---
title: "500 Startups"
description: "500 Startups, now known as 500 Global, is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies. The firm’s official website describes its investment strategy as global and spanning multiple stages. Its U.S. headquarters is in Palo Alto, California. The investment records provided show three seed rounds in Africa between April 2019 and December 2020: one in Egypt-focused fintech, one in Egyptian logistics and supply chain technology, and one in Nigerian cybersecurity. The companies listed are NowPay, Garment IO, and Smile ID. These records indicate activity in Egypt and Nigeria across those sectors."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/investors/500-startups"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/investors/500-startups.md"
type: "investor"
language: "en"
updated_at: "2026-09-30T03:00:52.586Z"
---

# 500 Startups

500 Startups, now known as 500 Global, is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies. The firm’s official website describes its investment strategy as global and spanning multiple stages. Its U.S. headquarters is in Palo Alto, California. The investment records provided show three seed rounds in Africa between April 2019 and December 2020: one in Egypt-focused fintech, one in Egyptian logistics and supply chain technology, and one in Nigerian cybersecurity. The companies listed are NowPay, Garment IO, and Smile ID. These records indicate activity in Egypt and Nigeria across those sectors.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Investors](/investors)
- [500 Startups](/investors/500-startups)

## Summary

500 Startups, now known as 500 Global, is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies. The firm’s official website describes its investment strategy as global and spanning multiple stages. Its U.S. headquarters is in Palo Alto, California. The investment records provided show three seed rounds in Africa between April 2019 and December 2020: one in Egypt-focused fintech, one in Egyptian logistics and supply chain technology, and one in Nigerian cybersecurity. The companies listed are NowPay, Garment IO, and Smile ID. These records indicate activity in Egypt and Nigeria across those sectors.

## Recorded investments

| Product | URL | Stage | Amount | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Chipper Cash | /chipper-cash | Series C | 100000000 | 2021-05-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| NowPay | /nowpay | Seed | 15000000 | 2020-12-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| Garment IO | /garment-io | Seed | 450000 | 2020-02-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| Smile ID | /smile-id | Seed | 4000000 | 2019-04-01T00:00:00.000Z |

## Related pages

- [All investors](/investors)
- [Funding rounds](/funding)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/investors/500-startups)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)