CDP Institute

Apar Technologies, a global software services and consulting company headquartered in Singapore, has announced its strategic investment in BigTapp Analytics, a Singapore-based data analytics services and solutions provider powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Apar Technologies said that this investment marks a significant milestone in Apar Technologies’ commitment to expanding its data analytics offerings for customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and the United States amongst others.

E-commerce startups continue to raise Venture Capital in Latin America which amounted to $1.2B or 15% of total investments in the region for 2022.  It is second to only Fintech according to LAVCA. It makes sense as we have seen several great outcomes such as Mercado Libre ($65B market cap) and Vtex ($800M market cap) being public companies or Cornershop being acquired by UBER for over $3B.

Klavi, a Brazilian SaaS platform that offers Open Finance solutions, is getting ready to land in other Latin American countries. The fintech platform has processed more than 450 million transactions and performed more than 4 million connections in more than 30 financial institutions, as well as bureaus, fintechs, and startups. In operation since early 2020, Klavi is capitalized to follow through with its plans. In August last year, it raised a Series A of US$15 million.

Helium Health, the African startup that provides software-as-a-service tools, financing and insights for healthcare providers and public health organizations, has raised $30 million in Series B funding. The news is coming three years after the Lagos-headquartered health tech secured a $10 million Series A and 18 months following a rare Africa-GCC deal involving UAE-based healthcare provider-patient interaction platform Meddy.

Ugandan fintech startup Zofi Cash has secured US$1 million in pre-seed funding to double down on its commitment to ensuring that every day is a payday for salaried workers. An instant salary advance platform, Zofi Cash offers employees early access to wages, ensuring that people have the financial resources they need to take care of immediate needs without waiting until the end of the month.

Google said it is launching a cloud region in Qatar, its first in the Gulf state, boosting the country’s efforts to transform itself into a digital economy through innovation. A cloud region is the geographic area in which a cloud data centre is located. The move is expected to contribute US$18.9 billion to Qatar’s economic output between 2023 and 2030 and create 25,000 jobs in 2030 alone.

ZainTech, the one-stop digital and ICT solutions powerhouse of Zain Group, has chosen Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer to roll out new technological offerings and foster competitive advantages for its clients throughout the Middle East. With Exadata Cloud@Customer, ZainTech will now provide in-country cloud hosting services for an organization’s Oracle Database across its operating countries, starting with Jordan.

Pepper Advantage’s acquisition of Rieom.ai marks an aggressive expansion into the Indian market and is indicative of the AI-driven credit management model it plans to bring to additional markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Middle East in the near term. Rieom.ai’s flagship product is an AI/ML-driven predictive pre-payout credit approval tool that uses socio-demographic and profile-based analysis to assess loan application documents to identify fraud risks and other suspicious behaviour prior to credit approval.

Lazada group has released LazzieChat, an eCommerce AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology in Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to provide a more personalised shopping experience to its customers. LazzieChat, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, will answer a user’s shopping queries and act as a personal shopper by offering personalised suggestions and product recommendations based on a user’s queries.

Singapore-based marketing platform Insider has announced an investment of up to US$105 million from existing investors, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Esas Private Equity. The funds will be used exclusively to accelerate Insider’s merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy to build upon the company’s existing technology and capabilities.

Mexican fintech company Kapital grabbed a fresh round of capital, US$20 million in Series A and US$45 million in a debt facility, less than a year after securing a US$8.6 million seed round. Kapital built a platform that could provide a way for small and medium-sized businesses across Latin America to have all of their financial needs, including cash flow, credit and investments, all in one place. It allows customers to get a credit card, pay bills in advance, view cash flow and manage business spending.

Huli, a healthtech firm with offices and operations in Mexico, closed a US$5.5 million Pre-Series A financing round. This will enable the company to expand its presence in Mexico, its most promising and rapidly growing market since its inception in 2019. Huli is a platform that has linked over 10,000 healthcare professionals, 400 hospitals, medical centers, and seven million patients with clinical laboratories, insurers, pharmacy chains, and pharmaceutical companies.