Investment firm Rise Capital is looking to raise around $146 million, according to a recent SEC filing.
The San Francisco-based firm focuses on bankrolling startups in emerging markets such as Africa and South America. For instance, this past December, Rise Capital was part of an $8 million round of investments in on-demand TV site iROKOTV, a Sub-Saharan Africa version of Hulu, complete with a monthly subscription for premium content. The service currently holds the largest online catalog of Sub-Saharan African TV.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1268914,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,","session":"A"}']The firm also invested in an online comparison service in Chile called Comparaonline in September 2013. The service is like a Yelp for South American finance products and insurance policies. It lets users compare products like credit card policies and travel and auto insurance in Chile, Brazil, and Columbia.
Rise Capital Managing Partner and CEO Nazar Yasin has plenty of experience spotting the rising stars of the global startup scene and has a penchant for video-based companies. Before coming to Rise Capital, he was a part of an investment team at Tiger Capital, another globally minded investment firm that put him on the board of companies like YY, a video-based social media site in China that touts over 300 million users, and ivi.ru, Russia’s Netflix.
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Founded in 2013, Rise Capital is not the only investment outfit sitting in the heart of startup land with its eyes set on companies abroad. Lumia Capital are also keeping tabs on companies in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.
Meanwhile, U.S. interest in international startups has surged in recent years. According to TechCrunch, 2013 was the most active year in technology investment in Africa.
Rise Capital declined to comment on its fundraising efforts.
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