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bne July 2021 Companies & Markets I 19
Turkey’s Getir online rapid groceries business raises $555mn in new funding round
Akin Nazli in Belgrade
Turkish online rapid groceries delivery company Getir has raised $555mn in a funding round that valued the company at over $7.5bn, Reuters reported on June 4.
The deal was led by existing investors including Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital along with Silicon Valley-based Silver Lake, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sovereign wealth fund’s DisruptAD and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s Mubadala Investment Company.
The company is reportedly planning to come online in Berlin and Paris in June, and in several cities in the US in Q4.
In March, Getir raised $300mn of funding in a financing round, making the enterprise Turkey’s second tech unicorn thanks to its updated valuation at that point of $2.6bn.
In May, Getir went online in Amsterdam. In January, Getir launched operations in London. It plans to go online in Sao Paolo in H2 2021.
Getir, launched in 2015, is also aiming to set up operations in Mexico City.
In April, the Turkish competition board launched a probe looking at 32 companies, including Getir, in relation to the signing of a “gentlemen’s agreement” to prevent workers from moving between companies.
Getir arrived in Amsterdam in late May.
Albanian fintech Rubicon raises pre-seed funding round
bne IntelliNews
Albanian fintech company Rubicon announced the closing of its pre-seed round worth ALL55mn (€450,000) on June 2.
The funding will be used to accelerate Rubicon's business plan in Albania, where it provides financial solutions and is developing a payment processing network.
The funding was secured from a group of local Angel Investors, US Venture Capital firm Navy Yard Capital LLC and APC Integrated.
On approval of its license application Pago will be licensed as an electronic money institution by the Bank of Albania, the company said.
“Considering the digital revolution of the last 20 years and following the ever-increasing traction of the challenger banks and fintechs, like Revolut, Number 26, Monzo but
also e-payment solutions such as WePay, Venmo throughout the world, it is time for Albania and the wider region to also benefit from similar innovation,” said Dr Armand Brahaj, founder of Rubicon.
Brahaj noted that around 60% of Albania’s population is un-banked and the total number of cashless payment transactions per inhabitant in Albania is among the lowest in Europe.
However, he added, "the central bank of Albania is strategically focused to increase the banked population to 70% by the end of 2022. In April 2020 Albania harmonised its legislation with the introduction of the Payment Services Directive, known as PSD2. The foundation stones are in place to allow us to exploit these anomalies through the creation of a range of payment services never witnessed in the Albanian market."
Rubicon was advised on the fundraising by Deloitte Legal Shpk and Oficina Incubator.
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