Launched as Kazi in 2017, when the market was still in its infancy, Kenyan startup Ziada returned after a hiatus in 2021, and saw rapid adoption of its platform, which helps informal sector service providers access more work opportunities. Annabel Angwenyi and Patrick Ngugi have been business partners for over a decade, but their two…
Freterium, a Moroccan startup, has received $4 million in seed funding to help it grow and serve more businesses in Africa and the Middle East. Partech led the round, which also included Y Combinator (Freterium was a part of the S21 cohort), Flexport, CDG Invest, Swiss Founders Fund, Outlierz Ventures, and business angels from the…
Wasla, an Egyptian ecommerce startup, has received a $9 million investment from Contact Financial Holding, the country’s largest non-bank financial services provider. Contact will invest up to $9 million in Wasla’s product rollout and regional expansion, with the goal of realizing the startup’s vision of enabling e-commerce, payments, and credit for a broad audience in…
Earnipay, a Nigerian fintech firm that provides flexible and on-demand salary access to income earners, has raised US$4 million in seed funding to expand its product. The seed round is led by Canaan Ventures, with participation from XYZ Ventures, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, and Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade. Nonso Onwuzulike founded…
Zindi, a professional network of data scientists based in South Africa, has raised a US$1 million seed funding round to help it build on its impressive early growth. Zindi, founded in 2018 by Celina Lee, Megan Yates, and Ekow Duker with the belief that data science should be accessible to all, hosts a community of…
Meeula, a Nigerian startup, has launched a smart lead-generating business card to assist corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners in more effectively networking. Meeula, which was founded in May 2021, allows users to exchange contacts at events, conferences, meetings, or meetups with a single tap. “Instead of ordering paper cards over and over again, professionals…
The Createch Accelerator focuses on businesses that employ innovation or technology to improve value chains in Africa’s creative industries or to address market problems in these value chains. The program’s goal is to provide knowledge, networks, and assistance to companies operating at the interface of technology and creativity, allowing them to accelerate their route…
LoftyInc Capital Management is a venture capital business with the goal of “creating an ecosystem of Africans investing in Africans solving African problems.” The business announced the first closing of its US$10 million LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 (LAF3) in September, as it ramped up its participation in the African startup area. This followed after…
According to Partech’s report on venture capital funding in Africa, 37 African tech startups raised a total of $767 million in 43 debt rounds last year, indicating the rise of the debt funding class and increasing global lender confidence in African tech. According to the report, “Africa’s tech ecosystem has set its sights on another…
Digital Africa, a French government-supported organization that helps African tech startups, has announced that it will provide 70 million euros ($79 million) in seed and Series A funding by 2025. In a press conference, the initiative’s executive director, Stephan Eloise-Gras, stated that Digital Africa aims to fund 200 African startups with seed funding ranging from…
MoneyHash, an Egyptian fintech startup that uses a universal API and a unified checkout experience to help businesses consolidate and grow their payments and financial tech stack, has announced a US$3 million pre-seed funding round as it exits beta and prepares to launch across the Middle East and Africa, has announced a US$3 million pre-seed…
Ndovu, a Kenyan wealth-tech startup, has begun operations after securing a pre-seed funding round in October, with the goal of providing users with easy access to global financial markets. Ndovu, which was founded in 2020 by Radhika Bhachu, Ro Nyangeri, and Gianpaolo De Biase and is available on iOS and Android, allows users to invest…
Nawy, an Egyptian prop-tech startup, has raised $5 million in seed funding to help it expand across the region. Nawy, founded in 2016 by Mohamed Abou Ghanima, Abdel-Azim Osman, Ahmed Rafea, Aly Rafea, and Mostafa El Beltagy, allows users to search for homes online based on criteria such as unit size, price, and location. So…
Nawah Scientific, an Egyptian life sciences and biotech startup, has received funding from the Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund (CASF) as part of its ongoing Series A round. Nawah Scientific, which was founded in 2015, is an online platform that receives experiment requests, collects samples, conducts tests, and digitally returns results. Its goal is to allow…
SendChamp, a Nigerian startup, provides communication APIs and customer relationship management tools to developers and businesses, allowing them to reach their customers through various messaging channels. SendChamp was founded by Goodness Kayode and Damilola Olotu with the goal of improving customer relations for both technical and non-technical business owners. The APIs provided by the startup…
