Flood, a pioneering superapp-as-a-service platform, has successfully raised an additional $2.5 million in seed funding to fuel its next phase of growth. This latest round, led by venture capital firm CRE.vc and supported by a group of strategic angel investors, builds on the company’s earlier $1 million seed round completed in July 2024. The new capital will be used to fast-track Flood’s market entry strategy, deepen its partnerships with telecommunications providers and challenger banks, and support the rapid onboarding of thousands of offline merchants across emerging markets.
Founded by seasoned entrepreneur André de Wet, Flood is gaining momentum in key regions including South Africa, India, and the Maldives. The company is preparing for a broader rollout later this year, targeting markets where digital commerce infrastructure remains underdeveloped.
“An overwhelming 95% of retail activity in emerging markets still takes place offline,” explains De Wet. “Flood is designed to bridge this digital divide by embedding localized commerce, loyalty programs, and payment solutions directly into the apps people already use—such as those offered by telcos and banks.”
Flood’s white-label platform enables telecom operators and financial institutions to seamlessly integrate digital commerce capabilities into their existing mobile applications. This approach eliminates the need for end users to download new apps, allowing them to shop, earn rewards, and make payments within the trusted platforms they already engage with daily.
Pardon Makumbe, founder and managing partner at CRE.vc, emphasized the strategic importance of Flood’s model: “We’re thrilled to continue backing Flood as it executes one of the most compelling platform strategies we’ve seen in emerging markets. Traditional e-commerce models face significant hurdles in these regions—fulfillment costs often exceed the value of the average shopping basket, and the infrastructure needed to support centralized warehousing and last-mile delivery is costly and slow to scale.”
Makumbe added, “Flood’s modular superapp infrastructure empowers telcos, banks, and developers to build vertically integrated commerce ecosystems. By embedding digital commerce, loyalty, and payments directly into widely used apps, Flood is redefining how e-commerce can scale in markets where traditional models have struggled to gain traction.”
With its innovative approach and growing network of partners, Flood is positioning itself as a transformative force in the digital commerce landscape of emerging economies.
