Realistic Optimist

Noh is building a neobank for Brazilian couples. Well, not exactly a neobank per se. Noh leveraged Brazil's recent open banking legislation to seamlessly connect with users' "traditional" banks. On Noh, couples can individually top up the account via their bank. They then get a shared card which they can spend the Noh account money with. On the Noh app, couples can manage joint money goals, edit transaction names to clarify what a certain charge was for... This week, the Realistic Optimist publishes an interview with Ana Zucato 🪢, Noh's founder. Some of the topics we dive into: (i) The very "hypothesis-testing" approach Noh took post its $3M round (ii) The Brazilian need for a modern, joint-account app (iii) How Noh leverages open banking (iv) Thoughts on pricing for fintechs (v) Why the Brazilian Central Bank might outcompete some Brazilian fintechs (via Pix) (vi) Adding other financial products for couples (investments, joint credit...) (vii) Strategic mistakes & questioning Read the full piece below. Exclusively, for Realistic Optimist paid subscribers: https://lnkd.in/ga4d5ZdM

QuickCart (Techstars '24) is building "Rappi for the Caribbean". Starting in Jamaica, the company has done over $1M in revenue since its founding in 2016. This week, the Realistic Optimist interviewed Monique Powell, the company's founder. Some of the topics we covered: (i) How QuickCart stitched together its initial traction (ii) How Monique thinks about the sector's tight margins (iii) Shift from a strict "vertical" strategy to a looser one targeting all merchants wanting to deliver goods (iv) Why investors should look at the Caribbean opportunity as a whole, not as individual islands (v) Exit paths for a Jamaican startup And more... Paid Realistic Optimist subscribers can read the full interview below: https://lnkd.in/gCFmJEmH

Emerging market VCs have a liquidity problem. Alexander Branton is trying to solve it. Many EM VCs raised a 10-year fund. As the end of their fund life approaches, they have to return capital to their LPs. But they have an issue: their underlying companies haven't exited. This isn't necessarily because their underlying companies aren't performing well. It may just mean that the companies they've bet on need more than the arbitrary 10-year fund life to exit. This isn't a contrarian take - in recent years, tech startups have taken longer to exit. EM and developed markets included. The difference is that VCs in developed markets have liquidity solutions to solve that problem. So-called "secondaries" players offer that liquidity in various forms (LP stakes, continuation fund, NAV financing...) EM VCs don't have access to those solutions. Both because larger secondaries players don't want to dabble in emerging markets and because there are no local secondaries players. This makes sense: this year (2024) marks the 10-year anniversary of funds launched in 2014 (the year EM VC started taking off). In other words, EM VCs face this problem for the first time, so there are no structural answers to it yet. This is what Alexander Branton's new fund, Nodem Capital, seeks to solve. Alex is a former partner at Sturgeon Capital, a leading emerging market VC. He knows the space well. This week's Realistic Optimist piece is an interview with Alex. In it, we cover: (i) How Nodem works (both for LPs and GPs) (ii) The rationale behind the geographic scope Nodem serves (iii) Tailwinds supporting Nodem's thesis (iv) How Nodem differs from a VC Paid Realistic Optimist subscribers can read this in-depth (2,000+ words) piece here: https://lnkd.in/gamhhPhC

You've heard of BNPL. Can you guess what RNPL is? RNPL stands for rent-now-pay-later. In places such as Dubai, where landlords tend to ask for a year's rent upfront, RNPL can free up important cash for tenants. That's what Walid Shihabi is building with Keyper. This week's Realistic Optimist is an interview with him. Some of the topics covered: (i) How an experience in real estate investing culminated in Keyper (ii) How Keyper funds the rents it advances to landlords (iii) Opportunities to expand into credit for landlords (iv) What many proptech founders get wrong Realistic Optimist paid subscribers get access to the full piece below. https://lnkd.in/gxsMD68Z

Yummy raised $60M+ to build a superapp for Venezuela. The Realistic Optimist interviewed Yummy's founder, Vicente Zavarce. Topics covered: (i) How Venezuela's dollarization helps Yummy (ii) Why Venezuela's economic crisis doesn't translate into a lack of local buying power (iii) Lessons from a failed quick commerce expansion and plans for a expansion tactic (iv) Building the company from Los Angeles, with 200+ employees in Venezuela (v) The type of investors buying the Venezuela thesis (vi) Going through YC as an emerging markets-focused company Read the full Realistic Optimist interview here: https://lnkd.in/g7H5cewR

Maha Shahzad worked for Swvl and Careem in Pakistan. Then, she launched her own bus-hailing startup. BusCaro is trying to do what Swvl couldn't do in time: figure out a sustainable business model for an objectively good business. Pakistanis greatly benefit from bus-hailing services. The state of public transportation in Pakistan is dismal and individual ride-hailing solutions are too expensive for many. This week, the Realistic Optimist interviewed Maha to speak about why she launched a seemingly failed business model, in a dry funding environment, in a volatile domestic market. And more importantly, how it's been going. Exclusively, for paid Realistic Optimist subscribers ($300/y). https://lnkd.in/gFYH3HTg

According to the World Bank, 60% of kids in the Arab world are unable to read an age-appropriate text by the time they're 10 years old. Little Thinking Minds is working to reduce that number. The company provides Arabic reading and audiovisual material to both public and private schools in MENA. By equipping Arabic teachers with adequate, interactive digital tools, kids become better readers and writers. This week's Realistic Optimist piece is an interview with Rama Kayyali, co-founder of Little Thinking Minds. Some topics we discuss: (i) The switch from physical to software products (ii) The importance of the Arabic language in a world where English dominates (iii) Adapting pricing for private vs public vs NGO-funded schools (iv) Crafting relevant content vis a vis local cultural contexts For Realistic Optimist paid subscribers exclusively. https://lnkd.in/gSFFUtWs

Yousif Yahya runs a startup incubator in Sudan. He spends his time dispelling myths about the country. In this Realistic Optimist opinion piece, Yousif argues that Sudanese founders are still subjected to outdated sanctions. This hurts their ability to build. It's also unfair, because blanket sanctions on Sudan were removed following the fall of Omar al-Bashir in 2019. While the country reels in civil war today, current sanctions only target specific individuals. Yet, some big tech companies haven't updated their policies and Sudanese founders are still barred from them. Some might find it insensitive to talk about the Sudanese economy, or its startup ecosystem, during a civil war. That is shortsighted because economic deprivation is a large culprit of the war. If institutions and governments truly want to rebuild Sudan, they should ensure its economy works correctly. https://lnkd.in/gKuXW73q

ZOOD (ZOOD Pay | ZOOD Mall) is a fascinating company. It is on a mission to revive the Silk Road. Zood is building an ecosystem of products that fosters digital lending, increasing purchases and thus trade. These digital lending products tend to focus on customers that traditional banks don't want to serve. The company raised a $30M+ Series B to do so. The Realistic Optimist recently interviewed Laurent Sciboz, CIO of Zood's parent company, to learn more. https://lnkd.in/gS7seK9g

Ethiopia has traditionally been less economically liberal than other African countries. That has changed recently. The currency has been floated and the state's telecom operator has been opened up to private investors, amongst other reforms. SantimPay Financial Solutions is building the infrastructure for the Ethiopian digital economy. Today, they sport three main products: (i) POS devices, physical and QR codes (ii) A UPI (connecting APIs between different Ethiopian banks) (iii) A payment gateway for online Ethiopian businesses. This week's Realistic Optimist piece is an interview with Tensaye Desalegn, Santimpay's CEO. https://lnkd.in/gPfEYCiJ