MYDAWA, a Kenyan e-health startup, has been awarded a US$1.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) services through its e-pharmacy model, thereby aiding the fight against HIV/AIDS in Kenya. MYDAWA, which was founded in 2017, enables consumers to purchase authentic high-quality medicines, health and wellness…
Shamba Pride, a Kenyan agri-tech startup, has raised US$1.1 million in funding to support its national expansion and roll out its solution to over 1,000 shops. Shamba Pride is a one-stop online-to-offline platform that connects smallholder farmers to high-quality inputs, services, and information via technology-enabled “DigiShops.” The startup recently received a US$1.1 million funding round…
OfferZen, a South African tech talent marketplace, has raised a EUR4.5 million (US$5.1 million) Series A funding round to further its expansion into European markets. OfferZen, based in Cape Town, was founded in 2015 and launched in 2016. It assists tech companies such as Luno, Absa, MMI Holdings, Takealot, WeTransfer, Adyen, and Catawiki in hiring…
All On, a Shell-backed impact investing organization, has invested $1 million in Salpha Energy, a Nigerian producer of clean and affordable solar energy solutions. The company has an active distribution network of over 350 persons, cooperatives, and dealers around the country, thanks to substantial agreements with payment collection enablers such as InfiBranches, Paga, and Interswitch….
Fleeti, a Senegalese fleet management startup, has raised $1.1 million in a seed round headed by Newfund, Groupe Clim, Janngo, SkalePark, Mapinvest, and a new investment group. Fleeti, launched in July 2020 by Iban Olçomendy and Gabriel Delerue, brings a new dimension to Africa’s fleet management market. Its technology, for example, helps firms to save…
Sabi, a B2B marketplace, has announced the completion of a $6 million bridge round to support its continuing rapid expansion in Nigeria and beyond. Sabi, which was founded last year as a spin-off from energy startup Rensource, is optimizing Africa’s informal commerce sector by providing merchants and resellers with selected business tools and services that…
OnePipe, a Nigerian fintech startup, has acquired $3,500,000 in seed funding to expand operations throughout Africa, bridge financial gaps, and improve the customer experience for businesses. OnePipe received funding from a variety of sources, including African impact-focused venture capital firm Atlantica Ventures, which co-led the seed round with Tribe Capital and V&R Associates. Canaan Partners,…
According to data from Kenya’s bureau of statistics, informal businesses power the country’s economy, accounting for 33.8 percent of GDP and 83.4 percent of total employment outside of small-scale agriculture. These businesses contribute significantly to the country’s economy, but they are underserved by traditional banking institutions, making it difficult for them to obtain the financing…
Treepz (formerly Plentywaka), a Nigeria-based Mobility-as-a-Service platform, has acquired Ugabus, a Ugandan bus company that aggregates inter-city bus operators. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Treepz CEO and co-founder Onyeka Akumah told TechCrunch that the acquisition was funded with a recent $1.5 million raise that served as an extension to a previous…
Mecho Autotech, a Nigerian startup, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from venture capital firm Ingressive Capital in order to improve the quality and reliability of auto care services. Mecho, founded in 2019 and launched in April of this year, is a car technician matching platform that enables car owners to easily maintain and…
Career 180, a Cairo-based ed-tech platform, has raised US$200,000 from EdVentures to expand its services and user reach. Career180, which was founded in 2016, assists young people in developing their skills for the labor market through counseling services, workshops, and theoretical or practical training programs in a variety of specialties. The startup, which provides career…
Egyptian fintech start-up KIWE has been working on venture capital strategies to support key investments to drive growth. Founded in March 2021 by Fatma Khalifa, Omar Kamel and Mohamed Khalifa, KIWE is a peer-to-peer currency exchange app that allows users to transfer money between themselves at a time. The startup said in a statement that…
Nigerian tech-enabled mobility startup Shuttlers has raised a US$1.6 million seed round and shared plans to scale operations across cities in Africa. Founded in 2016 by Damilola Olokesusi, Shuttlers allows commuters to move in comfort along selected routes at affordable rates, with trips along fixed routes going for up to 80 per cent lower than other ride-hailing…
Rwanda’s technology start-ups PesaChoice and Viebeg have raised seed funding from the Kigali-based Norrsken Foundation. Founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, one of the founders of the Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna, Norrsken aims to help entrepreneurs solve the world’s biggest challenges. Disrupt Africa reported in 2019 that the Impact and Tech Entrepreneurship Support Foundation began…
Nigerian money transfer startup Aboki Africa has raised a round of seed capital to help the team grow and expand their product range. Aboki Africa was launched in July this year by Idorenyin Obong and Femi Aghedo after a year of testing, and it enables users to create a free global virtual bank account for…
South African security and medical response marketplace AURA has secured a ZAR62 million (US$4 million) Series A funding round to support its global expansion plans. AURA is a marketplace that enables anyone to access the closest vetted private and public security and medical response unit to their location – anywhere, anytime – using a connected device….
