LifeCheq - Afrikan Heroes

South African Fintech Startup LifeCheq Raises $3.3M From Naspers

June 1, 2022

Through its early-stage technology investment arm Naspers Foundry, Naspers has invested R40 million ($2.5 million) in financial consulting fintech company LifeCheq.

The investment is part of a total R53 million ($3.3 million) series A investment round led by Naspers Foundry, with existing investors funding the remainder.

Abu Addae, co-founder and CEO of LifeCheq

LifeCheq will focus on new technologies and capabilities to rapidly scale its platform, expedite its partner experience, and expand its customer base with the funds.

Why The Investors Invested

The startup has garnered great traction since it was founded. The fintech startup is believed to have helped more than 45 000 customers in SA obtain access to financial advice and planning.

According to Naspers, LifeCheq plays a crucial role in advancing financial inclusion in SA by democratising access to financial advice — previously only accessible to high-income individuals.

“We are passionate about supporting entrepreneurs that make a meaningful contribution to society. Through LifeCheq, holistic, personalised financial advice can be made accessible to previously underserved South Africans. LifeCheq is empowering people to take charge of their finances — improving their financial well-being and inclusion in the process. This investment supports our focus of backing purpose-driven technology businesses,” Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa CEO of Naspers, said.

“The South African entrepreneurial environment continues to produce high-quality, needs-based businesses as evidenced by our investment in LifeCheq. We look forward to working with the LifeCheq CEO Abu Addae and his highly-experienced team as they strive to broaden access to financial advice through the use of technology. We are excited to support the company’s next phase of growth, ” noted Fabian Whate, head of Naspers Foundry, while pointing out the LifeCheq investment builds on Naspers Foundry’s growing fintech portfolio, which includes Ctrl, Naked Insurance, Planet42 and Floatpays.

Naspers Foundry is an R1.4 billion early-stage business funding vehicle devoted to the expansion of South Africa-centric digital enterprises.

The investment in LifeCheq is Naspers Foundry’s fifth fintech investment in South African technology startups and its eleventh tech transaction since the company’s founding in 2019.

A Look At What The Startup Does

Abu Addae, co-founder and CEO of LifeCheq, launched the company’s artificial intelligence-powered platform in 2018 to help financial advisers improve the client experience and increase efficiency.

It combines integrated workflows with an online dashboard to give customers a centralized area to manage their personal finances, allowing them to set and track financial goals.

“Existing solutions for quality financial advice practically ignore more than two billion mass affluent clients globally, simply because they’re not wealthy enough. Our mission is to fix that. It is great to partner with Naspers Foundry. They have taken the time to understand our vision and the opportunity in our offering, and we are extremely excited about the journey ahead,” Addae said.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

South African Startup LifeCheq Raises Funding From VC Firm Futuregrowth

June 13, 2020

South Africa’s Futuregrowth Asset Management through the Futuregrowth Development Equity Fund (DEF) has invested in LifeCheq, a digitised holistic personal finance business that aims to make expert advice accessible to professionals and entrepreneurs who are currently not served well by the existing financial advice industry.

Futuregrowth unlisted equity transactions head Amrish Narrandes. — Futuregrowth unlisted equity transactions head **Amrish Narrandes**.

“What we most liked about LifeCheq is that it has taken something like personal finance, which can be complex and as a result easily avoided, and uses technology to offer a financial service in an attractive way to a far broader market,” says Futuregrowth unlisted equity transactions head Amrish Narrandes.

The business has two target markets, mainly individuals for their personal use; and employers, who are interested in offering their employees a financial wellness programme.

These potential markets give it diverse sources of revenue and expand the reach of the business across a variety of individuals and company employee bases, says the company.

Futuregrowth notes that LifeCheq’s competitive edge is that it tailors and personalises financial advice to suit different individuals with different risk profiles by using data and algorithms to generate solutions.

Narrandes notes that LifeCheq more than met Futuregrowth’s investment requirements.

“We also took comfort from the fact that the business had already built up traction and had proved its credentials and, as a result, we bought into the business vision and proposition,” Narrandes says.

“Most importantly, the business has an impressive management team, with all the credentials and experience to qualify as an A-team. The four co-founders and members of the executive management team have a diverse range of experience from financial services product design to software engineering,” says Futuregrowth investment analyst Kearon Gordon.

LifeCheq aims to become the primary way in which clients engage with their finances and navigate their most important life decisions.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.