12 African startups to look out for in 2022

Despite the world’s economic volatility, Africa’s tech entrepreneurs have pulled off another stellar year. If the year 2021 is any indication, the next 12 months will be loaded with startup successes.

Here’s our list of 12 African companies to keep an eye on; enjoy the show.

NORTH AFRICA

Lamma

Our list begins with Tunisia’s Lamma, which has had a busy journey since its inception in 2020. Lamma began as a carpooling service and now provides a B2C last mile delivery business, with delivery within 45 minutes.

The firm participated in the Flat6Labs Tunis accelerator in early 2021, and received funding from Orange Ventures near the end of the year.

With aspirations for worldwide development, beginning with Morocco, we’re excited to see where this venture goes in 2022.

Bypa-ss

Bypa-ss, an Egyptian e-health business, closed 2021 with a US$1 million pre-seed round to fund a variety of product enhancements and expansion goals, which has us enthusiastic for the following year.

Bypa-ss has created the HealthTag end-to-end health information exchange (HIE) technology, which allows healthcare providers and patients to securely access medical records stored in a cloud-based database.

With funding from Magic Fund, Acuity Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures Ventures, and Plug and Play, we’re confident the firm will have something to share in 2022.

Minly

Minly, based in Egypt, has developed a unique product for the MENA region, allowing customers to purchase customised video greetings and shoutouts from their favorite celebrities.

Minly, which launched in 2020, has had significant organic development, with over 50,000 registered members and an amazing list of tier A regional celebrities.

In 2021, the firm closed a US$3.6 million seed round that was oversubscribed, with plans to expand its products and services to become a full-stack passion economy platform. We can’t wait to see how the journey plays out.

EAST AFRICA

Lami

Lami, a Kenyan startup, is tackling Africa’s underserved insurance industry with its B2B and B2B2C insurance-as-a-service platform. Lami, which was launched in 2018, allows partner businesses to effortlessly and seamlessly sell digital insurance products to their subscribers using its API.

The venture has had a successful year, having been accepted into the eighth cohort of Catalyst Fund’s inclusive fintech accelerator and receiving US$1.8 million in seed capital.

We’ll be keeping a watch on this company in 2022 as it seeks to improve its offering, recruit more workers, and grow into other markets.

Wowzi

Wowzi’s creative solution for social media influencers, also from Kenya, has amazed us. The self-service web platform of the startup enables marketers of any size or industry to build and manage huge, dispersed messaging campaigns involving thousands of real, everyday customers.

Wowzi said in December that it has raised US$3.2 million in pre-seed and seed fundraising rounds to help it scale its influencer marketing network across the continent. And we’re excited to see it come to fruition.

Viebeg

Viebeg, a Rwandan company, rounds off our East African picks with its data-driven logistics technology that assists healthcare providers in better managing procurement.

Since its inception in 2018, the firm has developed a commercial presence in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), served over 400 customers, and acquired pre-seed funding in 2021 to expand further.

We have a positive feeling about this business, especially given Africa’s burgeoning e-health sector.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Stitch

Stitch, a South African API fintech business, has captured our (and investor!) interest in 2021, and we believe the next 12 months will be fruitful for this venture.

The Stitch API enables developers to quickly connect apps to financial accounts, allowing their users to share transaction histories and balances, confirm their identities, and initiate payments.

The business launched a US$4 million seed round in February 2021, but increased the stakes to US$6 million by the end of the year and announced a Nigerian launch. What comes next?

Akiba Digital

It was difficult not to include this second South African financial startup on our list. Akiba Digital uses alternative datasets to give inclusive credit ratings, allowing lenders to rate people and small businesses whom traditional credit bureaus cannot reach.

As a result of its critical work, the firm is already expanding its revenues by 5X month on month and has acquired US$1.1 million in pre-seed funding for 2021, allowing it to expand its market share.

With aspirations to expand into 10+ African markets in the next two to three years, this is a hot African startup to keep an eye on.

AlphaDirect

AlphaDirect, a Botswana-based insurtech business, is our third Southern African pick, making it three-for-three in the fintech sector (apt, for Southern African entrepreneurs love a good fintech venture). Customers can purchase “value-for-money” commercial and personal insurance products directly from AlphaDirect.

WEST AFRICA

GetEquity

GetEquity, a Nigerian business, will launch in 2021 with pre-seed funding from GreenHouse Capital. The startup runs a venture-funding platform that connects businesses and investors, with anyone able to purchase equity in a publicly traded startup for as low as US$10.

The company’s goal is to democratize startup finance and enlarge the pie for previously underfunded and underprivileged entrepreneurs. And, with a six-figure pre-seed capital, we believe GetEquity will have an exciting year as it gets off to a flying start.

Edukoya

Edukoya, a Nigerian ed-tech business, started in beta in December and quickly announced a US$3.5 million pre-seed investment round to allow it to migrate from beta to live in the coming months.

Edukoya connects African students to on-demand teachers and digital curriculum content for real-time online learning. The company’s mission is to democratize access to high-quality education throughout Africa.

The money, provided by Target Global and a number of African and European founder-turned-angels, enables the firm to go live, increase its team, grow its user base, and develop new technologies. Edukoya’s first year is going to be a tremendous one.

Jetstream

Ghana’s Jetstream is the final entry on our list for 2022. Jetstream, which was founded in 2018, creates digital solutions for cargo owners and logistics providers across the continent’s ports and borders, with the goal of streamlining – and accelerating – cross-border commerce.

It was a pivotal year for the startup, which reported more than 500% annual revenue growth in March before shifting slightly to refocus on logistics aggregation rather than its initial freight-forwarding service. The business disclosed a US$3 million debt and equity venture round in July, which was oversubscribed.

Jetstream has a busy year ahead as Africa’s cross-border trade corridors begin to develop in volume as a result of freshly legislated free trade policies.