Three South African companies have made history after being recognized on the annual list of the best financial technology (fintech) service companies in the world. According to the 2016 Fintech 100 report, the three companies have made it into the two main categories in the fintech list, marking a first for South Africa.
“The Fintech 100 celebrates the top companies in two main areas: the 50 leading established players creating change within financial services and 50 of the emerging fintech stars of tomorrow,” notes the report, which was jointly authored by H2 Ventures and KPMG.
Coming in at number 41, the crowdfunding property company Wealth Migrate was the only South African fintech that was placed among the established players. The company allows people to invest in property from around the world, while enabling them to directly interact when making transactions.
Founded in 2009, Wealth Migrate, is based in South Africa but has global offices in Australia, China, United Kingdom, and the United States. According to the 2015 Crowdfunding Industry Report, it was ranked as the 10th largest global crowdfunding company in the real estate industry.
EasyEquities and Zoona are the other South African companies to make it to the “emerging stars” category., although they didn’t recieve a ranking.
EasyEquities stands out as a platform that allows anyone to purchase securities on the Johannesburg Exchange Market (JSE), such as derivatives, stocks,or exchange-traded funds at a minimum cost of $0.73. The JSE is the biggest stock exchange market in Africa.
The 100 companies identified in the 2016 Fintech report have managed to raise $14.6 billion in the last year, which is less than the $20 billion raised last year.
35 companies are from the Americas, 28 from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, 13 from the United Kingdom, and 24 from the Asia-Pacific region, according to Business Tech.
The report further notes that what differentiates the 2016 list from past lists is that the awards committee chose companies that have disrupted markets, instead of conservative organizations, which are referred to as “enablers.”
