The EchoVC Eco Pilot Fund I is the newest pre-seed fund vehicle from EchoVC, a seed and early-stage technology venture capital firm that invests in underrepresented founders and underappreciated industries. The fund will support startups in the energy and climate sectors. At the moment, EchoVC operates out of offices in Lagos, Nairobi, New York, and…
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…
A $225 million venture financing platform has been developed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support early-stage businesses in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan. In order to “develop them into scalable companies that can attract mainstream equity and debt finance,” the IFC, a member of the World Bank, will invest in…
Cloudfret, a Moroccan logistics and transportation business that connects loaders and carriers, has raised $1 million in capital to extend its operations in European and African markets. Plug and Play, PRC Ventures ICAV, Azur Innovation Fund, AfriMobility, and business angel Khalid Zitouni all contributed to the fundraising, which raised the company’s valuation to US$20 million….
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…
The last e-Track Programme concluded earlier this month with seven of the graduating startups pitching their businesses to an audience at a hybrid event hosted on the GSB campus, which was run by UCT GSB Solution Space – a specialized centre of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business focused on high-impact early…
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…
At Huawei’s ICT Competition Awards Ceremony on April 9, 2022, the company announced the commencement of its LEAP digital skills development program. According to the Chinese tech conglomerate, the LEAP program seeks to help over 100,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa improve their ICT abilities in three years. LEAP (Leadership, Employability, Advancement, and Possibilities) is a…
Gaviti, an automated service that helps businesses collect and manage customer bills, has closed a $9 million Series A fundraising round headed by Flashpoint in the United Kingdom, with participation from Moneta VC, North First Ventures, TAU Ventures, and LETA Capital. Their platform allows organizations to manage their collections process through a user-friendly application, giving…
Pylon, an Egyptian infrastructure management business for emerging market water and energy utilities, has raised a $19 million seed round to advance water and electricity software. Endure Capital of the United States led the round, which was a mix of debt and equity, and was backed by British International Investment (previously CDC Group), the UK…
Nigeria’s first marketing and media hackathon, dubbed MarkHack 1.0, has been established by Eko Innovation Centre, a growth and development hub for startups and entrepreneurs in Nigeria. The luncheon, which took place at D’Podium Event Centre in Lagos, was attended by innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, marketers, and media professionals, as well as many more from across…
V8 Capital Partners has given ShapShap, a Nigerian on-demand delivery firm, a seed extension investment to help it expand its capabilities and penetrate new markets. The fresh funds will be used to improve the startup’s last-mile delivery capabilities for businesses and individuals in Nigeria, with ambitions to expand to other African countries in the near…
ImaliPay, a $3 million seed fundraising round has been finalized for a Pan-African fintech start-up that focuses on boosting the gig economy through its one-stop-shop financial services platform. ImaliPay was founded in late 2020 in Nigeria after Tatenda Furusa (Co-founder) noticed problems with e-ride hailing drivers’ access to working capital and emergency savings in Nairobi. Upon…
Over the course of a record-breaking 2021, total funding in the African digital startup ecosystem trebled, passing the US$2 billion – and even the US$1 billion – threshold for the first time. In 2021, 564 businesses raised a total of US$2,148,517,500, according to the seventh edition of Disrupt Africa’s annual African Tech Startups Funding Report,…
VALR.com, a South African cryptocurrency exchange, said today that it has raised $50 million (about R750 million) in Africa’s largest-ever cryptocurrency fundraising round. The company is now worth $240 million. Pantera Capital led VALR’s oversubscribed Series B equity funding round, which included Alameda Research, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime, Avon…
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…
Gahez, an Egypt-based e-commerce startup and business-to-business fashion marketplace, recently raised $2 million in funding. The pre-Seed round was attended by Disruptech Ventures, Egypt Ventures, Tanmeyah (an EFG Hermes company), Afropreneur fund, and other strategic angel investors. Gahez launched as an online marketplace at the end of 2021 with the goal of transforming the wholesale…
Herconomy is leveraging fintech to empower women, from creating a women-focused social media community to planning Africa’s largest financial services platform for women. Women make up half of the world’s population, but they face greater barriers to financial products and services that can improve their well-being and economic empowerment. According to UNCTAD, based on World…
According to a report published by the World Bank, it was observed that while Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) create 7 out of 10 jobs in emerging markets, access to finance has remained a key constraint to SME growth. The Report noted that access to finance is one of the most cited obstacles facing SMEs to…
Egyptian car parts marketplace Odiggo raises $2.2m expansion funding Written By TOM JACKSON Egyptian startup Odiggo, a digital marketplace for automotive spare parts, has closed a US$2.2 million funding round to help it continue to expand into new markets. Founded in 2018 by Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser, Odiggo links customers with vendors in order to purchase…
South African e-health VitruvianMD raises 8-figure ZAR funding round Written By TOM JACKSON South African e-health startup VitruvianMD has raised an eight-figure ZAR – so at least ZAR10 million (US$659,000) – funding round in order to scale its tech and launch more pilots. Founded last year, VitruvianMD combines biomedical engineering and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver…
Omnibiz set to digitize Nigeria’s informal B2B supply chain, gets $3M funding Omnibiz, a Nigerian-based startup has raised a seed round of $3 million to expand into new markets. Omnibiz is a B2B e-commerce platform that connects fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) manufacturers to retailers by digitizing the supply chain stakeholders. The platform offers a mobile…
Agri-tech startup in Kenya, FarmDrive has gotten access to more finance as its operations recently faced expansion to make provision for 3 million shareholders farmers. With funding from Peris Bosire and Rita Kimani, FirmDrive are in charge of supplying fruitful digital loans and layaway savings products to smallholder farmers in Kenya, aiding them in the…
Am sharing this interesting report on impact investing in West Africa Titled:THE LANDSCAPE FOR IMPACT INVESTING IN WEST AFRICA: Understanding the current status, trends, opportunities, and challenges compiled by Dalberg and the Global Impact Investing Network with support from UKaid.Great insight! See the full Report