Investor Updates: MoneyHash emerges from beta with $3m pre-seed - Highlights

MoneyHash emerges from beta with $3m pre-seed

Highlights

• Egyptian fintech startup MoneyHash has raised a $3 million pre-seed funding as it emerges from beta to launch across the Middle East and Africa.
• Founded in late 2020, MoneyHash provides a unified checkout experience built on top of a secure super-API that aggregates payment and fintech solutions through a single integration, and a central dashboard that consolidates technical infrastructure, data, and operational reporting.
• The startup in June 2021 closed six-figure pre-seed funding round and has now announced an extension to that round, which will help grow its team and extend the capabilities of its product, in line with an ambition to become the “AWS of payments”. 

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Markets in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region are highly fragmented due to the lack of economic integration between countries. As a result, payment methods, currencies, and regulations operate in isolation, which can be a headache for large merchants present in more than one geography. By building a custom infrastructure with a single integration and a central dashboard, MoneyHash provides a platform for companies to grow and address this complexity without depleting their resources.

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Kenyan wealthtech startup Ndovu gets pre-seed investment to launch

Highlights

• Kenyan wealth tech startup Ndovu has launched operations after securing a pre-seed funding round.
• Founded in 2020 by Radhika Bhachu, Ro Nyangeri, and Gianpaolo De Biase, and available on iOS and Android, Ndovu allows users to invest as little as KES5,000 ($50) in local and global listed companies.
• The startup, which last year took part in the Google for Startups accelerator program, aims to provide users with easy access to global financial markets.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

In Africa, existing investment options lock out the vast majority of people due to complexities in market access and high management fees. But across the continent, a number of platform-first startups like Ndovu have sprung up with a mission to improve this side of financial access for thousands of Africans, regardless of income level or financial knowledge. A similar startup in Nigeria, Bamboo, recently raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by American venture capital firms Greycroft and Tiger Global. 

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Egypt’s e-commerce super-app gets $9m investment

Highlights

• Wasla, an Egyptian e-commerce super-app has secured $9 million from Contact Financial Holding, a non-bank consumer finance provider in the country.
• The investment sets the stage for Wasla to roll out new online shopping capabilities and products, including buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) financing and a new online payment option, as well as power its regional expansion.
• The platform currently has 1.5 million downloads and has experienced 8.5 times year-on-year growth in total e-commerce traffic since inception. It has immediate plans to enter Nigeria.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway
The e-commerce sector in Egypt is expected to grow by 30% by the end of 2022 from its estimated value of $100 billion in 2021, per a report by BOOST for Consultations. The prediction comes on the back of increasing ease of online purchasing and selling, driven by startups like Wasla, as well as changes in Egyptian consumer behavior due to the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic.