Turkish fintech Figopara, established in 2017, has raised a million dollars in its second financing round, egirisim reported on May 7.
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Turkish angel investor Revo Capital—along with Figopara’s founding partners Ahmet Bilgen and Koray Gultekin Bahar, Hasan Davci, Figopara CTO Arman Eker and newcomer Orhan Ayanlar—participated in the financing round.
The IFC, Revo and Endeavor Catalyst also participated in Figopara’s first financing round.
The company helps registered SMEs sell their invoices to lenders for cash at a discount before maturity. It works with Turkish lenders Akbank, Fibabanka, ING Turkey and Yapi Kredi Bank,
Figopara CEO Koray Gultekin Bahar moved from e-invoicer Foriba in May 2019.
Figopara has more than 1,000 registered customers in its portfolio and has brokered more than 60,000 transactions worth a total of Turkish lira (TRY) 650mn ($91.6mn) so far.
In April alone, Figopara brokered TRY80mn worth of transactions. It aims to reach a monthly volume of TRY200mn by the end of 2020 with the launch of its new product Figo Skor, Bahar wrote on Twitter.
On May 1, meanwhile, egirisim reported that WeWalk, which provides smart walking sticks for visually disabled people, has raised $750,000.
Digital Turkey Platform, the Turkey arm of Digital Europe, released on May 8 a report on the coronavirus (COVID-19) impact on Turkey’s software and informatics industries.
Almost half of participants surveyed for the report said that they had problems with suppliers in China, EU member states and Turkey, while 63% saw uncertainties as regards their customers and 57% faced order cancellations.
A total of 40% had suspended their investment plans although 71% said they saw themselves as better off than other sectors in terms of COVID-19 problems.
Employee layoffs were planned by 51% and 77% expected a deterioration in their financials.
As many as 97% expected to see countrywide layoffs and a GDP contraction in Turkey this year.
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