ICYMI fintech funding round-up: KPay, InstaPay, Frost 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 for you to get the latest funding news.

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Hong Kong-based fintech start-up KPay has raised $10 million in a funding round with the support of its founders.

Established in 2020, KPay offers “one-stop-shop” digital payment and business management solutions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

KPay will use the funds raised to support product development and regional expansion and is actively preparing for institutional round financing.

It claims to have amassed more than 12,000 local merchants spanning a variety of sectors including retail, food and beverage, beauty, healthcare, education and professional services.

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Malaysian paytech Instapay Technologies, an e-wallet and Mastercard issuer, has raised $4.75 million in a Series A funding round.

This round was led by Daiwa ACA APAC Growth I, with participation from Spiral Ventures Asia Fund I, and existing investors.

Instapay started its market operations in Malaysia two years ago as a banking alternative for low-income workers, providing e-wallet and Mastercard services to unbanked migrant workers as a payroll solution.

The firm has grown to now service “hundreds” of corporates for payroll accounts for their migrant workers as well as a large base of retail customers. It enables corporates to pay salary digitally to their workers’ Instapay e-wallet.

Users can also avail digital cross border remittance, bill payments, mobile top-ups and ATM cash withdrawals.

Rajnish Kumar, co-founder and CEO, Instapay Technologies, says the new funding will enable the start-up to expand into new markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

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UK-based banking start-up Frost has raised £1.1 million in a seed funding round.

Osun Capital led the funding, with Andrew Jennings, its managing director, joining Frost as chief strategy officer.

With the new funding, Frost aims to launch new features and improvements, including adding Google Pay as a payment method, video verification for onboarding and hiring developers and support staff.

Frost also aims to launch “more eco-friendly initiatives” to achieve its net zero ambitions.

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Ugandan fintech Numida has raised $12.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round.

Serena Ventures led the $7.3 million equity portion of the round with participation from Breega, 4Di Capital, Launch Africa, Soma Capital, and Y Combinator, who are all making their first Ugandan investment, and existing investor MFS Africa.

Numinda has also received $5 million in debt from Lendable Asset Management.

With this new financing, Numida aims to reinforce its Ugandan presence and launch in two new African markets.

Founded in 2016, Numida uses proprietary credit models and tech-enabled underwriting processes to provide unsecured working capital loans to African micro and small businesses.

“Instead of borrowing from informal lenders or family, business owners download the Numida app, apply in minutes, and receive capital within a day,” the fintech firm says.

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Aussie fintech firm Thriday (previously named Thrive) has raised AU$6 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by NAB Ventures.

Existing investor Lempriere Capital also took part in the round. With the new cash, Thriday aims to scale its platform, which it claims has over 11,000 businesses already on its waitlist.

Founded in 2019 and based in Melbourne, Thriday offers a financial management platform for small businesses where they can manage their transactions, accounting and tax.

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Scottish fintech Guiide has raised around £200,000 from existing investors and three new leaders to its team.

Guiide has hired two new directors – Clare Hawkins, a former NHS Trust chief executive, who will lead on governance, and Stewart Lawrie, a financial systems developer; and Mike Robins, former partner at 3i, who joins the firm as an adviser.

The funding will be used to support two new initiatives – Guiide+ and Guide.auto.

Launching soon, Guiide+ is an addition to the company’s free online service for registered users. It will enable a “full retirement dashboard showing real-time values for a person’s pensions, and all other sources of income and savings”.

Guiide.auto will allow individuals to monitor, track and adjust plans and add an element of guaranteed income paid into the pension pot if desired, whilst still maintaining all the flexibility of drawdown.

Built between 2016 to 2019, Guiide is a free retirement calculator allowing people to “create a unique and individual plan and avoid running out of money during retirement, overpaying charges or tax”.