In a Nutshell
- Presto Ventures, based in Prague, led a $2M late-seed round for Jeff App, data-driven financial marketplaces operator for the emerging world.
- The existing investors also participated, including the specialist data and AI fund J12, and a group of high-profile angel investors and industry veterans Jean Pascal Duvieusart and Ladislav Bartonicek, as well as the founder of Printify, James Berdigans.
CEE Fund Supporting a Marketplace for Emerging Economies
With the new Presto Fund II coming to a close, its focus is shifting to the new Presto Tech Horizons fund. Jeff App is the final investment in Fund II, a Latvia-based company and a marketplace for financial inclusion in emerging economies.
According to the latest data from The World Bank’s Findex database, 40-60% of the population in large emerging economies like Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, and Philippines do not have an account with a financial institution, and only 10-20% of people have ever borrowed money from a financial institution. These factors, among others, lead to blank credit and financial history records for highlighted segments of people.
Jeff provides a platform, which has exceeded an annual revenue milestone of $10M, allowing over 6M users to access and apply for more than 60M financial products through its marketplace, according to the company’s data.
With the new capital, Jeff will continue its commercial expansion into India and other emerging markets throughout Asia and beyond. Moreover, the company is aiming to recruit new tech talent, and develop the suite of financial services and products, such as credit, on their marketplace.
Since its 2020 launch in Vietnam, Jeff has expanded into other markets including Philippines, Mexico and Indonesia.
In Their Own Words
“Last two years have been especially challenging for startups. Achieving profitability marks a significant milestone in our journey. In combination with new funding, it empowers us to get back on a high-growth trajectory. While achieving a market-leading position in our core markets, we’ve established a foundation for a geographic expansion playbook which allows for swift, yet profitable scaling into new countries,” said Toms Niparts, co-founder and CEO at Jeff.
Investor’s Perspective
Roman Novacek, Partner at Presto Ventures, commented on their motivation to back Jess cross borders: “At Presto, we’re strong advocates of and big believers in the use of AI, machine learning, and alternative data science – especially in markets where the traditional financial data landscape poses challenges. Once the Jeff team launches in India, they’ll have a footprint in 5 of the 20 largest countries in terms of population around the world. In these countries, the segments of underbanked and financially underserved consumers are significant, and many similarities can be drawn among their systemic problems. The Jeff team has already proven their success in Vietnam was not a one-hit-wonder, and we’re excited to see their blueprint for entering new countries and product categories in action.”
