Crossfin, a South African fintech company, has formed a new entity named Crossfin Singapore, which will focus on fintech and payments innovation in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The new company today announced its first investment in UAE-based Unitey.
Muzaffar Khokhar launched Unitey in 2021 as an emerging markets technology holding company.
It comprises Mercury, a multifaceted payments services provider of infrastructure management services, as well as Shukria, a licensed payment services brand in the UAE.
Meanwhile, Crossfin Singapore has secured two initial anchor investors: Standard Bank and Turing Capital Fund, a sub fund of Chronos Capital Fund VCC.
Anton Gaylard, co-founder and CXO at Crossfin, says: “Our goal since the founding of Crossfin is to put money behind strategic payment rails in Africa and beyond and then invest in fintechs that provide innovations that can be leveraged across the rails.
“With the launch of Crossfin Singapore, we are taking our proven fintech investment philosophy to new markets. We hope our investment in Unitey is the first in a growing portfolio of likeminded assets in the Middle East, Africa and into Southeast Asia.”
Michael Jordaan of Chronos Capital Advisors SA says central banks are exploring new payments solutions amid growing economic disruption and uncertainty: “Unitey’s role in enabling central banks with vital solutions that drive payments innovation and sovereignty has exciting applications for Crossfin and the broader fintech ecosystem.:
Khokhar says he worked closely with Dean and Anton at Crossfin, as well as the South African payments ecosystem in general, over the last decade and always believed it was ‘world-class’ in every regard.
He went on to say: “We are very happy for Crossfin, backed by Chronos Capital Advisors SA (PTY) Ltd. and Standard Bank, to invest in Unitey to accelerate the immensely successful journey that I started along with my co-founders Muzaffer Hamid and Gururaj Balakrishna in 2021.”
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