Emerging Markets Roundup: September 20 - September 26 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.

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In Today’s Newsletter

🇮🇳 Anyone with a non first world country passport knows how painful it is to get a tourist visa - appointments need to be taken months in advance, and the paperwork required is the thickness of a book. India’s Atlys brings the whole process online for more than 100 countries - leveraging data to reduce application time and increase approval rates.

🇸🇬 The largest ever Series B for an insurtech; Singapore’s Bolttech raises $246M to support over 6,000 insurance products from 230 insurers and 700 distribution partners. Bolttech allows businesses to embed insurance at the point of need for their customers - think device protection when you buy a new phone, allowing them to ride the region’s increasing demand for insurance.

🇧🇷 Supply chain issues, unemployment, crime; Tiger and QED backed Mottu solves a range of social issues with its unique model. The company provides motorcyle rentals, credit, insurance, & maintenance to logistics and food delivery couriers, many of whom were previously unemployed or have low credit scores. If the company doesn’t get paid, the bike doesn’t work.

🇬🇭 Smallholder farms represent the majority of farming in the developing world, and Africa is no exception. These farms suffer from reduced efficiency across the value chain from outdated practices and mismatched demand. Ghana’s Complete Farmer introduces farmers to new crops, sustainable farming practices, and premium markets, resulting in improved yields.

🇦🇪 The Qatar world cup and the transfers of Ronaldo, Neymar, Benzema to the Saudi league; it’s no exaggeration to say that football in the Middle East is taking off. Fanzword, a UAE based football fan engagement platform is the case of perfect timing; the company’s user base grew 120x last year to 250K downloads, helping it raise a $1.2M Pre-Seed.

Wins

Companies in my portfolio that raised this week!

🇮🇳 Kuku FM, an Indian vernacular audio content platform, has raised $25M in Series C funding led by the IFC and the Fundamentum Partnership.

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

🇮🇳 InsideFPV, an Indian drone manufacturer, has raised $3.5M in funding led by Mumbai Angels.

Agtech

🇧🇷 Nagro, a Brazilian provider of credit solutions for rural producers, has raised $49M in equity and debt funding from Kinea Ventures and other investors.

🇬🇭 Complete Farmer, a Ghanaian agricultural marketplace connecting African farmers to markets, resources, and data, has raised $10.4M in debt and equity Pre-Series A funding led by ARAF and Alitheia Capital.

🇮🇳 Ergos, an Indian platform helping farmers transform their produce into digital assets that can be traded, has raised $10M in debt and equity Series B funding led by Nordic.

Cleantech

🇦🇪 Zero Carbon Ventures, a UAE based company bringing carbon reduction technologies to the region, has raised $5M in Seed funding from angel investors.

🇮🇳 Aurassure, an Indian startup using IoT to collect real-time data and provide accurate forecasting on changing weather patterns and disasters, has raised ~$480K in Seed funding led by Unicorn India Ventures.

Consumer, Community and Sports

🇮🇳 Eloelo, an Indian live social entertainment platform, has raised $22M in pre Series B funding led by Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners.

🇧🇷 Mission Brasil, a Brazilian on-demand services platform, has raised $1.3M in funding led by Domo Invest and Headline Brasil.

🇦🇪 Fanzword, a UAE based football fan engagement platform, has raised $1.2M in Pre-Seed funding led by XVC Tech.

E-Commerce and E-Commerce Enablement

🇧🇷 Daki, a Brazilian fast grocery delivery services provider, has raised $50M in Series D funding led by Convivialite Ventures, with participation from GGV, Greycroft, Tiger Global, and other investors.

🇮🇳 Streetz Hyperlocal, an Indian high-end fashion and gifts marketplace that sources from local shops, has raised $1.1M in Seed funding.

Edtech

🇮🇳 AltUni, an Indian career counseling and online courses and certifications platform, has raised $500K in funding from India Angel Network.

🇮🇳 GoSharpener, an Indian startup building a global student networking platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Seed funding.

🇮🇳 Leverage Edu, an Indian study abroad platform helping students with course shortlisting, applications, visas, and educational loans, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from the Lohia family office.

Fintech 

🇮🇳 Castler, an Indian platform automating the escrow process and allowing users to manage payments and settlements, has raised $5.5M in pre Series A funding led by Capital 2B and IIFL Fintech Fund.

🇮🇳 Data Sutram, an Indian B2B SaaS platform helping banks and financial institutions with market, customer, business, and risk intelligence, has raised $3M in funding led by Bharat Fund.

🇸🇬 CrossFund, a Singapore based early stage investment platform, has raised $1.5M in funding.

🇨🇱 Infocheck, a Chilean company simplifying risk assessment for companies of all sizes, has raised $350K in crowdfunding through Broota.

Healthtech

🇮🇩 Zi.care, an Indonesia based platform to help hospitals manage and speed up their administrative processes, has raised $3M in Series A funding led by Greenwillow Capital Management.

