In order to support digital startups across Africa, early-stage investor and accelerator Baobab Network has announced plans to invest in 1000 businesses between now and 2033. Since its 2019 launch, Baobab has continuously been one among the continent’s most active investors, supporting locally led businesses from the start. The co-founder of Baobab, Toby Hanington, claimed…
Bill Gates said the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $30 million in a new artificial intelligence platform in Africa yesterday at the Grand Challenges annual event sponsored by the foundation and its partners in Senegal. Grand Challenges, the foundation’s flagship innovation program, was introduced in 2003. It focuses funding and attention on urgent…
Payments processor Visa has joined the number of investors who have rushed to the field this year by launching a $100 million venture fund for start-ups using generative artificial intelligence. After chatbot ChatGPT’s success, a number of well-known companies, including Microsoft and Google, have backed the AI sector, which has been a hot topic in…
The startup cryptocurrency Nestcoin from Nigeria has secured a $1.9 million investment round. Hashed Emergent led the financing round in collaboration with a global group of investors, including Adaverse, Base Ecosystem Fund, Alter Global, CMT Digital, Magic Fund, 4DX Ventures, and participating angels. Yele Bademosi, co-founder and CEO of Nestcoin, outlined the goal of his…
A Nigerian firm is making waves with its ground-breaking project in an effort to establish a welcoming and digitally-driven business climate in Nigeria, establishing the nation as a hub for the continent’s expanding digital and service industries. Notably, Nigeria is well-known for its privately and publicly run free zones that have attracted manufacturing, oil, and…
A new $1 billion fund has been established by the African Development Bank to speed up climate funding for the continent’s young firms. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, made the announcement at a high-level intergenerational dialogue titled “Africa Driving Climate Adaptation Solutions and Jobs” that took place on the outskirts of Nairobi…
One of the most admirable of cryptocurrency’s many high promises is the possibility of bringing financial inclusion to disadvantaged people. The Nairobi-based Kotani Pay cryptocurrency payments firm wants to make it simpler for the sizable unbanked communities in Africa to send money across borders. A use case that affects the lives of hundreds of millions…
Leading pan-African Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider Anchor has revealed its $2.4 million Seed round, which will be used to introduce new products, improve its infrastructure for licensing and compliance, and assess potential new markets. Goat Capital led the round, which also included FoundersX, Rebel Fund, and other renowned investors. One of them is Y Combinator. The…
This September, during World Literacy Month, Innovation Edge has released a call for startups to submit proposals for funding and strategic support to develop their edtech innovation focused toward enhancing literacy and language acquisition in young children in South African households. Even though many parents lack the tools and resources necessary to give their kids…
FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) has announced a £10 million (almost $13 million) investment in a groundbreaking risk-sharing backup facility in conjunction with InfraCredit. The project intends to increase local currency investment for long-term infrastructure development in Nigeria. The new facility’s (RSBF) purpose is to solve the low credit enhancement problem. It attempts to accomplish this…
FarmWorks, a Kenyan agritech startup, has announced its $4.1 million pre-Series A funding round to advance its data analytics skills and apply AI to enhance production and influence planting and loan decisions. The financing was led by the Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund and included the Livelihood Impact Fund, Vested World, multiple family offices, and angel…
For the third iteration of the Startup Wise Guys accelerator, which provides chosen B2B SaaS firms with access to EUR100,000 (US$110,000) in funding and five months of rigorous mentoring, applications are now open. Startup Wise Guys, which was founded in Tallinn, Estonia in 2012, also oversees cybersecurity programs out of Cosenza and SaaS accelerator programs…
Ten companies from Southern Africa have been recognized for their innovative approaches to closing the financial access gap for underprivileged people as part of a World Bank-sponsored challenge. The World Bank funded Southern Africa Innovation Bridge Portal ecosystem development efforts included the Fintech Challenge, which sought out novel and effective applications for the newest advancements…
According to a recent survey, blockchain funding increased by a startling 1,668% in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching a total of USD 91 million in nations including Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria. According to the “State of Web3.0 in Africa” report by EMURGO Africa, in strategic partnership with PwC, South Africa is revolutionizing…
To make the United Arab Emirates the best country in the world on the Global Food Security Index by 2051, the National Food Security Strategy 2051 was launched in 2021. The aim? to use contemporary technology and boost local production to create a complete national system that enables sustainable food production. A $27 million program…
A Nairobi-based accelerator known as The Baobab Network has revealed its most recent batch of five investees, each of whom received US$50,000 in cash. The Baobab Network invests in early-stage software firms around Africa. Since 2019, The Baobab Network has assisted businesses with capacity building and fundraising; the organization welcomed its final cohort in February….
