Asaak, a Ugandan asset financing startup, has secured $30 million in pre-Series A equity and debt funding. The round saw the participation of new and existing investors including Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, HOF Capital, Founders Factory Africa, End Poverty Make Trillions, Decentralized VC and a number of angel investors. Asaak offers motorbike financing to operators, […]
Kenyan BNPL startup Lipa Later eyes more African markets after raising $12 million
Lipa Later, a Kenyan tech-led consumer credit platform, is planning to expand to new markets in Africa after raising $12 million in pre-Series A funding. The equity and debt funding round saw the participation of Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers VC, GreenHouse Capital, SOSV IV LLC, Sayani Investments and Axian Financial Services. The startup, a buy-now-pay-later […]
Mexican BNPL player Kueski secures $202M in debt & equity as it nears $100M+ in ARR
Kueski, a Mexico City-based “buy now, pay later” and online consumer lender, announced today it has secured $202 million in equity and debt funding. StepStone Group (which recently acquired Greenspring Capital) led the $102 million equity round and Victory Park Capital led the $100 million debt financing. StepStone was joined by other new investors including […]
Korea’s P2P lending startup PeopleFund gets $63.4M Series C led by Bain Capital
South Korea-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform PeopleFund announced today it has closed a $63.4 million (75.9 billion won) Series C round led by Bain Capital with participation from Goldman Sachs. Returning investors in the round include CLSA Lending Ark Asia and 500 Global. The latest funding brings the total raised by PeopleFund to about $83.6 […]
A wave of LatAm fintechs are laying down new global commerce rails
When it comes to e-commerce, the world is smaller than ever. Developing a new global financial infrastructure capable of supporting a world dominated by digital commerce is a massive challenge.
TechCrunch+ roundup: Collecting zero-party data, Airbnb CEO interview, crypto volatility
On Wednesday, November 17 at 3 p.m. PST/6 p.m. EST, I’ll interview Ben Parr on Twitter Spaces about how zero-party marketing best practices. To get a reminder, please follow @techcrunch on Twitter.
Balancing risk: Modern architecture’s role in the BNPL playbook
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is an old form of payment that is new again in a big way. And that could mean trouble for BNPL fintechs that are just getting to know the world of lending.
Ocrolus lands $80M at a $500M+ valuation to automate document processing for fintechs and banks
If you’ve ever had to take out a loan, you know just how many documents are involved in the approval process. It’s a lot. The process is tedious and time-consuming, and in many more cases than you’d expect — still manual. Ocrolus is a startup that is hoping to change that with an automation platform […]
Is India’s BNPL 2.0 set to disrupt B2B?
A specific vertical of BNPL products is gaining traction: one targeted toward small and medium enterprises (SMEs), also known as “SME BNPL.”
Lessons from COVID: Flexible funding is a must for alternative lenders
Alternative lending is any lending that occurs outside of a conventional financial institution. These lenders offer different types of loans such as lines of credit, microloans and equipment financing.