🇮🇳 Peping, an Indian digital clinic for end to end gastrointestinal care, has raised $400K in funding led by Better Capital.

🇮🇳 Dial4242, an Indian ambulance services provider, has raised ~$120K in Seed funding from angel investors.

🇲🇾 Kiddocare, a Malaysia based on-demand caregiving platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre Series A funding led by Artem Ventures.

Insurtech

🇸🇬 Bolttech, a Singapore based embedded insurtech platform, has raised an additional $50M in Series B funding (total: $246M) led by LeapFrog Investments.

Mobility

🇮🇳 Everest Fleet, an Indian fleet management company supplying cars to taxi aggregators, has raised $6M in funding from Paragon Partners.

🇮🇳 Raptee, an Indian manufacturer of premium EV two wheelers, has raised $3M in pre Series A funding led by Bluehill Capital.

🇳🇬 Fixit45, a Nigerian startup optimizing the automotive spare parts supply chain, has raised $1.9M in Pre-Seed funding led by Launch Africa Ventures.

🇮🇳 Nikol EV, an Indian startup building out electric vehicle charging infrastructure, has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Seed funding from EvolveX.

Regtech and Legaltech

🇮🇳 Legistify, an Indian SaaS platform helping enterprise companies streamline contract management and enforce IP protection, has raised $4M in Series A funding from Indiamart, Titan VC, and other investors.

Supply Chain and Logistics

🇧🇷 Mottu, a Brazilian company providing motorcycle rental and last mile logistics services, has raised $50M in Series C funding led by Bicycle Capital and QED.

🇲🇽 Mundi, a Mexican fintech platform simplifying international trade in Latin America, has raised $15M in Series A-2 funding led by Haymaker Ventures, with participation from Union Square Ventures and other investors.

🇵🇰 Truckistan Technologies, a Pakistan based less-than-truckload platform, has raised $1M in Seed funding from Reflect Ventures and other investors.

Travel

🇮🇳 Atlys, an Indian platform allowing users to apply for tourist visas online, has raised $12M in Series A funding from Elevation Capital and Peak XV Partners.

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.

Cybersecurity

🇦🇪 Cypherleak, a UAE based cyber risk monitoring and scoring platform for smaller companies, has raised $750K in Seed funding from regional investors.

Hardware, Robotics, Industrials, and IoT

🇮🇳 Autocracy Machinery, an Indian manufacturer of trenching, turf, and construction machinery, has raised $1.2M in Seed funding led by Venture Catalysts.

🇮🇳 DeltaFour, an Indian, AI powered digitization platform for industrial processes, has raised an undisclosed amount of Pre-Seed funding led by EvolveX.

Horizontal SaaS

🇲🇾 NexMind, a Malaysia based AI powered multilingual digital marketing platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of Seed funding from 500 Global.

Web3

🇦🇪 Fuze, a UAE based infrastructure provider enabling banks and enterprises to offer regulated digital asset products to their customers, has raised $14M in Seed funding led by Further Ventures.

🇦🇪 Cultos Global, a UAE based platform providing brands with tools to establish their own brand token and rewards systems, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from angel investors.

Who’s Investing

🇬🇧 HSBC Holdings has committed $1B to support emerging climate tech startups from around the world.

🇮🇳 Creaegis, an Indian PE firm, has announced the first close of its maiden fund to invest in homegrown startups at $425M.

🇮🇳 Trifecta Capital, an India based venture debt firm, has announced the final close of its third fund at ~$213M.

🇲🇾 Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), Malaysia’s public service retirement fund, has launched a $106.7M fund to invest in the country’s startups and VC funds.

🇧🇷 Brazilian pharmaceutical company Eurofarma has announced the launch of a new $100M fund, Eurofarma Ventures, to invest in biotech companies.

🇮🇳 Antler India has announced the first close of its maiden Pre-Seed fund at ~$60M.

🇯🇵 🇮🇳 🇸🇬 Incubate Fund Asia, a Japan based venture firm, has announced the first close of its $50M fund to back startups in India and SE Asia.

🇸🇬 Sweef Capital, a Singapore based, women-led impact investment firm, has raised $37M for the fourth close of its maiden fund.

🇺🇸 🇲🇺 P1 Ventures, a US based, pan-African fund, has completed the first $25M close of its second fund.

🇪🇸 Wayra Hispam, Telefonica Movistar’s corporate investment fund, plans to invest $1.4M in Latin American startups in 2023.

🇮🇳 🇺🇸 Unitus Ventures, an India based early stage VC firm, is launching a new fund with US affiliate Capria Ventures to invest in fintech, HRtech, edtech, agtech, cleantech, SaaS and AI startups across the global south.

🇺🇸 Silicon Valley based GGV Capital announced that they will be dividing their business into US and Asia teams, investing in China, SE Asia, and South Asia.

Place of the Week

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

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