Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes Farfetch's acquisition of CuriosityChina. In addition, teams in Visa’s Everywhere Initiative have advanced to the finals and India-based PaySense has notched $18 million in a Series B funding round.
U.K.-based Farfetch is acquiring CuriosityChina to help the retailer sell products through Tencent’s WeChat, Bloomberg reported. With the arrangement, shops on the retailer’s platform will have the ability to make stores on WeChat. Farfetch Chief Commercial and Sustainability Officer Giorgio Belloli told Bloomberg that the move comes as luxury brands have been asking about China for years, and “practically everything in China happens on WeChat.”
In other news, India-based PaySense has notched $18 million in a Series B funding round, Deal Street Asia reported. The round was led by Naspers-backed PayU — along with participation from Singapore’s Jungle Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners.
PaySense, a digital credit platform, plans to use the funding to bolster its tech and data analytics team. Prashanth Ranganathan, the company’s co-founder, told the outlet that “the consumer lending market in India is ripe for disruption and this capital will equip us to focus on this huge, untapped market potential.”
On another note, the UAE’s domestic information technology (IT) market may present growth opportunities for Chinese businesses, Dubai Internet City said in a press release. The organization also said that the city has a thriving tech sector and deepening bilateral ties with China. In addition, Dubai Internet City said that 100 percent foreign ownership is allowed in certain industries.
And pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar solutions are becoming available in Africa, TheNextWeb reported. Firms such as BBOXX and Solaris Offgrid are offering solar kits for small installments instead of one-time payments. Solaris Offgrid, in particular, was a finalist in the New Energy Challenge last year.
In other news, FinTech firms in the Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) startup community have advanced to the finals of Visa’s Everywhere Initiative, according to reports. Startups such as WayaWaya, Mookh, LipaPlus and M-Changa will vie for funding of up to $50,000. The initiative, which seeks to have startups solve challenges in commerce, finishes up in Johannesburg on July 24.
