As more individuals gain access to the internet for the first time, mobile penetration in Africa is rising to around 46%. As a result, the market opportunity for startups, particularly fintechs and e-commerce, has expanded, as they aim to develop various solutions to suit the financial needs of the general public. However, in order to…
MARA, a Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $23 million in funding from Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX), Distributed Global, TQ Ventures, DIGITAL, Nexo, Huobi Ventures, Day One Ventures, Infinite Capital, DAO Jones (an investment DAO backed by Mike Shinoda, Steve Aoki, and Disclosure), and nearly 100 other crypto investors and angels, including Amit Bhatia and…
Kaltani, a Nigerian clean-tech plastic waste recycling company, has received initial capital of $4 million to extend its recycling operations across the country. Engineer Obi Charles Nnanna founded Kaltani in Nigeria to address Africa’s growing plastic waste challenge by promoting the circular economy and recycling best practices. The firm employs 100 people throughout its collection…
Jambo, a Congo-based Web 3 super app firm, has raised $30 million in a series investment round headed by Paradigm. The web 3 mega app startup Jambo, which is Paradigm’s first investment in Africa, combines education, communal access to play-to-earn games for lower entry hurdles, and access to a curated network of Web 3 applications….
Paymob, an Egyptian fintech firm, received $50 million in funding from PayPal Ventures, Kora Capital, and Clay Point. Additional investors included Helios Digital Ventures, British International Investment (formerly the CDC Group), Nclude, and three Egyptian banks. Paymob is a digital payments platform for emerging markets that enables small and large enterprises to take payments both…
Africa GreenCo (GreenCo), a Zambian firm, has received $15.5 million in funding from InfraCo Africa, the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), and the European Union’s Electrification Financing Initiative (EDFI ElectriFi). GreenCo Power Services, based in Lusaka, was established in 2020 with IFU and InfraCo Africa’s support (through its sister company, PIDG Technical Assistance)….
HAVAC, a South African venture capital firm, has announced the third and final closing of the HAVAC Universum Core African Fund, a US$20 million fund that will invest in early-stage technology startups in South, East, and West Africa. The HAVAC Universum Core African Fund is the company’s second pan-African investment fund, with a third and…
GoMetro, a South African logistics startup, has secured $1 million in a seed extension round to accelerate its growth, enhance its sales team, and aggressively expand into the South African, UK, and US markets. The investment round also included Kalon Venture Partners, Hlayisani Capital, Tritech Global, 4Decades Capital, and E Squared Investments. GoMetro is a…
AAIC Investment Pte. Ltd. (AAIC Investment), a Japanese investment corporation established in Singapore, is pleased to announce the First Closing of its second fund, Africa Innovation & Healthcare Fund VCC –AHF2, in March 2022. AHF 2 will begin investing and accepting subscriptions once it has reached its target of USD 150 million. The AHF2 was…
Kwaba, a Nigerian fintech firm that helps low and middle-income earners divide their annual rent into manageable monthly installments, has received pre-seed capital to help it expand across Nigeria and Africa. Kwaba, which was founded by Obinna Molokwu in January 2020 and is aimed at Nigerians wishing to pay rent in a modern method that…
Norebase, an African trade technology company that has built a single platform for firms to start, scale, and operate in any African country, has received $1 million in pre-seed funding from Samurai Incubate and Consonance Investment. Sahil Lavingia (Gumroad) and Kinfolk VC also contributed to the money. Future Africa, Ventures Platform, Microtraction, Boleh Venture, Voltron…
The Baobab Network, a Nairobi-based accelerator that invests in early-stage software firms across Africa, has announced its next cohort of five investees, each of which will receive US$25,000. After making five more investments as part of a new model, the Baobab Network has been propelling companies with capacity building and fundraising since 2019. It now…
OnePort 365, a Nigerian digital freight forwarding startup, has raised $5 million in early capital to accelerate Africa’s end-to-end digitalization of freight management and enable its expansion into new markets. Mobility 54 (the Venture Capital branch of Toyota Tsusho and CFAO Group) led the seed fundraising round, which included SBI Investment, Flexport, ODX, a Singaporean…
Kwely Inc, a B2B wholesale distribution platform for Made-in-Africa products, has raised $700,000 in a new round of funding to bring its total capital to $1 million. WIC Capital led this round of fundraising, which included Loftyinc Capital, Afropreneur Angels, Haskè Ventures, and other angel investors. DNA Capital, the Lead Investor, and UMA Ventures were…
The African Development Bank’s Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) will receive $15 million from The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) to develop and extend digital financial solutions to women-owned small and medium businesses in Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique, and Nigeria. This $54.8 million fourth round of funding will help over 69,000 women entrepreneurs in…
