Emerging Markets Roundup: June 28 - July 4 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

🇮🇳 Scapia, a credit card built for Indian travelers, raises $9M from Matrix Partners on the back of the fastest growing outbound travel market in the world.

🇸🇬 🇮🇩 Foodtech takes the spotlight in South East Asia with eFishery’s Series D and Ento Industries’ funding - Singapore positions itself as the continent’s food innovation hub, while Indonesia taps into its vast coastline.

🇧🇷 🇲🇽 Proptech gains momentum in Latin America with funding rounds for Brazil’s SuaQuadra and Mexico’s Spakio, following La Haus’ NFX backed raise two weeks ago.

🇬🇭 🇬🇧 Lightspeed Ventures makes its debut in Africa, backing Berry Health alongside General Catalyst to combat the continent’s high suicide rates and mental and sexual health challenges.

🇨🇭 🇦🇪 Shariah-compliant crypto Islamic Coin secures $200M, highlighting the value of targeting differentiated customer segments within the space and drawing attention to Dubai’s thriving crypto scene.

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

🇮🇩 eFishery, an Indonesian company supporting aquaculture farmers through B2B and supplier marketplaces, smart feeding systems, and financing, has raised $47.7M in Series D financing from investors.

🇸🇬 Ento Industries, a Singaporean biotech company converting food waste to feed and fertilizer through insects, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from investors.

Cleantech

🇸🇬 NEU Battery Materials, a Singaporean lithium-ion battery recycling company, has raised $3.7M in Seed funding led by SGInnovate.

Consumer

🇲🇽 Glitzi, a Mexican at-home beauty and spa platform connecting customers with beauty professionals, has raised $2.8M in venture funding led by Act One Ventures, Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, and Gaingels.

E-Commerce and E-Commerce Enablement

🇸🇬 Zalora, a Singapore based online fashion retailer for South East Asia, has raised $32.6M from parent company Global Fashion Group.

🇸🇬 Needle, a Singaporean AI powered marketing platform helping e-commerce brands with their marketing activities, has raised $1.2M in Pre-Seed funding led by Iterative.

🇨🇴 Celes, a Colombian AI and analytics platform helping retail small businesses manage data, has raised $1M in Seed funding led by Primeline Group.

🇮🇳 Zippee, an Indian same-day delivery platform partnering with D2C brands in F&B, beauty, wellness, and pet care, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from food brand Haldiram’s and other investors.

Edtech

🇮🇳 Leverage Edu, an Indian study abroad platform helping students with course shortlisting, applications, visas, and educational loans, has raised $40M in Series C funding led by language testing conglomerate ETS.

Fintech

🇮🇳 Scapia, an Indian credit card built for travelers, has raised $9M in Seed funding led by Matrix Partners India.

🇮🇳 ZestMoney, an Indian fintech company providing digital EMIs (equated monthly installments) without the need for a credit card or credit score, has raised $5-7M from existing investors Quona Capital, Omidyar, Flourish VC, and others.

🇳🇬 Zuvy, a Nigerian invoice financing company for FMCG, healthcare, and supply chain, has raised $4.5M in debt and equity funding led by TLG Capital.

🇨🇱 Shinkansen, a Chilean payments platform that offers a single API to automate payments across banks in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, has raised $3M in Seed funding led by ALLVP.

🇮🇳 50Fin, an Indian fintech company providing instant loans against mutual funds and shares, has raised $525K in Pre-Seed funding led by 100X.VC, Keynote Capital, and Arun Venkatachalam.

🇸🇬 Sunrate, a Singaporean fintech platform providing cross-border payments and treasury management solutions for businesses in emerging markets, has raised an undisclosed amount of Series D-1 funding led by Prosperity7 Ventures.

Healthtech

🇸🇬 Lion TCR, a Singaporean biotech company developing treatment for solid cancers (breast, thyroid, pancreatic) and chronic viral diseases like Hepatitis B, has raised $40M in Series B2 funding led by Guangzhou Industrial Investment and Capital Operation Holding Group.

🇰🇪 MYDAWA, a Kenyan e-pharmacy platform offering health services through online and physical stores, has raised $20M in funding from Alta Semper Capital.

🇮🇳 WatchYourHealth, an Indian health tech enterprise SaaS platform driving customer engagement through patient support and monitoring, disease management, and rewards, has raised $2.2M in Seed funding from Conquest Global Ventures.

🇬🇭 🇬🇧 Berry Health, a Ghanaian, UK based health tech company focused on mitigating mental and sexual stigma in Africa, has raised $1.6M in Pre-Seed funding co-led by Lightspeed Ventures and General Catalyst.

