Stears, a pan-African financial data and intelligence company, has announced the close of a $3.3 Million seed round which was led by MaC Venture Capital with participation from Serena Ventures, Melo 7 Tech Partners, Omidyar Group’s Luminate Fund, Cascador and Hoaq Club. Stears said it plans to use this investment to enhance its data collection and analytics capabilities, talent acquisition and expansion to East and Southern Africa.
Stears is a financial data and intelligence company providing subscription-based data and insight to global businesses and professionals.
“Globally, information providers like Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters have built data powerhouses which act as information gateways to Western markets. We are executing an African version of this model, focused on the often missing, outdated or poorly digitised African datasets needed by operators, finance and policy professionals, researchers and even regulators.” said Preston Ideh, Stears CEO.
Stears Flagship Product
To date, Stears’ flagship product has been a subscription insights product which has become a trusted source of insight into the Nigerian market. Originally built as a consumer product, the company has seen uptake with financial institutions such as banks, fintechs as well as some of the most prominent global institutions in Africa, including the United Nations Development Programme, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and the European Investment Bank.
According to the company’s COO and data scientist Abdul Abdulrahim, the company currently working with international development institutions and financial institutions to produce proprietary and exclusive datasets that don’t exist anywhere else.
“With this new investment, we can expand our data coverage to target the needs of global professionals who want direct access to our data, not just our insight,” says Abdul Abdulrahim.
Commenting on the fundraise, Marlon Nichols, co-founder and managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital noted, “Stears is uniquely positioned to provide the proprietary and accurate data needed to unlock trade and deeper business relationships with African countries and companies.”
Tennis star Serena Williams, who is also the founder and managing general partner at Serena Ventures, adds: “Better and more transparent business and financial data is expected to lead to more investment in the African continent. Stears has shown a deep appreciation of the complexities involved in solving this problem for global professionals. Through a combination of technology and data, Stears is well placed to leverage the massive data opportunity on the continent.”
