The largest Africa-focused fund to date, Partech Africa II has reached its first close at €245 million (about $263 million), according to the international venture capital firm. According to managing partners Tidjane Deme and Cyril Collon, the company, which focuses on early- and growth-stage entrepreneurs throughout the continent, aimed to raise roughly €230 million ($250…
Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions have become increasingly popular over the past several years, and it is predicted that the industry will expand at a 12.5% compound annual growth rate and reach $145.79 billion in the next six years. This expansion is partly related to the rise in online retailers employing CRM solutions to raise…
A Kenyan business called eWAKA that seeks to enhance sustainable mobility has received strategic investment from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) of the Swiss Confederation. The SECO Start-up Fund has given eWAKA a $540,000 loan to support its 2023 ambitions to accelerate a growth strategy centered on providing innovative and sustainable mobility technologies…
Lulalend, a digital business lender based in Cape Town, South Africa, raised $35 million in a Series B funding round that was led by Lightrock, a global impact investor. Other investors included the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Quona Capital, and newcomers DEG, Triodos Investment Management, and Women’s World Banking Asset Management. Lulalend plans to utilize…
Convergence Partners, the top private equity investor in sub-Saharan Africa’s technology industry, is pleased to announce the $296 million closure of its Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), exceeding its original objective by more than 18%. Despite tepid private capital raising across the continent in 2022, this accomplishment was made. Convergence Partners’ largest fund to…
Trade Lenda, a Nigerian fintech firm that provides access to financing for micro, small, and informal retailers’ business needs, has acquired US$520,000 in pre-seed funding to accelerate its expansion. The Lagos-based Trade Lenda was established in 2021 to assist small businesses in obtaining quick and affordable credit with no upfront collateral within six hours. The…
Yebo Fresh, a South African e-commerce business that delivers fresh goods and food to townships, has secured a ZAR78 million (US$4.5 million) pre-Series A equity investment in addition to a Jobs Fund grant. Yebo Fresh is an online grocery delivery service for township communities that was introduced in 2018 and is based in the garage…
Carry1st, an African mobile games publisher, has recently received a $27 million pre-Series B investment to help it grow its business and create more games. Bitkraft Ventures led the round, with backing from Andreessen Horowitz, TTV Capital, Alumni Ventures, Lateral Capital, Kepple Ventures, and Konvoy. Carry1st was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018…
Cathedis, a logistics startup based in Morocco that specializes in delivery and e-logistics, has announced the completion of its pre-series. Afrimobility raised $5 million, AKWA Group provided venture capital, and CDG Invest provided a bridge loan of $2 million, for a total of $735,940. Cathedis’ platform, founded by Imad Mansour Zekri, provides cloud-based warehousing and…
A $2 million investment into 10 entrepreneurs creating solutions to increase the resilience of climate-vulnerable populations in Africa has been announced by pre-seed venture capital (VC) fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund. Pre-seed venture capital fund and accelerator Catalyst Fund supports high-impact tech firms looking to strengthen the resilience of underprivileged, climate-vulnerable populations. It collaborates with…
Releaf, a digital firm that makes it simpler for African producers of consumer goods to get access to high-quality materials for their facilities, has raised $3.3 million in a Pre-Series A funding round that was oversubscribed. Samurai Incubate Africa, which had previously led Releaf’s seed round, served as the round’s lead investor and was joined…
The Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC) has provided funding to Egypt’s Mahaseel Masr, a regional B2B fresh produce digital platform, to accelerate the deployment of its agri-focused e-commerce platform. Mahaseel Masr is a smart digital platform that offers a variety of digital tools to make online transactions more reliable and secure, while also ensuring farm…
The majority of Solarise Africa’s operations are in Kenya, and the company has secured $3 million from EDFI ElectriFI to develop there. Solarise Africa is an all-African provider of energy as a service with clever financing alternatives. Solarise Africa, which has operations in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Rwanda, engages closely with partners to offer…
In the MENA region’s hotels, restaurants, and catering (HORECA) industries, Suplyd, an Egypt-based startup, digitizes supply chain operations. It has received $1.6 million in pre-seed funding from Endure Capital, Seedstars, Camel Ventures, Falak Startups, as well as other local and regional investors. The company will be able to grow the staff, make additional investments in…
A Pan-African early-stage venture capital firm called Ventures Platform closed its fund at $46 million with the intention of investing even more in “category-leading” businesses all over the continent. The 11-person company, which is six years old and has gone public to seek $40 million for this fund, had an undisclosed first closure in December….