HRTech

🇮🇳 Smartstaff, an Indian blue collar staffing platform for workforce recruitment, management, and retention, has raised $6.2M in Series A funding from Nexus Ventures, Arkam Ventures, Blume Ventures and others.

Mobility

🇮🇳 Vegh, an Indian EV scooter manufacturer, has raised $5M in funding from various investors.

🇲🇾 iMotorbike, a Malaysian e-commerce marketplace for pre-owned motorcycles, has raised $2.6M in Series A funding led by Gobi Partners and Ondine Capital.

🇮🇳 Finayo, an Indian EV asset and lending management platform connecting lenders, original equipment manufacturers, dealers, and EV buyers, has raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding led by iAngels Network.

Proptech

🇧🇷 SuaQuadra, a Brazilian B2B marketplace for commercial real estate and lease management, has raised $4.25M in Seed funding led by Kaszek.

🇲🇽 Spakio, a Mexican company helping families store physical items and manage them digitally, has raised $2M in Seed funding led by Variv and other investors.

🇮🇳 Reloy, an Indian proptech helping realtors generate referral sales, has raised ~$875K in Pre-Series A2 funding from investors.

Supply Chain and Logistics

🇸🇦 Nomu, a food supply chain company for hotels, restaurants and families, has raised $5M in Seed funding from DIV Capital and others.

🇦🇷 Moova, an Argentinian last-mile logistics platform allowing companies with unused capacity to take on B2B on-demand shipments, has raised $5M in venture funding led by Toyota Tsusho Corporation.

🇲🇦 Chari, a Moroccan e-commerce and fintech app for traditional retailers to order fast-moving consumer goods, has raised $1.5M from Verof-Kepple Africa Ventures.

🇵🇪 Zuru, a Peruvian startup providing small businesses involved in foreign trade and supply chain access to high-quality cargo insurance, has raised $680K in Pre-Seed funding led by Carabela VC.

🇰🇪 Revivo, a Kenyan B2B marketplace for electronic spare parts, accessories, and repair tools, has raised $635K in Pre-Seed funding from Village Global and others.

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.

Gaming

🇮🇳 Qlan, an Indian social networking app for gamers and esports fans, has raised $200K in Pre-Seed funding from Marwah Sports and other investors.

Horizontal SaaS

🇮🇳 KaarTech, an Indian digital transformation company providing IP and digital services in the SAP ecosystem, has raised $30M in funding from A91 Partners.

🇸🇬 OneView, a Singaporean company digitizing postal documents such as utility bills, government documents, and bank statements for businesses, has raised $2.9M in Seed funding from ADERA Global and other investors.

🇮🇳 InCruiter, an Indian Interview as a Service platform, has raised ~$24K in debt funding from the Indian Government under the Startup India Scheme.

Vertical SaaS

🇮🇳 Frigate, an Indian cloud manufacturing company providing fabrication, 3D printing, and CNC machining services to original equipment manufacturers and small businesses, has raised $1.5M in Seed funding led by Arali Ventures.

Web3

🇨🇭 🇦🇪 Islamic Coin, a Switzerland based cryptocurrency for Muslims looking for Shariah-compliant crypto, has raised $200M from Alpha Blue Ocean’s ABO Digital.

🇹🇭 Bitkub, a Thai crypto exchange allowing users to buy, sell, and store crypto, has raised $17.8M in funding after selling a 9.22% stake to Asphere Innovations.

Who’s Investing

🇺🇸 RTP Global, an early stage venture firm, has announced a new $1B fund, with a third of the capital earmarked for investments in India and South East Asia.

🇮🇳 Epiq Capital, an Indian growth and late stage technology investment firm, has marked the final close of its $225M Fund II to invest in the $5T digital India opportunity.

🇮🇳 Omnivore, an Indian impact venture fund, has announced the first close of its third fund at $150M. The fund will focus on companies building breakthrough technology for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy.

🇰🇷 SV Investment, a South Korea based VC and PE firm, has launched an $80-$100M fund to invest in South East Asia.

🇮🇳 Good Capital, an Indian early stage VC firm, has announced its second fund with a target of $50M, to invest in startups using AI for distribution, personalization or operations.

🇮🇳 Varanium Capital, an Indian asset management firm, has launched a $30.5M venture debt fund to back 100 Indian startups.

🇮🇳 🇺🇸 Meta has announced a $250K fund for five Indian startups to build apps and experiences on the company’s Presence Platform.

🇸🇬 First Move, a new pre seed venture fund out of Singapore, has launched to support consumer focused e-commerce, fintech, and health tech startups in South East Asia.

Place of the Week

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

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