SOSV funds latest cohort with $150K Seed
Interested in more data on startup investments? Access our data on 6,250+ startup funding rounds
The US-Based VC firm SOSV has just announced the latest cohort of its flagship consumer-tech program SOSV MOX, which included startups from Emerging Venture Markets. The shortlisted startups were financed with a $150K in a Seed funding round, and are chosen to pitch for a select audience of key investors in the upcoming week, paving their way for future fundraisers.
As of August 2021, SOSV has garnered more than $1Bn in assets under management and over 1120 portfolio companies. The firm’s internet portfolio includes crypto-product trading platform BitMEX, Google-backed AI English pronunciation assistant ELSA, and Samsung-backed video publisher Flickstree. In Pakistan, SOSV has previously invested in PriceOye, 24SEVEN.pk, Blink Co., and Dastgyr; making it one of the most active investors in the country.
SOSV has chosen diverse consumer-tech and commerce startups from the region all with innovative solutions and technologies. Notably, the latest cohort includes Egypt-based on-demand pick up and delivery app 1Trolley, as well as Pakistan-based on-demand insurance platfrom Smartchoice and E-commerce fashion and global trends marketspace Swag Kicks. In light of this event, William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV highlighted “Despite a large number of angel and seed investors, MENAP’s ecosystem still lacks connections to foreign investors and support for growth-stage companies. We believe in the longer game: leveling the field for the smartest teams from Asia and MENAP, and helping them reach profitability by solving real market problems.”
Besides funding, each startup also benefits from SOSV’s specialized salesforce, hands-on support for growth and cross-border business development, as well as connections to the firm’s network of Series A+ investors. William Bao Bean concludes “Silicon Valley’s blind spot is its own success. Having invested in MENAP for the past few years, we’re particularly impressed with the teams’ resourcefulness and their obsession with serving customers: people who are unbanked and underbanked, people unserved by Big Tech, and businesses that are being exploited or threatened by blitzscaling companies. We have no doubt that the region’s next tech revolution will be driven by the local entrepreneurs.”
Want to know who's active in the ecosystem? Browse 21,300+ startups in Emerging Venture Markets