Emerging Markets Roundup: June 21 - June 27 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.

Based on feedback, I’ll be moving the Opportunities section (deep dive / analysis) to a separate email starting today. The goal is to keep both emails short enough to read in 5 minutes.

In its place, I’ll be highlighting interesting funding news and their implications in a short section at the top.

If you have any feedback on this change, or other suggestions, just reply back to this email.

In Today’s Newsletter

🇮🇳 ideaForge, a vertically integrated Indian drone manufacturer, sees pre-IPO success, indicating strong potential for the drone market in the country.

🇸🇬 Singapore based utu raises a $33M Series B to solve a peculiar but important problem for travelers and retailers - tax free shopping and refunds.

🇲🇽 Interest and opportunity for logistics in LatAm and particularly Mexico remains strong - Nuvocargo, a Mexican cross-border freight startup raises $36.5 from QED, Tiger, NFX and others.

🇰🇪 🇪🇹 Waste management and housing affordability in Africa get a fillip - Plug and Play backs Kubik to turn plastic into affordable building materials.

🇪🇬 Seedstars backed Agel seeks to improve financial inclusion in Egypt, by targeting the country’s niche but underserved Islamic finance market.

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.

Aerospace

🇮🇳 ideaForge, a vertically integrated Indian company designing and manufacturing drones for mapping, security, and surveillance, has raised ~$31.1M in pre-IPO funding from anchor investors.

🇮🇳 Bluj Aero, an Indian aerospace company building vertical take-off and landing freight aircraft powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology, has raised $2M in Seed funding led by Endiya Partners and Ideaspring Capital.

Agtech

🇻🇳 Foodmap, a Vietnamese startup connecting customers with ethical farmers and food suppliers, has raised $1M in Bridge funding.

Cleantech

🇸🇬 Apeiron Bioenergy, a Singaporean company converting food and agricultural waste into biodiesel, has raised $37M in debt funding.

🇨🇱 Ceibo, a Chilean mining technology company helping make mining more productive and sustainable, has raised $30M in Series B funding from Khosla Ventures, Unearth Capital, and others.

🇰🇪 🇪🇹 Kubik, a Kenya and Ethiopia based upcycling startup that turns hard to recycle plastic into affordable building materials, has raised $3.34M in Seed funding from Plug and Play, Savannah Fund, and others.

🇮🇳 SafEarth, an Indian technology platform helping businesses transition from thermal to solar energy to reduce their carbon emissions footprint, has raised $400K in funding led by Anthill Ventures, Third Derivative, and Mumbai Angels.

Consumer

🇮🇳 Utsav App, an Indian community-led marketplace for faith, devotion, festivals and other spiritual needs, has raised $244K in Seed funding led by India Quotient.

E-Commerce and E-Commerce Enablement

🇮🇳 The Mainstreet Marketplace, an Indian platform reselling sneakers, footwear, and other fashion items from brands around the world, has raised $2M in Seed funding from high profile investors.

🇰🇪 ShopZetu, a Kenyan e-commerce startup targeting young women in Africa, has raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding led by Chui Ventures.

Edtech

🇧🇷 Motrix, a Brazilian edtech platform with customizable content for elementary school teachers to provide personalized education with learning outcomes monitoring, has raised $2.9M in funding from Grupo Agathos.

Fintech

🇸🇬 utu, a Singaporean fintech company helping consumers get higher tax refunds on their tax free shopping purchases, has raised $33M in Series B funding led by SC Ventures.

🇮🇳 LendingKart, an Indian fintech company providing loans to small and medium sized businesses, has raised $24M in debt funding from EvolutionX Debt Capital.

🇧🇷 Asaas, a Brazilian fintech startup offering payment management and ERP services for small and medium sized businesses, has raised $20.9M in Series B Extension funding from Inovabra, Parallax Ventures, and others.

🇸🇬 dtcpay, a Singaporean fintech company helping businesses accept credit card, WeChat, and crypto payments, has raised $16.5M in pre-Series A funding from multiple investors.

🇧🇷 Kanastra, a Brazilian startup providing capital markets infrastructure, has raised $13M in Seed funding co-led by Valor Capital and Quona Capital, with participation from QED Investors, Endeavor, Clocktower, and others.

🇺🇸 Fivvy, a US based, LatAm focused fintech SaaS company helping banks offer personalized experiences to their customers, has raised $4M in funding from Global Ventures.

🇸🇬 ONEVIEW, a Singaporean bill payments platform, has raised $2.9M in Seed funding from ADERA Global, Beyon Connect, and Cumulo9.

🇮🇳 Navadhan, an Indian embedded finance platform connecting rural small businesses and non banking financial companies and banks, has raised $1.5M in Seed funding led by Varanium NexGen.

🇮🇳 Red Fort Capital, an Indian financial services company providing fast, flexible, secured business loans for small and medium sized businesses in India, has raised ~$1.4M in funding from IKF Finance and Om Usha Financial Services.

🇵🇰 Neem, a Pakistani embedded finance platform for underbanked communities, has raised $1M in funding from DNI Group.

🇪🇬 Agel, an Egyptian Islamic fintech company providing alternative financing options for the country’s micro, small and medium sized enterprises, has raised seven figures in Pre-Seed funding from Plus Venture Capital, Seedstars International, and others.

