Where The Next Generation Of Super Apps Will Be Built
The next generation of super apps will likely emerge in markets where widespread mobile access, weak competition, poor financial services and crises that erode trust in banks create demand for a single trusted platform, writes guest author Nnamdi Okike, co-founder and managing partner of 645 Ventures.
Tosin Eniolorunda is a notable figure who co-founded Moniepoint, an operating system for over 6 million Nigerian businesses, processing $300 billion per year or 39% of Nigeria's digital payments volume and 8 out of every 10 in-person payments. The system Moniepoint has created for Nigeria is akin to other super apps such as those built by Sea Limited, Grab, Kaspi, Yassir, and Nubank. These super apps bundle banking, commerce, ride-hailing, and bill pay into one trusted application.
Unlike the U.S., where trust is abundant, super apps are crucial in emerging markets where trust is scarce. Four conditions tend to precede a super app: high mobile penetration, weak incumbent competition, poor existing financial services, and a severe financial crisis that strips incumbents of legitimacy. Examples of such conditions include Brazil's 1990 banking crisis, Kazakhstan's two banking crises in 1993 and 2007-2009, Southeast Asia's 1997 banking crisis, and Pakistan's near-default in 2023.
The first generation of super apps, such as Tencent and Alibaba, created enormous value for investors early on. The second generation, represented by Nubank, Kaspi, and others, is scaling now. The third generation will be built on stablecoins and AI technologies in markets like Abidjan, Buenos Aires, Karachi, and Lagos, by founders like Tosin Eniolorunda.
Written by urgent.news from Crunchbase News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
