SOSV names 10 startups for its cross-border internet program

US venture capital firm SOSV has named the 10 startups that received nearly US$150,000 in seed funding as part of its cross-border internet program.

William Bao Bean, general partner at SOSV / Photo credit: SOSV

The startups chosen for this cohort aim to tackle issues ranging from food security for Africa to offering lending solutions for the unbanked. They aim to provide services such as creating virtual influencers, building crypto-asset infrastructure for banks, and developing speech recognition that “far exceeds” Google’s capabilities.

“The ubiquity of smartphones, social commerce, and consumers hungry for new experiences make Asia and Africa both fertile grounds for breakthrough internet companies,” said William Bao Bean, general partner at SOSV.

Besides funding, startups will be offered a six-month program with a specialized sales force, tech support for growth, and a cross-border fraternity.

Here are the 10 participating startups:

• Asset Direct (Canada, India): A lending platform for the underbanked and unbanked in Asia
• Atato (Thailand): A crypto-asset custody platform for banks
• DXwand (Egypt): A conversational AI tool to automate and extract insights from conversations in Arabic dialects and English
• Ekkbaz (Bangladesh): A marketplace that connects consumer brands with small retailers
• Ensuro (Singapore): A decentralized capital firm that leverages blockchain to lower costs and improve availability of insurance products
• MarketForce (Kenya, Nigeria): A mobile-first SME digitization platform that provides small retailers with delivery, financing, and supply chain products
• PricePally (Nigeria): A group-buying platform for agricultural products that aims to improve food security for Africa
• xTingles (Singapore): An NFT (nonfungible token) marketplace for autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)
• Zebra Labs (China): A provider of virtual influencers that enables celebrities to manage their own digital avatars in various media, from virtual reality to games
• Zeemo (China): A firm that offers automatic, AI-driven video subtitling services in 15 languages, including Spanish, Korean, and Chinese