Emerging Markets VC & Startups (08.28.20)

Y Combinator's Global Impact

Today's newsletter takes a different direction from usual because, love it or hate it, this week held Y Combinator's back-to-back demo days for its summer 2020 cohort. Instead of highlighting recent regional VC news, I will spotlight all of the companies featured from global emerging markets who pitched in this cohort.

Why is YC so important anyway? The 15-year-old accelerator was the first of its kind when it began, inspiring many of the startup programs we now see worldwide. The program is also the breeding ground for many technology "unicorns" we've seen appear over the last decade, with graduates including Airbnb, Stripe, Doordash, and Dropbox. To date, the company has backed over 2,000 startups and over 4,000 founders.

Graduating from YC has become a goal for many startups in Silicon Valley and emerging markets. Acceptance into the program is a bragging right for many investors and founders worldwide, allowing them to tout how far their startup ecosystems have come and how much influence they have in their region. The program provides a cash investment for an equity stake and opens up access to capital, mentorship, and free publicity for the startups within their program. They also provide a framework for accelerators within emerging markets to model their programs off of, allowing various ecosystems to implement best practices right in their regions.

YC has received criticisms in recent years due to its expansion of each cohort, with over 200 companies participating in the current batch. Some investors also miss out, as elite VC firms get access to deals long before demo day when companies pitch publicly. This exclusivity was on display with Trove, who didn't pitch this week after receiving $16M from A16Z early in the program.

Covid-19 concerns have also disrupted the operation this year. In April, the program had announced plans to run a fully remote summer cohort, given travel restrictions. According to founders, this separation has removed some elements of competition commonly found amongst each company. Also, the summer cohort has missed the magic of bonding during preparation for investors.

These issues aside, Y Combinator has been a positive influence for startup ecosystems by providing an accelerator model and giving opportunities for founders outside of the U.S. Acceptance of a founder is a bellwether for investors for how far along an emerging startup ecosystem has come. Below, I've highlighted all of the Summer 2020 cohort startups from emerging markets around the world. There are quite a few, so I've attempted to keep their descriptions concise. I highly encourage you to dig deeper into the startups that interest you by visiting their websites. If you would like some further reading on all of the below companies (and the entire cohort), TechCrunch put together more information about the two-day lineup here and here.

Regional Cohort Members

Africa

• Afriex (Nigeria): FinTech helps individuals send remittance payments across borders by using "stablecoins," a form of cryptocurrency, to complete transactions.

• MarketForce 360 (Kenya): A platform focused on solutions for retail distribution in Africa by bringing more clarity to retail transactions and providing mobile solutions to traditional tracking processes.

• Ramani (Tanzania): Helps distributors and salespeople in Africa manage their inventory, catalog, and track sales.

Asia-Pacific

• Farmako Healthcare (India): A startup shifting doctors' medical records to a digital platform.

• Bikayi (India): An application for family businesses that digitizes the customer ordering process.

• BukuWarung (Indonesia): An app that enables mom and pop stores to bring payments and credit to their businesses.

• Zuddl (India): Startup bringing conferences online for big companies by re-creating scenarios like booths and lobbies for chatting.

• MedPiper Technologies (India): Subscription-based medical recruitment platform with the largest database of verified doctors and nurses in India.

• Spenmo (Singapore): Dubbed the "Bill.com for SMBs in Southeast Asia," this startup helps companies manage their payments.

• SockSoho (India): Dubbed the “UNIQLO of India,” this DTC clothing company focuses on men's dress socks.

• Supabase (Singapore): An open-source database with a self-documenting API for developers.

• Decentro (India): Dubbed the "Plaid for India," this startup provides a banking integration API.

• WareIQ (India): A software platform that allows small e-commerce businesses to link with India’s network of fulfillment centers and last-mile deliverers.

• Statiq (India): Allows individuals and buildings to provide EV-charging points accessible through a unified app.

• Mesh (India): A social network for remote-based companies allows employees to share what they’re working on and communicate progress and feedback.

• BlaBla EdTech (Singapore): An app that helps users learn English using short videos.

