Emerging Markets Roundup: July 26 - August 1 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

🇮🇳 What if you could browse and compare the same item on all e-commerce stores at once? India’s Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) promises to democratize e-commerce for buyers and small sellers and end platform monopolies. Plotch.ai, which raised its pre-seed this week from Peak XV and others, is enabling buyers and sellers to move to this new paradigm.

🇸🇬 🇮🇳 Connectivity is king. Singapore’s Airalo raises $60M to give travelers data wherever they go through virtual sims, while India’s Wiom works on bringing affordable, unlimited home internet to the middle class.

🇲🇽 Mexican startups find smart ways to drive sustainability. YC backed Bright installs solar infrastructure for free (but charges for the electricity), while Amazon backed Kigui fights food waste by offering grocery shoppers discounts to buy products near their expiration date.

🇳🇬 Open air medicine markets, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and high prices characterize much of Nigeria’s and Africa’s healthcare supply chain today. Remedial Health gets QED backing to solve these problems, despite an overall decline in startups in the sector.

🇦🇪 🇸🇦 Insurtech takes center stage in MENA. The region lags its global counterparts in terms of insurance penetration, but new startups are changing that. UAE’s Wellx rewards healthy habits with lower premiums, while Saudi Arabia’s DESAISIV uses predictive AI to improve the insurance process.

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.

Agtech

🇮🇩 Beleaf Farms, an Indonesian farming-as-a-service platform helping farmers connect with agronomists and retailers and increase yields through technology, has raised $6.9M in Series A funding led by Alpha JWC Ventures.

🇰🇪 FarmWorks, a Kenyan agtech startup helping farmers access farm inputs and connecting them with markets for their produce, has raised $4.1M in Pre-Series A funding led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund.

🇮🇳 Nutrifresh, an Indian agtech startup producing hydroponically grown fruits and vegetables free of chemicals and residues, has raised funding from SBICAP Ventures Neev II Fund.

Cleantech

🇲🇽 Bright, a Mexican solar energy startup that provides homes and businesses with access to solar energy without them having to bear the infrastructure cost, has raised $35.5M in Series C funding led by the Investment Fund for Developing Countries.

🇮🇳 The Fuel Delivery, an Indian diesel delivery app for manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics and other sectors, has raised $2M in funding from Drake Trade and Investment.

🇮🇳 Newtral.io, an Indian AI-enabled carbon accounting platform for enterprises, has raised ~$78K in funding led by PedalStart.

Connectivity

🇸🇬 Airalo, a Singapore based marketplace providing travelers with instant connectivity through virtual eSIM packages, has raised $60M in Series B funding led by UAE based Etisalat’s e& Capital.

🇮🇳 Wiom, an Indian telecom startup providing affordable and unlimited internet to middle and lower middle income households, has raised $17.1M in Series A funding led by RTP Global.

E-Commerce and E-Commerce Enablement

🇮🇳 Plotch.ai, an Indian infrastructure startup helping companies get set up on India’s open e-commerce platform ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Seed funding led by Antler India, with participation from Peak XV and Global Founders Capital.

Edtech

🇧🇷 Apprenty, a Brazilian edtech platform providing training and skill development programs for young people, has raised $1.6M in funding led by Canary.

🇸🇬 Cerebry, a Singapore based AI enabled homework practice and revision platform for students, has raised $1M in Seed funding led by Ascend Vietnam Ventures.

Fintech

🇳🇬 Traction, a Nigeria based platform giving small businesses access to credit facilities, business tools, and payment options, has raised $6M in Seed funding led by Multiply Ventures and Ventures Platform.

🇮🇳 RupeeRedee, an Indian lending platform providing instant personal loans, has raised $3.5M in funding from Digital Finance International for its financial entity FincFriends.

🇮🇳 LeRemitt, an Indian fintech platform enabling streamlined cross-border money transfers and instant access to funds for micro, small, and medium enterprises, has raised $1.25M in Seed funding led by Axilor Ventures.

🇸🇬 Sunrate, a Singapore based cross-border payment platform allowing businesses to make international payments and transact in different currencies, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series D-2 funding from Peak XV Partners, Softbank Ventures Asia, and others.

Foodtech

🇲🇽 Kigui, a Mexican foodtech startup addressing food waste by allowing supermarket shoppers to save upto 60% on products nearing their expiration date, has raised $250K in funding from Amazon.

Healthtech

🇮🇩 Halodoc, an Indonesian healthcare platform connecting consumers with a network of medical practitioners, hospitals, and pharmacies, has raised $100M in Series D funding led by Astra Digital International.

🇳🇬 Remedial Health, a Nigeria based YC backed procurement and pharmacy operations platform for healthcare providers, has raised $12M in equity and debt funding co-led by QED Investors and Ventures Platform.

🇦🇪 UDENZ, a UAE based dental healthcare engagement platform for dentists and patients, has raised $5M in Series A funding from Hakim Capital Holding and others.

🇹🇭 HD, a Thailand based healthcare and surgery marketplace connecting patients with healthcare providers, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from FEBE Ventures.

Insurtech

🇦🇪 Wellx, a UAE based embedded insurance platform that rewards users for building long-term healthy habits, has raised $2M in Seed funding led by Dubai Future District Fund.

🇸🇦 DESAISIV, a Saudi Arabia based AI SaaS platform leveraging patient data to optimize the insurance process for medical insurance companies and third party administrators, has raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding from 500 Global and other investors.

Legaltech

🇲🇽 ConfiAbogado, a Mexican legaltech startup providing affordable legal solutions for civil, commercial, labor and family litigation, has raised $1.65M in Seed funding led by Tuesday Capital.

Proptech

🇨🇴 Licify, a Colombian procurement management, financing, and compliance platform for real estate developers, contractors, and suppliers, has raised $3.4M in Seed funding led by Brick and Mortar Ventures and Accion Venture Lab.

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

🇸🇬 Aethir, a Singapore based company building scalable decentralized cloud infrastructure for gaming and AI, has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Series A funding led by Sanctor Capital, HashKey Capital, Merit Circle, and CitizenX.

Horizontal SaaS 

🇮🇳 Kapture CX, an Indian AI-driven omni-channel customer support platform for enterprises, has raised $4M in Series A funding led by Cactus Venture Partners.

Life Sciences

🇸🇬 Mirxes Holding, a Singapore based cancer early detection company producing a stomach cancer blood test, has raised $50M in Series D funding from Fupu Capital and others.

Who’s Investing

🇺🇸 Goodwater Capital, a US-based VC firm that actively invests in Asia, has announced $1B in capital commitments for its two new funds to invest in early and growth stage consumer tech startups.

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s Government has announced a ~$165M fund to support small businesses and startups in the country.

🇮🇳 Together Fund, an Indian SaaS and AI focused venture firm, has announced the first close of its second early stage fund at $150M to invest in Seed and Series A startups.

🇿🇦 REdimension Capital, a South Africa based investment firm, has announced the first close of its ~$10M fund to invest in early-stage proptech companies.

🇮🇳 LC Nueva, an Indian sector agnostic Pre-Series A and Series A fund, has raised ~$6M from Small Industries Development Bank of India for its Alternate Investment Fund.

🇸🇬 🇮🇳 🇮🇩 🇻🇳 Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC is looking to make more investments in India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, as businesses continue to diversify away from China.

🇪🇬 🇸🇦 EdVentures, an Egypt based edtech focused corporate VC, and VMS, a Saudi Arabia based venture studio, have announced a partnership to drive edtech investment and innovation in the region.

Place of the Week

There’s a whole world out there to explore. Here’s a guide to visiting Kerala’s Backwaters.

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