DigsConnect, a student housing marketplace, has secured funding from international startup capital firm The Delta as part of its latest funding round. The DigsConnect website, which was founded by Alexandria Procter and Greg Ramsay-Keal in 2018, allows landlords, estate agents, and property managers to post their property listings, with students searching and filtering through these…
Farmerline, a Ghanaian startup that bills itself as “Amazon for African farmers,” has received a US$6.4 million pre-Series A investment as well as another US$6.5 million in debt to help it expand. Farmerline, founded in 2013 by Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai, collaborates with agribusinesses and farm associations to provide high-quality fertiliser and seeds,…
Afriex, a Nigerian payment platform that allows users to send and receive money for free to and from Africa, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. Nairametrcs reported on Tuesday that the money will be used to “expand its blockchain money transfer platform.” The company is now valued at $60 million. Sequoia…
Zenda, a business based in the United Arab Emirates, has received $9.4 million in seed funding to help improve school tuition payment and management. By changing the way parents and guardians pay school fees, as well as how educational institutions conduct fee collection, the company wants to have an impact on the educational sector. Zenda…
Gravity Sketch, a London-based startup, has taken that concept into 3D, leveraging tools such as virtual reality headsets to let designers and others dive into and better visualize a product’s design as it’s being made; and the startup is now announcing a $33 million funding round to take its own business to the next dimension….
Syarpa, a Nigerian fintech startup, has raised US$500,000 in pre-seed funding to help it expand across Europe and Africa. Syarpa, which has over 2,000 users and has facilitated transactions worth over US$4 million since its launch, enables users to carry out both international money transfers and crypto exchanges by providing fiat and crypto payment solutions….
Tofino Capital has announced the first close of its $10 million funding round, with a goal of completing the round in nine months. Tofino Capital, founded by Eliot Pence and Aubrey Hruby, invests in early-stage companies in venture scalable markets that are underserved or underfunded by venture capital. Among the companies in its portfolio are…
Recur Technologies PTE, a Singapore-based financing platform, announced a $30 million equity and debt fundraising round from a group of Indian investors. Recur Club Technologies, the financial technology startup’s Delhi-based subsidiary, operates in India. InfoEdge Ventures, the investment arm of Info Edge (India), and Village Global have each invested $2 million in the parent company’s…
IFC, a World Bank Group member, will invest $15 million in Algebra Ventures’ second fund, which will support the growth of approximately 20 technology startups in Egypt and across Africa. Algebra Ventures II, with a target size of $90 million, will focus on women-led businesses and those serving rural communities, and will provide access to…
Shift EV, an Egyptian electric mobility startup, has raised an undisclosed Series A funding round to help it onboard more clients and expand operations into other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets. Shift EV, founded in 2020 by Aly El Tayeb and Amr Helmy, converts existing gasoline-powered vehicles to electric ones using in-house designed…
The “Women’s Investment Club” (WIC) Senegal and Ecobank have signed a collaboration contract worth one billion CFA francs (USD1,600,000) to support female entrepreneurship in Senegal. Ecobank’s Managing Director, Sahid Yallou, and Evelyne Dioh Simpa, Executive Director of WIC Capital Senegal, officially presented the symbolic cheque. “This one-billion-franc financial partnership is a key component of the…
Leatherback, a cross-border payments network based in the United Kingdom, has received a $10 million Pre-Seed fundraising round from Zedcrest Capital, a major pan-African principal investment group. The funding will allow the growing Fintech company to focus on critical activities, including hiring strategic roles, elevation in its marketing and branding strategy, and traction and visibility…
ETAP, an insurtech startup that makes it easier to buy and claim insurance, has raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to expand its team and drive the adoption of much-needed car insurance throughout Africa. Starting in Nigeria, the new funding will help ETAP’s game-changing app, which allows drivers to buy insurance in 90 seconds, complete…
Algebra Ventures, an Egyptian venture capital firm, has received a US$15 million commitment from the International Finance Cooperation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, for its US$90 million second fund. Algebra Ventures invested in startups such as Trella, elmenus, GoodsMart, and Halan with its first US$54 million fund, and Disrupt Africa reported last…
Elloe is a first-of-its-kind AI-powered conversational commerce platform that allows SMEs to buy and sell products online across any messaging platform. It was founded by Owen Sakawa. Mad Ventures, located in the Philippines, led the US$1 million pre-seed fundraising round, which would help Elloe expand across Kenya and other emerging economies. “The opportunity to engage…