇪 Prestamype, a Peruvian digital lending platform for micro and small enterprises in the country, has raised $5M in Pre-Series A funding led by ALIVE Ventures and Oikocredit.

🇧🇷 Cumbuca, a Brazilian fintech platform that allows users to share expenses with friends and family, has raised $3M in funding led by Lightspeed.

🇸🇬 Pi-xcels, a Singapore based startup that lets retailers issue digital receipts by tapping the customer’s smartphone, has raised $1.7M in Seed funding led by Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Hustle Fund.

🇦🇪 Maly, a UAE based financial wellness platform fostering healthier saving and investment habits, has raised $1.6M in Pre-Seed funding from angel investors.

🇵🇪 Rextie, a Peruvian currency exchange services platform, has raised a strategic investment from Citi Ventures.

🇮🇳 Rupid, an Indian financial wellness and earned wage access platform for employees, has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Seed funding from We Founder Circle, PedalStart, and other investors.

Healthtech

🇧🇷 Coala Saude, a Brazilian startup bringing quality healthcare to elementary and secondary schools, has raised $2.5M in Seed funding led by Owl Ventures.

🇮🇩 PrimaKu, an Indonesian healthcare platform providing child growth monitoring services, nutrition guidance, and vaccination and immunization services, has raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A funding led by Northstar Group and AppWorks.

HRtech

🇨🇱 Talana, a Chilean human capital management platform offering payment processing, digital signatures, and other services, has raised $8M in funding led by Venturance and Atlis.

Mobility

🇸🇬 Charged Asia, a Singapore based electric vehicle manufacturer selling e-bikes and providing e-bike rental services, has raised $40M in debt funding led by Geo Energy Resources.

Supply Chain and Logistics

🇸🇦 Rewaa, a Saudi Arabia based platform helping retailers sync their online and physical store inventory, has raised $27M in Series A funding led by Wa’Ed Ventures.

🇲🇽 Maqui, a Mexican B2B platform helping clothing brands optimize their supply chains, has raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding led by Marathon Ventures.

🇮🇳 India Index, an Indian B2B supply chain marketplace that allows international buyers to source from Indian suppliers, has raised $500K in Pre-Seed funding from angel investors.

🇮🇳 ZEVO, an Indian startup helping companies electrify their end to end supply chains through EVs and warehousing, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Agility Ventures.

🇲🇦 SLE3TI, a Morocco based B2B marketplace connecting FMCG retailers with suppliers, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Cash Plus VC.

Travel

🇮🇳 CheqUPI, an Indian startup building a UPI (Unified Payments Interface, India’s instant payments protocol) wallet for foreign nationals and travelers, has raised $500K from YCombinator as part of the S23 cohort.

🇧🇷 Bebook, a Brazilian SaaS platform for hotels to maximize revenue through optimizing guest rates, has raised $300K from LH Tech Ventures.

Local companies building for global markets.

The pandemic accelerated two ongoing trends; product-led growth and a digital go-to-market became the norm, and enterprises had to digitize faster than ever. Community driven growth happens online, and the API-fication of tech has leveled the playing field when it comes to building software. Global companies in business automation, software and data infrastructure, AI, future of work, and web3 can now be built from anywhere.

Devtools and Infrastructure

🇮🇳 Portkey.ai, an Indian startup that allows businesses to monitor their language model operations (LLMOps), connect with multiple LLMs, and experiment, improve, and manage prompts, has raised $3M in Seed funding led by Lightspeed.

Gaming

🇻🇳 VNG Corporation, a Vietnam based digital services ecosystem that gets the majority of its revenue from gaming, has filed for an IPO on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Horizontal SaaS

🇸🇬 FlashIntel, a Singapore based market intelligence and sales enablement platform, has raised $10M in Seed funding from UpHonest Capital and other investors.

🇲🇾 Mole, a Malaysian startup building an all-in-one networking platform and digital business card, has raised $110K in Pre-Seed funding from Antler.

Industrials and IoT

🇹🇳 SeekMake, a Tunisia based manufacturing network connecting users with manufacturers for rapid prototyping and quicker delivery of final products, has raised $539K in funding led by Lafayette Group.

Life Sciences

🇨🇱 Botanical Solutions, a Chilean biotech R&D platform for the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, has raised $7M in Series A funding led by Otter Capital.

Spacetech

🇮🇳 SatSure, an Indian startup using satellite data to provide decision intelligence across agriculture, infrastructure, and banking, financial services, and insurance, has raised $15M in Series A debt and equity funding led by Baring Private Equity Partners India and Promus Ventures.

Web3

🇦🇪 BitOasis, a UAE based platform to securely buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from CoinDCX, Wamda Capital, and Jump Capital.

🇦🇪 Lyvely, a UAE based monetization platform for content creators, freelancers, and self employed entrepreneurs, has raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding from Cypher Capital.

Who’s Investing

🇮🇳 Asha Ventures, an Indian climate and impact focused VC firm, is looking to raise $100M to support startups creating positive mass market financial impact in the country.

🇻🇳 Vietnam’s ThinkZone Ventures, an early stage VC firm, is looking to raise $50M for its third fund to support startups with global expansion plans.

🇵🇭 Philippines based VC fund Kaya Founders is targeting a $25M fund to invest in South East Asian startups, with a specific focus on Filipino companies.

🇮🇳 The Indian state of Karnataka has launched a seed fund of $3M to invest in deeptech and AI startups.

🇬🇧 🇮🇳 UK based global accelerator Entrepreneur First has announced that it will increase its initial investment in each Indian startup to $100K (up from $75K), as part of a renewed focus on the country.

🇮🇳 India’s 100x.vc is looking to fund 100 startups this year across different sectors. The firm has closed 47 deals so far in 2023.

🇰🇷 🇸🇬 Woori Venture Partners, a South Korea based VC firm and the country’s oldest, is expanding its footprint in South East Asia.

🇿🇦 🇰🇪 🇳🇬 Rural and agri-tech startups in Africa can apply for the Emerald Africa financing facility, which provides debt to early-stage digital innovators who are enabling greater access to finance for rural SMEs.

Place of the Week

There’s a whole world out there to explore. Here’s a guide to visiting the Okavango Delta.

Thank you for reading 🙏 

This newsletter is very early, and I’m exploring taking this in multiple different directions.

If you found this useful, share this with your friends and colleagues. 

Best,

Gautam