Emerging Markets Roundup: October 4 - October 10 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, a VC looking to invest where the growth is, or you want to stop falling behind on what’s happening in the rest of the world, this newsletter is for you.

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

Before we dive into it, I wanted to get feedback on a format change I’m considering.

Option 1 - The funding section stays as is.

Option 2 - Only the top 5 funding announcements are shown, with the rest linked to in a spreadsheet that you can filter as you wish. (this helps me free up real estate for other sections in the future).

Here’s this week’s spreadsheet, if you’re curious.

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

In Today’s Newsletter

🇮🇳 A few weeks back I wrote about the insurtech opportunity in emerging markets. Insurance penetration rates are woefully low across these countries (<5%) and distribution remains the biggest barrier to adoption. This week, InsuranceDekho and Onsurity raise a collective $84M in funding to improve access and bring employee insurance into the digital age.

🇸🇬 Like clockwork, most users of premium smartphones upgrade their devices every 2-3 years (sometimes less, if you’re an Apple fan), and laptops every 4 years or so. Singapore’s YC backed Circular takes this behavior to its logical conclusion; what if you could pay a subscription fee and have new devices show up to your door when you need to upgrade?

🇨🇴 Huge energy bills leave you scratching your head? Colombia’s Bia is bringing utilities into the digital age. The company provides businesses with a next-gen smart meter and software platform to analyze energy consumption with real-time analytics, helping them save money (and the environment). In countries with unreliable grids, this becomes even more important to solve.

🇸🇳 Imagine you’re P&G’s Africa head, where most of your brands are sold in the countless informal stores across the continent. There’s little way to know how you’re doing at the local level; you’re extrapolating based on reports from your distributors. Senegal’s Lengo AI is attempting to solve this by providing real-time performance data on product sales.

🇦🇪 Want to experience Paris like Emily, but don’t know where to start? UAE’s Dharma allows travelers to book curated travel experiences with their favorite wellness influencer, allowing users to experience a place the way they imagine it. The creator economy is moving beyond influencer led marketing, with premium experiences giving fans access and creators new income streams.

Who’s Getting Funded (Spreadsheet linked here)

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

🇵🇭 Kita Agritech, a Philippines based AI platform to help farmers earn income by allowing them to sell directly to B2B clients in the hospitality industry, has raised $3M in Seed funding led by Gentree Fund and Altara Ventures.

🇧🇷 Brota, a Brazilian agtech firm developing plants and gardens users can keep at home, has raised $200K in Series A funding.

Cleantech

🇨🇴 Bia, a Colombian smart meter and energy consumption analysis platform with real-time analytics, has raised $16.5M in Series A funding led by Kaszek.

🇳🇬 WATT, a Nigerian energy-as-a-service hybrid solar solutions provider to mobile network operators, financial services, and commercial and industrial businesses, has raised $13M in funding from Empower New Energy.

Consumer, Community and Sports

🇮🇩 KarmaClub, an Indonesian private angel network, has raised $14M in Seed funding.

🇸🇬 Circular, a Singapore based tech subscription service to get the latest devices from technology brands, has raised $7.6M in Seed funding led by AirTree Ventures, with participation from YC Continuity Fund.

E-Commerce and E-Commerce Enablement

🇮🇳 Shiprocket, an Indian logistics fulfilment services platform for D2C brands and longtail sellers, has raised $11M in Series E Extension funding from McKinsey.

🇮🇳 Meolaa, an Indian e-commerce marketplace for sustainable products, has raised $2M in funding from Turbostart.

🇮🇳 Oyela, an Indian collaborative commerce platform for emerging social businesses, product creators, and artists to sell to their audience and grow their businesses, has raised $1.7M in Seed funding led by Prime Venture Partners.

🇲🇾 Ejen2U, a Malaysian digital reseller ecosystem for businesses to manage their stockists, agents, and dropships, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre Series A funding led by Gobi Partners.

🇸🇳 Lengo AI, a Senegal based SaaS platform providing real-time performance data on product sales to FMCG brands selling through informal retailers in Africa, has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Seed funding led by Acasia Ventures.

Edtech

🇮🇳 Pep, an Indian mobile-first, social-first online marketplace where users can discover, buy, or sell content and services in a variety of formats, has raised $2.5M in Seed funding led by India Quotient.

Fintech

🇮🇩 Investree, an Indonesian company providing invoice financing, working capital loans, buyer financing and micro productive loans for MSME’s, has raised $230.8M in Series D funding led by JTA International Holding.

🇨🇴 Cobre, a Colombian treasury management and payment processing platform for businesses in Latin America, has raised $13M in funding from Kaszek, with participation from QED Investors.

🇦🇪 Zest Equity, a UAE based digital infrastructure platform for private market transactions empowering access to venture, has raised $3.8M in Seed funding led by Middle East Venture Partners.

🇮🇳 DPDZero, an Indian fintech infrastructure platform helping lenders scale their collections, has raised $3.25M in Seed funding led by Blume Ventures and India Quotient.

🇯🇴 Capifly, a Jordan based non-dilutive sharia-compliant venture debt platform for growth startups, has raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding from Oasis500 and other investors.

🇮🇳 Altitude, an Indian fintech platform developing mutual funds for alternative assets, has raised $500K in Pre-Seed funding from angel investors.

🇮🇩 Alami Group, an Indonesian P2P lending Islamic fintech connecting funders and business owners, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by Intudo Ventures, with participation from East Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures.

