ICYMI fintech funding round-up: Dopay, Wamu, Mifundo, Papaya and more
At FinTech Futures, we know that it can be easy to let funding announcements slip you by in this fast-paced industry. That’s why we put together our weekly In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) funding round-up so you can get the latest funding news.
Dopay bags $13.5 million Series A extension
Egyptian fintech Dopay has secured a $13.5 million Series A extension led by US investment firm Argentem Creek Partners.
Dopay’s latest round, which saw additional participation from existing backers, adds to the funds raised in its $18 million Series A round in 2021.
Dopay offers a digital payroll and payments platform serving unbanked and underbanked workers in emerging markets. Its solution enables workers to receive real-time payments on both weekdays and weekends, with each account including a prepaid Mastercard debit card.
The company says it is “dedicated to breaking the cash cycle” with a range of services that provide “secure, instant, and cashless payments”.
The new financing will be used to aid Dopay’s expansion in Egypt, while it also intends to introduce an array of new financial products and “expand its multi-bank, multi-country platform to other markets”.
Caliza, a cross-border settlement fintech, has raised $8.5 million in a funding round led by San Francisco-based VC Initialized Capital.
The round was also supported by Quona, Class 5 Global, Abstract Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Kraynos Capital, and New Form Capital, along with a string of industry angel investors.
The firm claims its solution enables financial institutions in Latin America to embed real-time payments and digital dollar accounts into their products and services, allowing users to instantly send, receive, and settle money worldwide using the USDC stablecoin.
Speaking with TechCrunch, founder Ezra Kebrab says that the funding will be used to double its current 10-strong workforce in Brazil. Also, the cash will be utilised to extend its reach into the Mexican market later this year.
Haruko secures $6 million Series A
London-headquartered digital asset platform Haruko has bagged $6 million in Series A funding to help fuel the firm’s expansion into Southeast Asia.
The funding round, which brings Haruko’s total capital raised to $16 million, was co-led by White Star Capital’s Digital Asset Fund and MMC Ventures.
Founded in 2021, Haruko caters to prime brokers, exchanges, hedge funds, market makers, OTC providers, and others with its vertically integrated blockchain system and digital asset investment platform.
The firm, which has offices in London and Singapore, has recently expanded across North America and Europe and currently serves over 50 investment management institutions.
Wamo, a UK-based fintech, has landed a “bridge to Series A round” of $5 million, bringing the company’s total funding to $11.8 million.
The funding round received support from Re-Pie Asset Management, Finberg (the corporate venture arm of Fibabank), and new investor Logo Ventures, a Turkish VC.
Founded in 2018, Wamo serves small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with its digital business account offering.
In addition, the firm has announced it has been granted an EU Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from FIN-FSA (Finland’s Financial Supervisory Authority), preparing the fintech for its planned European expansion.
Mifundo lands €2.5 million EIC investment
Estonian fintech Mifundo has bagged €2.5 million in grant funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator programme.
Labelled as the “most competitive” programme in Europe, the EIC usually invests in deep tech fields such as biotech, quantum computing, and space technology, with nearly 1,000 candidates applying. For the first time, however, the EIC has selected a fintech company for its “full-scale investment”.
Established in 2018, the Tallinn-headquartered company offers an AI-driven cross-border finance platform that allows for the cross-border transfer of credit profiles, helping to connect people with banks and lending services regardless of their location.
With this investment, Mifundo intends to enhance its data service coverage across the EU, integrate more countries into its platform, and advance its pan-European data model.
HBL, Pakistan’s first commercial bank, has made an undisclosed strategic investment in AFT, a start-up aiming to revamp the country’s agricultural and SME sectors.
In particular, HBL is looking to back AFT’s Digitt+ platform, which provides a multilingual interface for farmers and merchants to access digital payments and financial services.
Speaking on the financing, AFT’s founder Qasim Akhtar Khan says: “This collaboration will enable us to scale our solutions, enhancing our ability to make financial services more accessible, secure, and efficient for the agricultural and merchant sectors.
“We are on a mission to enhance financial inclusion, and HBL’s investment significantly bolsters our capacity to make a lasting impact.”
Billfold raises “seven-figure extension round”
US paytech Billfold has received an undisclosed “seven-figure extension round” led by BambuVentures, Inertia Ventures, and former NFL player turned entrepreneur Fran Tarkenton.
Founded in 2016, Billfold provides the entertainment industry with a Point-of-Sale (POS) solution, Billfold Engage, which manages customer payments and interactions at live events such as concerts and sports matches.
The company claims to partner with major brands such as Uber, Red Bull, Heineken, White Claw, and Liquid Death.
Timothy Power, Billfold’s CFO, states that the cash injection will help the firm “continue growing our core business at a similar rate while opening up capacity for new, rapidly monetisable initiatives … and sets the stage for a full Series A in the late summer”.
Papaya, a fintech start-up based in Thailand, has secured an undisclosed investment led by VC firms BEENEXT and A2D Ventures.
The fintech, founded in 2022, serves the hospitality sector with an omni-channel ordering and payments solution.
Papaya says it plans to leverage the new funds to upgrade its integrated technology infrastructure, boost marketing efforts to increase its customer base, and expand its operations into Singapore.
Commenting on his firm’s investment in Papaya, Ankit Upadhyay, a general partner at A2D Ventures, says that the Bangkok-based start-up has a “unique vision for the future of dine-in experiences”.
