Naspers Foundry leads R53m Series A investment in LifeCheq

By Edlyn Cardoza

Naspers, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry, announced an R40 million ($2.5 million) investment in LifeCheq, a FinTech platform empowering financial advisers to provide quality, holistic financial advice. The investment is part of Naspers’s R1.4 billion commitment to grow South Africa’s early-stage tech ecosystem and marks Naspers Foundry’s fifth FinTech investment and eleventh tech transaction since its launch three years ago.

LifeCheq plays a critical role in driving financial inclusion in South Africa by democratising access to financial advice – previously only accessible to high-income earners. Accessible financial planning and advice are essential during the current challenging economic environment. A recent McKinsey consumer survey reports that 87% of South African consumers say their current personal economic situation is stretched, 13% say they are in crisis, and 32% say they find it hard to make ends meet.

LifeCheq’s AI-powered platform equips financial advisers with the ability to improve client experience and drive efficiency. Its platform combines integrated workflows and an online dashboard to give its users a central place to manage their personal finances, enabling them to set and track their financial goals.

The easy-to-use platform enables independent financial advisers to provide seamless, high-quality financial advice at a reasonable rate while allowing consumers to engage directly with a holistic financial service offering. The platform’s financial advisory services guide consumers to achieve their financial goals, covering important topics including high-value purchases such as a new home or car, improving savings and investment habits, and appropriate contributions to pensions, among others.

Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa, South Africa CEO of Naspers, said: “We are passionate about supporting entrepreneurs that make a meaningful contribution to society. Through LifeCheq, holistic, personalised financial advice can be made accessible to previously underserved South Africans. LifeCheq is empowering people to take charge of their finances – improving their financial well-being and inclusion in the process. This investment supports our focus of backing purpose-driven technology businesses.”

Fabian Whate, Head of Naspers Foundry, said: “The South African entrepreneurial environment continues to produce high quality, needs-based businesses as evidenced by our investment in LifeCheq. We look forward to working with the LifeCheq CEO, Abu Addae and his highly experienced team as they strive to broaden access to financial advice through the use of technology. We are excited to support the company’s next phase of growth. This investment builds on Naspers Foundry’s growing fintech portfolio, which includes Ctrl, Naked Insurance, Planet42, and Floatpays.”

Abu Addae, co-founder and CEO of LifeCheq, said: “Existing solutions for quality financial advice practically ignore more than 2 billion mass affluent clients globally, simply because they’re not wealthy enough. Our mission is to fix that. It is great to partner with Naspers Foundry. They have taken the time to understand our vision and the opportunity in our offering, and we are extremely excited about the journey ahead.”

Since its launch in 2018, LifeCheq has helped more than 45,000 users in South Africa gain access to financial advice and planning. This Series A round of investment will be focused on new technology and capabilities to significantly scale LifeCheq’s platform, accelerate its partner experience, and grow its customer base.