Category: Emerging Markets

  • Breadfast: Egypt’s King of Quick Commerce

    Breadfast: Egypt’s King of Quick Commerce

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Egypt has always been famous for its rich history and culture and the subject of numerous Hollywood movies. But in the past few years Egypt is increasingly making a name for itself for something else – startups. Egypt has seen venture capital funding to startups in the…

  • Freshworks: The King of Global SMB SAAS

    Freshworks: The King of Global SMB SAAS

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Enterprise software companies serving large corporate customers has long dominated the world of venture capital and startups as the category that most excites investors, attracts numerous great entrepreneurs and consistently produces large companies. However, over the last decade as the tech industry has evolved from a vertical…

  • Rappi: LATAM’s Super App

    Rappi: LATAM’s Super App

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Latin America’s market of 650 million people has long tempted entrepreneurs and investors as a region on the cusp of huge economic growth and an exciting place to innovate and invest. Despite this, the region has struggled through numerous crises ranging from civil wars, poor governance and…

  • Byju’s: The World’s Most Valuable Edtech Startup

    Byju’s: The World’s Most Valuable Edtech Startup

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. Attending school and education are a right of passage for kids worldwide and of critical importance in an increasingly complex world. Despite the importance of education, the field has changed little over the past 100 years. However, the burgeoning educational technology sector – “edtech” – is promising…

  • Nubank: The World’s Biggest Digital Bank

    Nubank: The World’s Biggest Digital Bank

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand its product, market and growth strategy.  This…

  • Udaan: India’s Biggest Digital Wholesaler

    Udaan: India’s Biggest Digital Wholesaler

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand its product, market and growth strategy.  This…

  • Meituan: Food + Platform

    Meituan: Food + Platform

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. My name is Mikal – I’m an early-stage tech investor and I was born in Asia, grew up in Africa and now live in the US. Every week I break down a fast-growing business in an emerging market to understand its product, market and growth strategy.  This…

  • Tokopedia: Indonesian Ecommerce Giant

    This piece was originally published in my newsletter Emergent. The War for the Indonesian Ecommerce Market Southeast Asia is the fastest growing economic region in the world – growing over 5% per year. The region has been transformed in the last decade with ecommerce and digital payments in particular having grown exponentially. One of the…

  • Jumia: Amazon of Africa?

    The Rise of African Ecommerce Overview 2020 was an explosive year for ecommerce globally, with ecommerce businesses seeing their revenues soar, profits increase and valuations climb. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this trend was Jumia, which saw its valuation soar from lows of ~$2.50 in March of 2020 to highs of $65 recently. Jumia…