Participated · Seed · Aug 2023

EMTECH provides software, data and services that connect central banks to other regulators and financial services providers, with platforms that power regulatory data exchange, compliance, supervision, currency issuance and currency movement. Its offerings focus on digital cash, regulatory sandboxes, compliance, accelerating payments and settlement times, and driving financial inclusion. The company is founded and led by Carmelle Cadet, a former IBM Blockchain executive. EMTECH aims to help central banks modernize payments systems, enhance supervisory capabilities, and develop infrastructure needed for tokenization and central bank digital currency. As part of a strategic partnership, Accenture will integrate EMTECH products into its core banking transformation services and EMTECH will join Accenture Ventures' Project Spotlight. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Emtech develops central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure and a CBDC Innovation Kit aimed at fintech platforms and financial service providers. The firm announced the launch of its CBDC Innovation Kit last month and says it will support experimentation with virtual-currency solutions backed by reserve banks. Emtech is continuing development of its CBDC technology stack alongside its Regtech offerings and plans to launch an initial version of a CBDC platform in late 2023, according to founder Carmelle Cadet. The company is headquartered in New York. Financially, Emtech announced a $4 million investment led by Matrix Partners India and said the latest round brings total investments to $10 million. The round included contributions from BTN, Equity Alliance, LoftyInc Capital and Vested and joins existing backers Noemis Ventures, Octerra Capital and 500 Global. Emtech provides a digital regulatory platform that includes an innovator’s center and a regulatory sandbox to help fintechs prepare, test, and integrate with multiple regulators. The platform supports pre-market technical integration via regulatory reporting APIs, live reporting of data, and cross-regulator collaboration to enable cross-border innovation and financial inclusion. After a pilot in Ghana, Emtech signed five agreements with central banks across Africa and the Caribbean and has moved into production. The startup raised $4 million in seed funding from a group of investors to support that expansion. Founder and CEO Carmelle Cadet launched the company in 2019 and says Emtech plans to be working with at least 10 central banks by the end of the year. Emtech also plans to introduce a CBDC platform for regulators, partnering with Hedera Hashgraph to build a high-performance, energy-efficient solution.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2022

Spleet operates a platform that lists landlord properties and offers subscription-based rent-management services and a rent-financing product to enable flexible payment schedules. Its flagship BNPL product, Rent Now, Pay Later, offers no-collateral loans up to ₦3 million (about $6,000) at roughly 3.5% monthly interest and was beta-tested with a one-month down payment and the company financing the remaining 11 months. The company has also launched Collect, which automatically receives rent on landlords' behalf, and Verify, a tenant background-check tool. Since launch Spleet has processed over $3.5 million in rent, onboarded more than 35 individual and corporate landlords, recorded over 1,000 housed tenants and logged over 68,000 unfulfilled requests; average customer lifetime is 26 months. During Rent Now beta the nonperforming loans ratio was 1.2%. The company plans to scale its residential rent management and financing products and to test new markets early next year, and it intends to build a rent-data repository to help customers access other financial services. Spleet is a Nigerian prop-tech startup focused on building financial services solutions for landlords and tenants across Africa. The company plans features including tenant vetting, payment automation for landlords, and a rent-now-pay-later option for tenants. CEO Tola Adesanmi acknowledged Spleet’s initial housing marketplace did not address affordability and said the rent-now-pay-later product would help plug that gap. The firm’s stated mission is to make housing easier in Africa, though its current solution is targeted at the premium end of the market. The article does not disclose operating metrics such as revenue or user counts. Spleet announced a $625k pre-seed raise led by MetaProp VC.

Led · Seed · Jun 2022

AlgoPear, founded in 2019, is an automated investment platform offering stock trading via a monthly subscription for retail investors and small and medium-sized firms. The company currently has over 4,000 users and reported 20% month-over-month growth during May. It plans to use the new funding primarily for marketing to grow its customer base to 15,000 users. AlgoPear also intends to expand its product offerings to include other types of investments such as cryptocurrencies. Following the recent seed round, total funding stands at close to USD 2.1 million. The business model centers on automated trading and subscription revenue as it scales user acquisition.

Led · Seed · Mar 2022

Vyrill offers an AI-driven in-video search, analytics and video-commerce solution that identifies brand engagement content online. Its technology enables brands to know their customers/fans, interact with them directly, and implement targeted marketing strategies featuring video. The company was launched in 2017 through UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck incubator and was founded by Ajay Bam and Dr. Barbara Rosario. In March 2022 Vyrill closed a $3M seed funding round. The startup intends to use the funds to extend its technology to e-commerce platforms, grow the team, and expand its product offering to more businesses worldwide. Vyrill targets brands seeking to leverage video content for commerce and audience insights.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2022

Hopscotch offers small businesses and solopreneurs a payments platform that enables instant, fee-free transfers, even when counterparties are not Hopscotch users. The product combines stored-value accounts, consumer-style business profiles, and integrations with accounting software such as QuickBooks to simplify invoicing and cash-flow management. By eliminating the traditional 2–8-day settlement period and all transaction fees, the company positions itself as a faster, cheaper alternative to incumbent B2B payment solutions. Hopscotch launched its private beta alongside opening access to wait-listed customers, with broader onboarding planned for Q2. Founded in August 2021, the team plans to double headcount across all departments and accelerate revenue-generating feature releases using its new capital. The company has raised a total of $9.95 million to date, including its latest seed extension. Management frames the opportunity around the surge in new sole proprietorships and the demand for consumer-grade financial tools in the workplace.