• Hypotenuse (Singapore): Created an AI to generate high-quality product descriptions, ads, and blog posts for e-commerce sites.

• Eatable (India): Helping restaurants build order-ahead functionality into their workflows.

• VoloPay (Singapore): Aiming to be the "Brex for Southeast Asia," this startup brings approvals, bill payments, expenses, and accounting automation all onto one platform.

• inFeedo (India): Created an AI bot named "Amber" that chats with employees to predict who is unhappy or about to leave.

Europe

• Quell (UK): “Peloton meets gaming” for this VR-based fitness startup.

• Heron Data (UK): A FinTech B2B helping services categorize bank transactions.

• Once (France): A mobile-first Shopify storefront.

• Fancy (UK): Delivering convenience store items in under 30 minutes.

• Together Video Chat (Spain): Interactive video chatting service for families and children.

• CarbonChain (UK): A sustainable startup providing a platform for companies to track their carbon emissions.

• Maytana (France): A FinTech that makes it easier for multinational businesses to move money using open banking APIs.

• Akiflow (Italy): A B2B product building a command line-style tool that integrates into existing business tools such as Slack.

• Scrimba (Norway): An online, personalized coding school teaching students through pre-recorded interactive videos.

• Tella (Netherlands) Browser-based collaborative video editing software application.

• Plum Mail (UK): A platform that focuses on communication features and scheduling tools to replace chat and email.

• Stacker (UK): A no-code spreadsheet software allowing users to create apps and customer portals.

• Bits (UK): A credit platform building an individual's credit scores through a digital credit card.

• Opvia (UK): Dubbed “Airtable for scientists,” this tool replaces tools that science researchers use to hold data.

• HumanLoop (UK): A startup building software to process data for lawyers, doctors, and accountants.

• Electry (Germany): A software platform for hiring mechanics and electricians.

• Strive School (Germany): Dubbed the "Lambda School for Europe," this startup uses income-share agreements to train software engineers.

• QuestDB (UK): Startup building an open-source time-series database to help companies detect fraud and predict customer activity faster.

• Depict.ai (Sweden): Startup building a product recommendation engine to help SMBs compete with Amazon.

• PhotoRoom (France): A software platform that uses machine learning to retouch marketing images.

Latin America

• Isibit (Mexico): Platform that oversees business travel, focusing on companies in Latin America.

• Flat (Mexico): PropTech that dubs itself as the "Opendoor for Mexico" by providing a platform for flipping homes in Latin America.

• Mozper (Mexico): FinTech providing a debit card and app for kids and parents in Latin America to help teach personal finance.

• Parrot Software (Mexico): Dubbed the "Toast for Latin America," this startup is creating software for restaurants that handles customer payments, ordering, seating, and data visualization.

• Todos Comemos (Colombia): Ready-to-cook meal kit delivery service for Latin America.

• ChatPay (Brazil): ChatPay is building a Substack for WhatsApp, building out a platform that allows people to create exclusive WhatsApp chat channels while allowing admins to monetize the platform member management.

• Conta Simples (Brazil): A FinTech creating a digital bank account for startups.

• Oico (Brazil): A B2B marketplace for construction materials.

• GitDuck (Brazil): A video chat tool for developers to share code in real-time.

• Tangobuilder (Argentina): AI platform for architects that simplifies the process from design to construction.

• Henry (Argentina): The "Lambda School of LATAM" uses income share agreements for coding students.

• Plunzo (Argentina): A FinTech bringing LATAM SMB's bank accounts into a single UI.

• Justo (Chile): Building a platform for LATAM restaurants creating their e-commerce websites and delivery service.

• Blissway (Chile): Building a software-first toll paying system for highways.

• Panadata (Panama): Building a platform for more efficient background checks in LATAM.

Middle East

• Sakneen (Egypt): PropTech is dubbed the "Zillow for Egypt" and focuses on directly connecting real estate sellers and buyers by increasing transparency and information.

• Thndr (Egypt): FinTech is creating the "Robinhood for the Middle East." by helping individuals invest commission-free in stocks, bonds, and funds through a mobile application.