Startups in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania have been given the opportunity to scale their impact-driven businesses and receive up to EUR100,000 (US$107,000) in grant funding from develoPPP Ventures. develoPPP Ventures, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and administered by DEG Impulse, strives to empower businesses through entrepreneurial…
Goodwell Investments and Alitheia Capital have announced the first closing of their uMunthu II fund, which invests in early and growth-stage SMEs in Africa, with a particular emphasis on women-led firms. A diversified collection of international investors led the fund’s capital round. uMunthu is a pan-African fund that invests in SMEs that improve access in…
At the West Africa Deal Summit, which was hosted in Accra yesterday, Deal Source Africa, a comprehensive platform to connect African firms with investors and transaction advisers and African Impact Funds with investors, made its official debut. By providing them with solutions that are specifically suited to their company requirements, the program will assist in…
Leading Global South specialist Capria Ventures has announced the first closing of its US$100 million fund. Capria Ventures invests in early-stage Global South firms. In the tech hotspots of the Global South, Capria invests in tech founders with unrestricted aspirations, brings them together into a distinctively collaborative network, and strengthens ties between hundreds of founders…
In order to promote entrepreneurs developing agricultural and climate solutions, Novastar Ventures, a pan-African venture capital business, has received a $25 million equity investment from the US International Development Financing Corporation (DFC). The $80 million East Africa Fund and the $108 million Africa Fund II, which allowed the company to enter West Africa, are followed…
The “missing middle” of East Africa will be addressed by a new EUR20 million (US$22 million) fund that Goodwell Investments and Oxfam Novib have announced. This fund will invest in early-stage development businesses that are having trouble obtaining financing from banks and investment funds. Goodwell Investments is an impact investment company that focuses on inclusive…
Between January 1 and March 31, 2018, African tech companies raised US$649,303,000, a decrease of 57.2% from the total raised during the same period in 2022 as the industry starts to suffer the effects of the global economic climate. The most recent edition of Disrupt Africa’s annual report on funding for African tech startups, which…
Almentor, the top Arabic-language online video learning platform, has acquired $10 million in pre-Series C fundraising from investors to help it develop faster and reach its target of servicing 10 million learners in the MENA area. Since its founding in 2016, almentor has collaborated with more than 950 eminent professionals to produce more than 1,000…
Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, co-founders of the business Humane, which was created by the former Apple design and engineering team, have received an additional $100 million to develop what they refer to as an “integrated device and cloud services platform” for AI. Humane’s work is shrouded in obscurity. But its most recent round of…
A $4 million Series A fundraising round, led by AK Holding and included Al-Wazzan Educational Group, Rasameel Investment House, and other investors, has been secured by Baims, a prominent edtech firm in the MENA area. The organization works in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, and Turkey with the goal of giving university and high school…
An $8 million seed fund dubbed EchoVC Chain has been formed by EchoVC, a Lagos-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in underrepresented founders and underserved industries. EchoVC Chain is targeted at blockchain investments in Africa. The business, which has invested in around 40 businesses in a variety of global areas, made its initial blockchain…
Azur Innovation Fund has invested $960,000 (MAD10 million) in the Moroccan EdTech startup KOOLSKOOLS. The Fund is a public-private seed fund that intends to give innovative entrepreneurs in Morocco equity and quasi-equity financing. KOOLSKOOLS, a joint educational venture founded in 2020 by Mariam Zrii and Nouredine Amrani, addresses pedagogical issues through the digitalization of numerous…
Dr. Jaishree Naidoo was in charge of pediatric radiology at a South African hospital in 2014 when she had an epiphany after reading about the use of AI recognition patterns in distinguishing animals in a news story. Naidoo was already familiar with pattern recognition as a radiologist with 20 years of experience, and she could…
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), and the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa have all contributed $47 million to the AfricaGoGreen Fund (AGGF) (SEFA) The funding will allow AGGF to fund more climate-friendly projects in Africa, such as the purchase of high-efficiency appliances and industrial equipment,…