MyHealth Africa, a Kenya-based healthtech startup, has raised $1 million in seed funding to expand its presence in Africa. The round was led by GIIG Africa Fund, with participation from Samurai Incubate, a family office, and existing investors. The funding comes after the startup was named the Top HealthTech Startup in Africa by the Global…
Owoafara, a Nigerian fintech startup that provides digital banking to help the world’s unbanked population gain access to financial products and services, has received funding from gender lens investment firm ShEquity. Owoafara, founded by Tale Alimi, provides financial solutions such as payments, credits, savings, health insurance, and pensions on a single platform. Member businesses are…
Zeraki, a Kenyan educational technology platform that provides digital learning and school data analytics, has raised $1.8 million in early funding to support regional expansion and product catalog growth. The round was co-founded by Melvyn Lubega, co-founder of the Australian edtech unicorn Go1, and was led by Acumen Fund with participation from Save the Children…
The second closing of the new $25 million fund managed by South African seed capital firm 4Di Capital has recently been finished. In order to form the fund with DotExe Ventures, the Mauritian conglomerate IBL Group provided an undisclosed sum through its investment vehicle, IBL Link Investments. A group of business owners established the venture…
Africa’s beauty and personal care market is expanding rapidly as a result of its growing young and fashion-conscious population, rising purchasing power, and urbanization. The market’s potential has attracted major brands in recent years, with Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and LVMH being the most recent entrants. Niche local brands are also arising to provide customized…
Orda, a Nigerian company that develops cloud operating systems for restaurants, has raised US$3.4 million in a seed round to further digitalize the food industry on the continent. Guy Futi, Fikayo Akinwale, Mark Edomwande, Kunle Ogungbamila, and Namir El-Khouri founded Orda in 2020 with the goal of assisting small-scale African restaurants in growing sustainably. After…
An early-stage venture capital business called LoftyInc Capital Management has announced the final close of its LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 (LAF3), which closed out at US$14.3 million. The fund was oversubscribed. As a venture capital company with its headquarters in Lagos, LoftyInc Capital Management aims to invest in industries such logistics, printing services, business services,…
Djamo, a fintech firm in Francophone Africa building a personal finance business, has acquired $14 million in equity funding to continue building out a comprehensive range of financial services and to expand into new nations. The fundraising round was co-led by Partech Africa, Oikocredit, and Enza Capital. Other current investors included Janngo Capital, P1 Ventures,…
Solarise Africa, a pan-African Energy-as-a-Service provider, has received a $33.4 million facility from Lion’s Head managed fund, the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), to help the company solidify its position in Kenya’s solar market and expand across Africa. FEI will contribute USD 21.4 million toward the total amount, with Oikocredit contributing USD 7 million and…
Leta, a Kenyan startup, has raised $3 million in order to expand across West Africa in 2023. Leta is a B2B supply chain and logistics SaaS company that was established in 2021 to improve fleet management. Leta is searching for growth prospects in West Africa while also increasing its business in its current five markets,…
A Kenyan business called Stable Foods has raised US$600,000 to create a method for producing smallholder food that is climate-smart. Participating in the fundraising round were Mercy Corps Ventures and the Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF). Agrifood-tech venture studio Pyramidia Ventures’ portfolio company Stable Foods has developed an all-in-one system that combines regenerative agriculture training,…
With participation from Nir Eyal and creators of top businesses like Razorpay, Pine Labs, Snapdeal, Livspace, and others, Betafi, a unified user research platform, has acquired $1.3 million in pre-seed capital from Together Fund, Entrepreneur First, and Titan Capital. Nir Eyal, best-selling author of the book “Hooked” and a well-known thought leader worldwide, said, “I’m…
Goodwell Investments, a social impact investment company, has established its EUR150 million (US$154 million) uMunthu II fund with the goal of fostering the expansion of inclusive enterprises in the area. Goodwell Investments is an impact investment company that focuses on inclusive growth in industries that offer underprivileged populations in Africa and India access to basic…
In order to build its full-stack tech platform, grow its staff, and spur expansion across the Egyptian market, Cairo-based startup Grinta, a fintech-enabled B2B tech platform digitizing the pharmaceutical supply chain, has acquired US$8 million in a preliminary fundraising round. Grinta, a controlled marketplace founded in 2021 by Mohamed Azab, Yosra Badr, Ali Youssef, and…
Smartprof, an online marketplace for children of school age that is based in Morocco and uses edtech, has received a pre-Seed investment round of $110,000 from Plug and Play, UM6P Ventures, and a few angel investors, in addition to the $50,000 raised earlier in July. It has the support of numerous organizations, including Startgate, the…