Healthtech

🇮🇩 Good Doctor, an Indonesian integrated healthcare provider providing telemedicine services, has raised $10M in Series A funding led by MDI Ventures, with participation from Grab.

🇮🇳 FlexifyMe, an Indian physiotherapy and yoga driven chronic pain management platform and AI motion coach, has raised $1M in Seed funding led by Flipkart Ventures.

HRTech

🇸🇦 Jisr, a Saudi Arabia based end to end platform digitizing human resources operations for the local market, has raised $30M in Series A funding led by Merak Capital.

🇮🇳 YouVah, an Indian internship platform for teenagers, has raised $210K in Pre-Seed funding from IIM Ahmedabad and other investors.

Insurtech

🇮🇳 InsuranceDekho, an Indian insurance platform allowing consumers to compare different policies and purchase suitable plans, has raised $60M in Series B funding led by MUFG.

🇮🇳 Onsurity, an Indian platform providing employee healthcare benefits, has raised $24M in Series B funding led by IFC, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Quona Capital.

🇪🇬 Amenli, an Egyptian platform providing tailored insurance plans for individuals, families, and small and medium sized business, has raised $1M in funding led by Alter Global.

Mobility

🇨🇱 Galgo, a Chilean platform providing vehicle financing for the financially underserved, has raised $40M in funding led by Nazca.

🇮🇳 Bolt Earth, an Indian EV charging infrastructure and software provider for businesses, homes, and fleets, has raised $20M in Series B funding with participation from Union Square Ventures.

🇮🇳 Nawgati, an Indian intelligent congestion and compliance management platform for fuel stations, has raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding led by All In Capital.

Proptech

🇧🇷 CondoConta, a Brazilian real estate bank for condominium property managers and administrators, has raised $5.8M in funding from EXT Capital.

🇹🇭 Horganice, a Thailand based landlord and tenant management platform, has raised $970K in Series A funding led by CyberAgent Capital.

🇲🇾 Worq, a Malaysian co-working space provider, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre Series B funding from Phillip Capital.

Regtech and Legaltech

🇮🇳 AuditCue, an Indian risk, audit, vendor compliance, and industry compliance SaaS platform, has raised $1.5M in Seed funding led by Kalaari Capital.

🇦🇪 App4Legal, a UAE based legaltech platform providing comprehensive legal practice management and contract lifecycle management solutions, has raised seven figures in funding led by Aditum Ventures.

Supply Chain and Logistics

🇮🇳 Bizongo, an Indian B2B e-commerce platform digitizing vendor operations and providing embedded financing for enterprises, has raised $50M in Series E funding led by Schroder Adveq, with participation from IFC and B Capital.

🇸🇬 Freightify, a Singapore based rate automation platform for freight forwarders, has raised $2.4M in funding from Peak XV Partners.

🇮🇳 FreightFox, an Indian platform to streamline and optimize first-mile supply chain operations, has raised $600K in Seed funding led by Aeravti Ventures.

Travel

🇦🇪 Dharma, a UAE based platform allowing travelers to book experiences hosted by their favorite chef or wellness influencer, has raised $4.7M in pre Series A funding led by Convivialite Ventures.

🇮🇳 Exoticamp, an Indian camping and glamping experiences discovery platform, has raised $481K in funding from angel investors.

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.

Horizontal SaaS

🇮🇳 SuperOps AI, an Indian platform to simplify IT management processes and workflows of Managed Service Providers (MSPs), has raised $12.4M in Series B funding led by Addition and March Capital, with participation from Matrix Partners India.

🇸🇬 🇺🇸 AamPe, a Singapore based AI Platform to help marketers improve customer engagement through personalized messaging, has raised $7.5M in pre Series A funding led by Peak XV and Matrix Partners.

🇮🇳 ClearFeed, an Indian AI powered conversational support platform for Slack, has raised $2.7M in Seed funding led by Peak XV's Surge.

Life Sciences and Biotech

🇮🇳 Answer Genomics, an Indian ML powered genomics platform providing personalized advice for health and lifestyle ailments, has raised $500K in pre Series A funding led by Inflection Point Ventures.

Robotics

🇻🇳 Vulcan Augmetics, a Vietnam based developer of biometric sensors and robot prosthetics, has raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding from Quest Ventures.

Who’s Investing

🇧🇷 Latin America based Kaszek Ventures has allocated $1B to invest in businesses in the region.

🇯🇵 🇮🇳 The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) are jointly launching an India-Japan Fund of $588M to invest in sustainability.

🇿🇦 🇰🇪 🇲🇺 Alterra Capital Partners has raised $140M in the first close of its $500M fund.

🇸🇬 Singapore’s DSGCP, a consumer focused VC firm, has announced the close of its Fund 4 at $114M.

🇯🇵 Japan based Beyond Next Ventures has raised $67.7M for its Fund 3 to invest in early-stage, deeptech, Asian startups.

🇿🇦 Sanari Capital, a women-led and majority Black- and women-owned South African private equity firm, has raised $65M for its growth fund.

🇲🇺 Leapfrog Investments has raised $50M from the IFC to invest in healthcare, financial services, and climate solutions in Africa, South and Southeast Asia.

🇲🇾 Malaysia’s Investment Development Authority has unveiled a set of new funding initiatives to accelerate domestic and foreign startup investments.

🇨🇦 🇺🇸 🇰🇭 🇮🇩 🇵🇭 🇻🇳 Multinational insurance company Manulife and nonprofit microfinance company Kiva have announced a partnership to finance microentrepreneurs in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Place of the Week

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

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