Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is hopping on the fintech bandwagon.

Berkshire invested around $600 million in recent months in two big financial-technology companies focused on emerging markets: Brazilian payment processor StoneCo Ltd. and the parent company of India’s largest mobile-payments service, Paytm.

Both investments were spearheaded by Todd Combs, one of Berkshire’s two portfolio managers.

Berkshire is best known for investing in blue-chip companies like Coca-Cola Co. and owning steady businesses like utilities and insurance companies. The company generates the majority of its revenue in the U.S. Mr. Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and CEO, has historically said technology investments are outside his area of expertise.

But Mr. Combs and his counterpart, Ted Weschler, have cast a wide net for potential investments and are pushing the conglomerate in new directions. Mr. Buffett has spoken frankly about Berkshire’s need to find new places to invest its large pile of cash, which stood at $111 billion at midyear.