The Comparable

dLocal was born out of Uruguay in 2016 with the vision to close the payments innovation gap between international businesses and emerging economies, and over the past 10 years the company grew to reach unicorn status in 2020, went public on the NASDAQ in 2021, and now works across the world in 60 countries with operations in over 44 countries, with over 1000 payment methods. As the company grew an...

We're back with Season 2 of The Comparable, and for episode 1 we're spotlighting two fintech players that are taking their respective markets by storm – Moniepoint, which started their journey in Nigeria, and Abhi, which started in Pakistan. Moniepoint, formerly known as TeamApt, was established in Lagos, Nigeria in 2015, first finding success in launching Point of Sale terminals in 2019 a...

Our first season (10 episodes!) is done, and Kals sits down with her partner at i2i Ventures Misbah Naqvi to reflect on major takeaways and how they're applying it to their work at the fund.

Buy Now Pay Later, or BNPL is a short-term installment loan that lets consumers buy a product immediately and spread the cost over several payments, often with no interest if they pay on time. In developed markets, platforms like Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm are well-known BNPL plays, and act as a layer on top of mature credit rails, allowing consumers to shop more seamlessly online. In developed m...

In emerging markets, b2b “business to business” e-commerce platforms service the millions of small retailers and corner shops that power many of these economies. In Africa, the informal retail sector accounts for ~ 90% of transactions in Nigeria, 96% in Ghana & 70% in Kenya. In Latin America, there are over 3.7M corner stores that generate an annual revenue of $330 billion. While these small b...

This is the second minisode in our series called The Comparable Compact, where we speak with investors on emerging market trends. Dina El Shenoufy is the co-founder & General Partner at F6 Ventures, which is part of the newly formed F6 Group that houses both this VC fund & Flat 6 Labs, which has been a player in the Middle East startup ecosystem since 2011. As a driving force in the VC eco...

Stablecoin, a cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset like a fiat (or a government-backed currency), has been proliferating for years, and received a further boost by the recent GENIUS Act signed by the United States in 2025. Stablecoins have a number of use cases, especially for emerging markets, where local currencies and markets can be volatile. Instead of holding their money in their more vola...

This is a shorter minisode in our series called The Comparable Compact, in which we speak with investors on emerging market trends. Alex Lazarow is the Managing Partner of Fluent Ventures, a next-gen global venture capital firm focused on direct investments in early-stage technology companies. He has spent his career investing in and studying startups across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other...

We’re spotlighting two e-commerce platforms that are working to unlock a massive consumer base in their respective markets – CityMall in India & DealCart in Pakistan. While quick-commerce caters more to a higher-income segment who care more about convenience, these companies are more focused on capturing a much larger middle-income segment who are value conscious, who care more about the price...

We’re zooming in on digital payments, spotlighting two leading fintech players: Paystack in Nigeria and PayMongo in the Philippines. As digital commerce accelerates across emerging markets, companies like these are transforming how businesses and consumers transact—making payments faster, more secure, and more seamless than ever before. Paystack has become a major player in Nigeria and across Afri...

Test preparation for young students is high stakes eventually leading to how they get into university, get the right job, and (supposedly) be set up for life. In emerging markets, traditional solutions often focus on private centers and private tutors.  While many families will invest significantly in exam preparation for their child’s future, the space is often fractured, informal, expensive &amp...

The rise of digital banks is significant for emerging markets as a whole because they can fundamentally transform financial access, economic opportunity, and inclusion for millions who were previously underserved or excluded by traditional banking systems. In countries where access to finance is filled with obstacles and barriers, digital banks can serve to unlock potential for both individuals an...

The potential for electric vehicle mobility in emerging markets is enormous. In Nigeria, there are 5.1M motorbikes on the road, the most in Subsaharan Africa. Pakistan has the 6th largest motorcycle ownership in the world, with 17.5M motorbikes on the road. At the same time, rising fuel prices and governments committed to converting vehicles to electric to combat the climate crisis, mean there's a...

The Comparable is a series that seeks to uncover the journeys and stories of emerging market startups, but instead of looking at one company in one market, we look at two in a side by side comparison in order to showcase the commonalities but also some of the nuanced differences of both markets, as well as the stories of the founders building these innovations.