Middle East and Africa fintech funding round-up: Julaya, erad, SecondSTAX and Exits.me

A handy round-up of the recent funding endeavours of fintech companies across the Middle East and Africa.

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West African fintech Julaya has raised $5 million in an extension round led by Speedinvest, which will be used to expand its operations in the region.

EQ2 Ventures, Kibo Ventures, Unpopular Ventures and Jedar Capital, as well as Ivorian business angel Mohamed Diabi and previous investors Orange Ventures, Saviu and 50 Partners, also participated in the round.

Founded in 2018 and based in Côte d’Ivoire, Julaya offers B2B digital accounts enabling companies to send and collect payments.

The platform also allows African businesses to make bulk payments through mobile money channels, process travel or online expenses with a corporate prepaid card and import transactions into their accounting system.

Julaya claims over 500 SMBs, start-ups, large corporates and government institutions as customers.

The funds will be used to hire more staff and further develop its products, as well as open new offices in Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso.

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Saudi Arabian fintech erad has bagged $2.4 million in a pre-seed funding round.

Investors in the round include Nuwa Capital, VentureSouq and Khwarizmi Ventures, with additional participation from angel investors.

Erad’s platform offers alternative growth financing for online businesses in the Middle East. It launched a closed beta programme in May 2022.

Its platform evaluates the marketing, sales and accounting activity of promising online businesses, and funding eligibility is determined via the applicant’s existing track record and scaling potential.

Erad claims funding offers are made “within 48 hours” after which capital is deployed “instantly”.

The firm is one of Saudi Arabia’s first start-ups to be accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator. It is part of the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory sandbox and claims to have onboarded 25 fintech start-ups on its platform.

The new capital will be put towards enhancing its platform and driving expansion in the region.

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Ghanaian fintech SecondSTAX has launched with $1.6 million in pre-seed funding from investors including LoftyInc Capital, Orbit54 and STEMeIn.

Its platform allows institutional investors, asset managers, pension funds and broker-dealers to access markets outside their own countries.

It will provide access to debt and equity securities across various African bonds and stock exchanges. The firm adds that it also intends to help non-African investment firms invest in emerging economies in the region.

Launched in 2020, SecondSTAX says the funding will be used to make new hires and further develop its technology, as well as fuel its expansion plans.

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Egyptian fintech Exits.me has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round.

The round saw participation from a UK-based company that also goes by the name of Exits.me along with a number of Egyptian angel investors and venture firms.

Founded in 2022, Exits.me automates merger and acquisitions (M&A) transactions and investment deals for start-ups and SMEs through its marketplace, and also provides a financial advisory service.

Exits.me claims it is currently facilitating over 25 deals on its platform, with 30 others in the pipeline totaling $150-200 million. It was acquired by PIE, an M&A consultancy, earlier this year.