fintech hubs
For the first time, Portuguese fintechs have raised over $1bn. The Portugal Fintech Association’s annual report for 2022 calculates that the country’s fintechs have raised an aggregate of €1.08bn to date. Some 48% of this money was raised from international investors. Lisbon remains the fintech powerhouse, with 55% of fintechs based there, with Porto coming in … Read more
The Unicorn Factory Lisboa has launched with the intention to support innovation and entrepreneurship. Together with the private sector, it has invested €8m to help over 20 scale-ups and 40 new projects per year. Things kick-off in 2023 with two programmes: The Scaling Up and The Soft Landing. Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas did the honours … Read more
The French government is backing early-stage African startups who speak the same language. Via the Digital Africa initiative, Francophone African companies can get up to 50,000 euros in equity funding. The money is made up of 20,000 euros in funding followed by a 30,000 euros SAFE investment. Important why? Seed financing is the crucial first step … Read more
The number of bank accounts in Morocco rose by 10% last year. There are now 29 million accounts, compared to 26.5 million in 2020. Why it matters. This boosts financial inclusivity in Morocco and shows its emerging status. The figures come from a recent report published by Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib. Round of applause? Not … Read more
The food and grocery B2B e-commerce and distribution platform MaxAB has raised $40m in a pre-series B equity round. MaxAB serves a network of traditional retailers across Egypt and Morocco. Why it matters: MaxAB is trying to transform the food and grocery supply chain by re-engineering it. The company connects suppliers with underserved traditional retailers … Read more
BMCA Capital Investment has launched a new venture capital fund to help Moroccan startups. The Moroccan based fund is raising money from local and overseas investors, hoping to hit MAD 50m ($4.5m). 👉Why it matters: Morocco is a hot spot for startups, many in the fintech and agritech spaces. Local and international investors are seeing … Read more
Moroccan startup Cloud Bike is beginning to sell its Telus electric bikes brand to its home market, having previously exclusively exported to the EU and the US. Sigificance: Demand for sustainable Telus bikes in the home market is rising and the 15% sold in Morocco will commercialise electric bikes in the country. More about the bike: known … Read more
Although Casablanca is still Africa’s leading financial hub, it ranks just 91 globally when it comes to being a fintech hub. The city, home to nearly four million people, boasts the largest stock exchange in North African. Key points: findings come from a new report from the Global Financial Centers Index; Casablanca ranks 54th internationally; the … Read more
Singapore-based HolyWally, the world’s first Wallet-as-a-Service platform that allows companies to quickly build their own digital wallet, has been selected to join the Tokyo Financial Award, a mentoring programme. Initially 15 companies, from Japan and internationally, have been chosen from a list of 108 applications, covering 26 different countries and regions. The 15 were selected … Read more
In fintech there is a nirvana known as a ‘cashless society’. Countries given almost mythical status by the lack of transactions involving the press of bank notes in hand or counting up of coins. In Europe the Nordics take the lead of being the least cash dependent, with only 3 -4% of financial transactions taking … Read more
The VDS | Valencia Digital Summit 2022 takes place on Monday 24 October to Wednesday 26 October. It will showcase how technology, innovation and digitization can change, impact and transform every aspect of our lives in a positive way. It will address the role of technology in the main social and economic challenges faced by … Read more
Two Moroccan fintechs have been invited to attend The Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The first is Fastdok which has developed a SaaS tool that creates documents for multiple sectors. The second is Henceforth, which provides car repair loans. Both have been invited via the Summit´s startup programme, ALPHA. The Summit starts on Tuesday 1 … Read more
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), one of the leading global financial centres in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, has grown in the first half of 2022. A total of 537 new entities registered during the first half of this year, representing an 11 per cent year-to-date increase. The total number … Read more
Moroccan fund UM6P has made an investment in South African outfit De Novo Diary which develops animal free diary products. It produces milk proteins gained from the precision fermentation of yeast strains. This has in the past been difficult to achieve. They can then be used in a number of products to boost human nutrition. … Read more
A new report has named Morocco as one of the key African regions geared for fintech growth. It is amongst one of 11 key markets in Africa picked out by the report entitled Fintech in Africa: The end of the beginning by McKinsey. The others are Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South … Read more
