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The Singapore based Lightnet, focussed on improving the lives of the unbanked and underbanked populations throughout Asia Pacific, has secured a $50m capital commitment from LDA Capital. Lightnet has the option to increase the $50m to a total commitment of up to $100m over the next three years. The money will be used to grow … Read more
Portuguese startup Oscar is looking to Spain, France and Germany to expand. Formed in 2020, it offers users of its app a range of house cleaning services for them and their pets. It boasts over 150 services, including cleaning and the installation of equipment. The app is on the Android (Google) and iOS (Apple) operating … Read more
Jify has just closed a Series A, raising $10m, led by Accel and Nexus Venture Partnera. Anusha Ramakrishnan, co-founder and COO, Jify, said: “This round of funding will provide Jify with the capabilities to scale within the Indian market. We will be able to build our teams nationally, offer the best in technology and create … Read more
Fintech M-KOPA has signed a deal with Kenyan company Roam to supply electric motorcycles across Africa. M-KOPA, which provides credit and digital financial services to underbanked consumers across Africa, will make possible affordable payment plans, lowering the barrier of entry for many customers. Mikael Gånge, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Roam, said: “We believe … Read more
The unbanked in Nigeria are being courted by the eNaira digital currency. So said Nigerian Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. After the app attracted some 850,000 people who have a bank account, it’s now the turn of the unbanked. The original target for the app was eight million users, but it has fell short as … Read more
The Fintech-as-a-Service platform market size is predicted to grow to around US$949bn by 2028 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 17% between 2022 and 2028. It was worth some $232.17bn in 2021. So says Zion Market Research.
The number of new companies registering in Portugal in Q2 2022 grew at a healthy 7%, which compares with a 1.2% decline across the rest of Europe. Portugal came only second to Romania, which saw a whopping 22% increase. Lithuania dropped by 8.8% and Denmark by 5.9%. EU declarations of bankruptcies increased by 2.2%, with … Read more
Some 32 million women in Nigeria remain unbanked. What’s more, most of these women live in the north of the country and some 15% of all adult women in Nigeria have to rely on social capital to meet their financial needs. The figures ceom from the Latest Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFINA) report which … Read more
Singapore’s Changi airport has grabbed the title of Asis’s busiest airport in Q2 from Hong Kong. Changi handled 7.3 million passengers for the three months ending June, 2022. Compare that to HK’s pre-pandemic levels when for the comparative quarter in 2019, it handled 19.1 million passengers Figures courtesy of Sobie Aviation.
Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali has launched the BK Arena Prepaid Card, giving anyone a visa card for digital payments without having a bank account. The BK Arena Prepaid Card is focussed at the unbanked youth. Users can easily load money onto a prepaid wallet and it can be used like any other bank card.
Catalonia Trade & Investment flagged ten super fast-growing Barcelona-based startups to watch in 2022, via media platform EU-Startups. It said: “Barcelona is one of Europe’s hottest innovation hubs for 2022 and is home to the coolest entrepreneurial events. With an increasingly metropolitan community, made up of highly skilled locals, digital nomads and young professionals, alongside … Read more
UAE Fintech startup AlphaCard is to launch a new crypto debit card, linked to a cryptocurrency wallat, that is aimed at the unserved and underbanked. The idea is to take cryptocurrencies mainstream by offering a prepaid card that allows users to spend their digital money at any Visa point of sale (POS) terminal. It is … Read more
Kontempo has raised $30m in a seed round. The money will go towards expaning its BNPL solution for B2B transactions in Latin America. Kontempo CEO and co-founder Matthew Meehan said: “Kontempo sees an opportunity with its BNPL product to increase the use of digital payments in the B2B space, boost sales for both online and offline distributors and … Read more
By Rupert Thompson, Investment Strategist at Kingswood Equity markets saw further modest gains last week, continuing the recovery underway since mid-June. Global equities are now up some 10% from their low in local currency terms and 11% in sterling terms. The rally has been led by US equities. They have benefited from the recovery in … Read more
The number of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) users will surpass 900 million globally by 2027, up from 360 million in 2022. So says a new study from Juniper Research. This substantial growth of 157% will be driven by the anticipated economic downturn, which will increase the demand for low-cost credit solutions. BNPL schemes enable … Read more