Pioneer Embedded Finance Platform for Emerging Markets, Untapped Global, Secures US$3 Million From E3 Capital to Scale its Real-Time Data Platform and Accelerate Adoption of Climate Smart Solutions in Africa
20th September 2023
Nairobi, Kenya: Untapped Global, a revenue-based asset financing platform, successfully secured US$3 million in seed funding led by E3 Capital. The investment from E3 Capital extends Untapped Global’s previous debt and equity funding from early-stage venture and angel investors to over US$14 million. The E3 Capital and Untapped partnership will seek to accelerate the adoption of climate smart solutions such as e-mobility across the continent.
E3 Capital’s commitment, the first from its newly closed E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund (E3 LCEF I), will support the rollout of Untapped’s real-time data platform to finance climate-smart solutions. Untapped’s data platform digitally tracks and collects repayments from productive assets used by micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses in emerging markets to not only boost incomes and build community wealth, but also help with increasing the awareness around the financial and environmental benefits of adopting climate friendly technologies. Untapped’s platform facilitates investments in Africa by managing perceived risk through greater transparency and digital collections.
Untapped Global’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Chu, said: “Africa is digitising at lightning speeds. This creates an unprecedented opportunity to reinvent how small businesses access capital. Using data and digital payments, we can make investing in Africa more transparent and secure with measurable impact for private investors worldwide.”
In development since Untapped’s inception in 2021, the Untapped data platform has proved instrumental in scaling its investments across Africa. Through its pilots, Untapped has successfully financed over 14,000 micro-entrepreneurs across three dozen companies in twelve countries with significant returns to its investors. The partnership with E3 Capital will allow Untapped to scale its data platform and expand its portfolio of climate-smart assets such as electric vehicles. E3 Capital and Untapped intend to work closely together to accelerate the adoption of e-mobility across the continent.
Vladimir Dugin, Senior Partner at E3 Capital, said: “Access to funding remains the most significant bottleneck for early-stage companies in Africa. We are thrilled to back Untapped Global in its journey to build a comprehensive data-driven financing platform for climate-smart SMEs in Africa. Our long-term partnership will bring more smart capital to the continent and expand the reach of climate-friendly solutions across major African markets.”
Untapped expects to deploy over US$200 million in the next two years to tech-enabled African companies and SMEs seeking alternative financing for their scale-up deployments of productive use assets.
About Untapped Global
Untapped Global is reshaping profitable investing in emerging markets. It offers data-driven investment opportunities for global investors to finance high-growth businesses across emerging markets. Untapped’s innovative Smart Asset Financing investment model tracks the usage and revenue streams of productive assets in real-time, offering investors transparent, secure, and profitable opportunities to invest and grow community wealth in emerging markets. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, with investments across Africa, the Untapped team aims to create shared prosperity by unlocking economic opportunity where it’s needed most. For more information, visit https://untapped-global.com, or for press inquiries, please email lundie@untapped-global.com
About E3 Capital
E3 Capital is a leading investor in early-stage businesses enabling digitised, decentralised, and decarbonised business models across Africa. Presently, E3 oversees two Pan-African funds: Energy Access Ventures Fund with focus on energy access and productive use of energy and E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund with focus on climate tech and digital infrastructure. The team at E3 is young, diverse and committed to the future of the low carbon economy. With its core team based out of Africa, E3 is uniquely positioned to help companies grow and scale, without compromising global sustainability ambitions. The team backs forward-thinking entrepreneurs endeavouring to bridge the gap between climate transition and growth in emerging markets with green energy as the enabler of these products and services.
To learn more about E3 Capital visit: https://e3-cap.com/