🇨🇩 Tuma, a DRC based fintech startup allowing merchants to receive card payments on their phones, has raised $500K in funding from Visa, Visible Hands, and others.

Healthtech

🇲🇽 Clivi, a Mexican healthcare platform specializing in diabetes care, has raised $10M in Seed funding co-led by Dalus Capital and Foundation Capital.

🇲🇽 SCAPE, a Mexican on-demand wellness platform offering massage and facial services, has raised $1.3M in funding from Amplifica Capital, Daedalus Ventures, and others.

🇮🇳 Karma Primary Healthcare, an Indian healthcare startup bridging the gaps in rural healthcare through its clinics and cloud platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Innospark Ventures and other investors.

🇿🇦 Zoie Health, a South African digital wellness platform for women, has raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed Extension funding.

Mobility

🇮🇳 BillionElectric, an e-mobility as a service platform providing electric buses and trucks, has raised $10M in Seed funding from various investors.

🇮🇳 Oben Electric, an Indian electric motorcycle and EV component manufacturer, has raised ~$4.9M in pre-Series A funding from Stride Ventures and other investors.

🇮🇳 Tummoc, an Indian transit technology platform offering multi-modal connectivity solutions for State Transport Authorities, has raised $1M in pre-Series A funding led by Inflection Point Ventures.

Proptech

🇮🇳 Crib, an Indian platform connecting landlords and individuals looking for rental accommodation, has raised $1.8M in Seed funding co-led by We Founder Circle and Rebright Partners.

🇮🇳 Truliv, an Indian startup providing co-living spaces and holiday homes, has raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding led by Conquest Global Ventures VCC.

Supply Chain and Logistics

🇲🇽 Nuvocargo, a Mexican startup simplifying cross-border freight operations between the US and Mexico, has raised $36.5M in Series B funding led by QED Investors, with participation from Tiger Global, NFX, and others.

🇦🇪 Transportr, a UAE based multi-modal digital freight marketplace connecting shippers and carriers, has raised eight figures in Seed funding led by Ittihad Ventures Holding.

🇮🇩 Baskit, an Indonesian B2B e-commerce company connecting FMCG wholesalers and distributors with stores, has raised $3.3M in Seed funding led by Betatron Venture Group.

🇮🇩 TransTRACK, an Indonesian startup helping companies digitize their fleet operations, has raised $2.1M in pre-Series A funding led by Ortus Star.

🇦🇪 HashMove, a UAE based B2B logistics platform connecting shippers, service providers, ports, and carriers, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre Series A funding led by Bunat 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.

Creator Economy

🇮🇩 Slice Group, an Indonesian startup connecting brands and creators, has raised $645K in Seed funding from Intudo Ventures and Arise.

Hardware

🇻🇳 🇺🇸 Earable Neuroscience, a Vietnam and US based company producing a headband to track and stimulate brain activity for sleep, focus, and relaxation, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Samsung Ventures.

Horizontal SaaS

🇮🇳 Rannkly, an Indian AI driven platform helping businesses streamline their online reputation management, has raised $185K in Seed funding led by 100x.vc.

Vertical SaaS

🇸🇬 Frontline, a Singaporean construction optimization platform, has raised $700K in Seed funding led by Cocoon Capital.

Who’s Investing

🇯🇵 🇨🇦 Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Canada’s Development Finance Body have launched a $1.5B platform to drive climate investment in emerging markets.

🇿🇦 🇩🇰 🇳🇱 South Africa, Denmark, and the Netherlands have collaborated to launch a $1B fund to invest in green hydrogen projects in South Africa.

🇺🇸 QED Investors, a US based fintech venture firm, has raised $1B for 2 funds to invest in fintech startups worldwide, with a particular focus on Latin America.

🇧🇷 🇺🇸 Bicycle Capital, a US and Brazil based venture firm, has announced the launch of a new $500M fund to invest in growth stage companies in Latin America.

🇮🇳 Arkam Ventures, an Indian venture firm, is targeting $180M to tap the “middle India opportunity” with their second fund.

🇮🇳 Avaana Capital, an Indian climate focused venture firm, has raised $70M for the first close of its Avaana Climate and Sustainability Fund.

🇮🇳 Lumikai, an Indian gaming focused venture firm, has announced the launch of its $50M second fund, with $25M already closed. The fund will invest in gaming, creator economy, infrastructure, applied game mechanics, and generative AI.

🇮🇳 Blume Ventures, an Indian venture firm, has raised $24.4M for the first close of its Fund 1Y, its opportunity and continuity fund to invest in winners in its existing portfolio who are likely to go public within a 3-5 year timeline.

🇨🇭🇹🇿 🇬🇭 🇸🇳 🇲🇦 🇪🇬 Seedstars and Fondation Botnar have announced the launch of Seedstars Youth Wellbeing Ventures to invest $20M in early-stage companies in Africa, with a focus on Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, and Egypt.

🇮🇳 🇺🇸 Dallas Venture Capital, a US and India based venture firm, has raised ~$7.3M in commitments from Self Reliant India Fund and NewcrestImage for its ~$42.7M India focused fund.

Place of the Week

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

Thank you for reading 🙏 

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

I’d love the feedback - please reply back with any suggestions, requests, or questions you have for me.

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If you liked this email, I highlight my take on these markets on my Twitter account as well.

Best,

Gautam