North Africa – Africa Tech Digest

Flat6Labs closes $10M seed fund for Tunisian startups

27Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

North Africa, Start-ups

Flat6Labs closes $10M seed fund for Tunisian startups

Regional seed and early-stage venture capital firm, Flat6Labs, has finished raising $10 million for its seed fund targeted at Tunisian startups, according to a statement released by the company. The seed fund, called Anava Seed Fund (ASF), at first sought a close of $3 million but instead closed 3.3x of the initial figure. The fund represents the increasing investments in early-stage African startups, mainly North African ones. In May, Flat6Labs completed the close of its Egypt-based fund — Flat6Labs Accelerator Company fund (FAC) at $13 million. Continue reading Image: Getty Images

Largest-Ever Data Centre Expansion in Africa to Cost $500M Across 10 Countries

4Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africans in Tech, North Africa, Telecommunications

Largest-Ever Data Centre Expansion in Africa to Cost $500M Across 10 Countries

Africa Data Centres, one of the continent’s leading carrier-neutral co-location data centre providers, has announced plans to build large hyperscale data centres throughout Africa, including the North African countries of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. According to a statement today released from Africa Data Centres, the project will involve building 10 hyperscale data centres, in 10 countries, over the next two years – at a cost of more than $500-million. It is being funded through new equity and facilities from leading development finance institutions and multilateral organisations. Africa Data Centres CEO, Stephane Duproz, explains that the finance for the roll-out has been provided by equity and loans to Africa Data Centres’ parent company, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, to fully ...

MaxAB extends Series A to $55M, largest ever by an Egyptian startup

25Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, North Africa, Start-ups

MaxAB extends Series A to $55M, largest ever by an Egyptian startup

MaxAB, an Egyptian eCommerce platform that serves food and grocery retailers, has raised an additional $15M from existing investors bringing its total Series A funding to $55M, the largest ever by an Egyptian startup. In addition, it announced its acquisition of WaystoCap, a Morocco-based e-commerce and distribution platform that connects retailers with suppliers across Africa. Founded in 2015 by Niama El Bassunie, Mehdi Daoui, Anis Abdeddine and Aziz Jaouhari Tissafi, WaystoCap was originally a cross-border trade platform for transacting business goods in Africa. Two years later, the company got into the 2017 Y Combinator’s Winter batch, making it the first company accepted from Morocco. It subsequently raised a $3 million seed round. Continue reading

30Dec

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

AI, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa

Drones driven by AI will track illegal fishing in African waters

Across the African continent, drones are finding innovative uses -- from monitoring displaced populations to delivering critical medical supplies. Moroccan technology startup ATLAN Space is developing artificial intelligence (AI) to guide autonomous drones so they can scan large areas for "environmental crimes" like illegal fishing, poaching or deforestation. In June, ATLAN Space won the National Geographic Society's $150,000 Marine Protection Prize to implement a pilot project to combat illegal fishing in Seychelles. Drones will be armed with information about illegal fishing hotspots, explains Badr Idrissi, CEO and co-founder of ATLAN Space. Once a drone detects a boat, AI will enable it to verify whether it is a cruising boat, tanker or fishing vessel. The drone will then esta...