Africa’s fintech sector is a funding magnet, absorbing nearly half of the continent’s more than $2 billion raised by tech startups. According to the seventh edition of our African Tech Startups Funding Report, which is available free to all as part of an open-sourcing initiative in partnership with Novastar Ventures, MFS Africa, Quona Capital, 4Di Capital, MEST Africa and Future Africa, 564 African…
Afya Rekod, a Kenyan e-health startup, has closed a US$2 million seed round to help it scale across the continent. Afya Rekod, which will be launched in April 2020, is a health data platform that allows both patients and health facilities to capture, store, and access the mobility of patients’ health data. In five countries,…
The education technology space has reached new heights with the release of the Afrilearn Mobile App, which is now freely available to Primary and Secondary School students across Nigeria and beyond. This was stated in a statement issued by Afrilearn on Wednesday, February 3, 2022. Afrilearn, founded in 2019, provides free, fun, and world-class education…
2021 was the best year on record for African tech startup funding, with more startups raising more money from more investors than in any previous year. However, that capital is increasingly being directed toward the “big four” African markets of Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya. According to the seventh edition of Disrupt Africa’s African Tech…
Lami, an insurance technology company, has announced the acquisition of Bluewave Insurance Agency, a Nairobi-based insurtech firm, for an undisclosed sum, allowing it to reach Africa’s underserved population and fill the existing insurance gap. Lami will continue its goal of democratizing insurance goods and services for low-income Africans by providing users with accessible and affordable…
Whatever way you look at it, whatever figures you believe, whatever methodologies you use, one thing is certain: 2021 was the best year ever for tech startup funding in Africa, with more startups raising more money from more investors than in any previous year. According to our data here at Disrupt Africa, not only was…
There has never been a more exciting time to be in the African startup scene. According to a recent BCG report, the number of local startups that received funding increased by 46 percent between 2015 and 2020, a growth rate six times faster than the global average. The very nature of the startups in our…
Many organizations are seeking ways to offer their products and services to customers in an efficient way in order to save time, ease the processing of the orders and provide the highest quality of delivery as at the expected time. One major opportunity that most start-ups are not taking advantage of is the availability of data in…
PAPS, a Senegalese startup, has acquired a pre-Series A fundraising round of US$4.5 million from local and international investors to help it develop its tech-enabled logistics solution across the Francophone African area. PAPS, which debuted in September 2016, provides end-to-end logistics solutions for companies with both physical and online operations. Its technology enables organizations of…
Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech business, has raised a bridge round of funding valued at US$100 million. Chari, which was founded in 2020 by husband and wife pair Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, allows traditional local store operators in Morocco to order and have things delivered. It collaborates with more than half of the…
Carry1st, a South African mobile game firm, has secured a US$20 million Series A extension round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Avenir, and Google to help it scale across Africa. Carry1st, based in Cape Town, is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, with games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob:…
Nigerian businesses Moni and Topship have been accepted into the famed Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator’s W22 batch. Between now and March, the W22 batch of the Y Combinator program, which has played a role in the early days of firms such as Airbnb, Coinbase, and Dropbox, will take place. At a demo day, participants…
Orda, a Nigerian restaurant management business, has raised a pre-seed fundraising round of US$1.1 million in order to accelerate its growth and extend throughout the continent. Orda, which launched in 2020, is a cloud-based restaurant management system provider with the goal of providing a single operating system to power African eateries. The Lagos-based firm has…
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,…
Lamma, a Tunisian business that creates short commerce apps for young, active Africans, is expanding internationally with a debut in Morocco. Lamma, founded by Yassir El Ismaili El Edrissi, Hamza Guesmi, and Koussi Aymen in 2020, uses a mix of dark storefronts and its partner network to deliver groceries, food, personal care, electronics, and fashion…