Zembo, a Ugandan electric mobility startup, has obtained a $3.4 million investment grant to expand its electric motorcycle company in Kampala, Uganda. The startup signed the funding agreement with InfraCo Africa, a private infrastructure development group (PIDG) company, along with a consortium that includes Dutch private equity firm DOB Equity and Toyota Tsusho’s venture capital…
Nigerian e-health startup DrugStoc has raised US$4.4 million in Series A funding to expand access to quality medicines while providing sustainable supply chain financing for healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Launched in 2017, DrugStoc is a cloud-based platform that provides healthcare providers with the interface for easy access to pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. The startup ensures that…
Cairo-based mobility assistance startup BlinkApp has raised a six-figure US dollar pre-seed funding round to finance its ambitious expansion plans. Founded in 2017 by Wael Noufal and Ahmed El-Mahdy, BlinkApp aims to achieve better general driving behaviour, faster roadside assistance, and safer roads. The startup’s app captures and analyses thousands of miles of data by using a…
African startups with solutions in the climate sector are invited to apply for the GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation, which aims to support digital innovations tackling challenges around climate change. The GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation is the latest such fund run by the GSMA, after other focused offerings in 2018, 2019, 2020 and earlier this…
Healthcare startup, Africa Health Holdings, has secured $18,000,000 in a Series A round to expand operations across Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. The funds raised will stimulate the growth of Africa Health Holdings beyond Ghana, into new countries such as Nigeria and Kenya. The telemedicine service provider also plans to take more advantage of the current…
Nigerian Aba-based e-commerce startup Chooya has secured US$100,000 cash and a further US$850,000 in programme support from Entrepreneurship World Cup. Founded in 2019 by Igwe Uguru as a “search engine for African traditional markets” and bootstrapped since inception, Chooya was one of 100 finalists – chosen from 200,000 participants – for the Entrepreneurship World Cup, organised by…
Root, a Cape Town-based startup building infrastructure for the digital insurance economy, has closed a US$3 million seed funding round to expand into new markets. Founded in 2016, Root is a cloud-native end-to-end insurance platform that enables organisations of any size to build, sell and manage digital insurance products and unlock modern engagement channels. The startup, which…
Kenyan ed-tech startup Craydel has raised a US$1 million pre-seed round of funding as it bids to democratise access to higher education in Africa. Launched earlier this year by Manish Sardana, John Nguru and Shayne Aman Premji, Craydel enables students and working professionals to discover, compare and apply to higher education in Africa and abroad. “An estimated…
Semicolon Africa, a Nigerian startup focused on developing software engineering talent, has raised $1.2 million in a seed funding round headed by renowned venture capital companies Launch Africa Ventures and Consonance Investment Managers. Sam Immanuel launched Semicolon Africa in 2019 with the goal of tackling technological skill gaps, stimulating innovation, cultivating talent, and establishing a…
Egyptian startup Sympl, a buy now, pay later service that allows merchants to sell products and services directly to customers on short-term and interest-free repayment plans, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from local VC firm A15 as the startup launches operations in earnest. Founded by Yasmine Henna, Mohamed El-Feky and Karim Tawfik, Sympl launched its…
Egyptian startup Rabbit, an on-demand delivery company delivering groceries, cosmetics, electronics and more using dark stores, has raised a US$11 million pre-seed funding round. Launched last month by Ahmad Yousry, Walid Shabana, Ismail Hafez, and Tarek El Geresy, Rabbit runs on tech enabled hyper-local fulfillment centres and claims to be able to guarantee consumers that what they…
Kenyan quizzing startup mSwali has raised an undisclosed pre-seed funding round to enable it to expand its mSwali Quiz MVP from USSD to a web app. Founded in July 2020, mSwali has developed mSwali Quiz, a USSD-based quiz game with topics focused on individual African countries, the continent, and the world as a whole. “mSwali is a…
MFS Africa has raised US$100 million Series C through an equity and debt financing round. The fundraising marks another milestone in MFS Africa’s expansion, following a series of acquisitions and investments in other African fintechs, including the recently announced acquisition of Baxi in Nigeria. The new investor, AfricInvest FIVE, is one of the most experienced private…
South African VC firm Grindstone Ventures has launched a ZAR100 million (US$6.5 million) fund dedicated to predominantly funding startups that have completed, or are part of, the Grindstone Accelerator programme. Grindstone Accelerator is a structured entrepreneurship development programme co-owned by VC fund manager Knife Capital and Thinkroom Consulting, and principally funded by SA SME Fund. An equity-free structured…