Start-ups – Page 3 – Africa Tech Digest

Wave Closes Largest Series A Round for an African FinTech at $200-Million

8Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Wave Closes Largest Series A Round for an African FinTech at $200-Million

Wave, a Senegal-based mobile money provider have raised $200-million in a Series A round of funding, reports Tech Crunch. The investment marks the largest-ever Series A funding round for a fintech startup in Africa, and it values Wave at around $1.7-billion. No other startup company in Africa has managed to raise such an amount in a Series A round. OPay, likewise a fintech solution provider, managed to raise $400-million in the continent’s largest-ever venture capital investment during a Series C round. Interswitch follow OPay with its $200-million investment from Visa also during Series C funding. The latest round by Wave was jointly led by four big-name backers, starting with Sequoia Heritage – an endowment-style fund and a separate entity that operates independently under the ...

Building Shopify for Africa: Nigeria’s Bumpa plans to digitise thousands of African businesses

3Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, ecommerce, Nigeria, Start-ups

Building Shopify for Africa: Nigeria’s Bumpa plans to digitise thousands of African businesses

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Bumpa, has raised a $200,000 pre-seed to digitise thousands of African businesses on its platform. Greencap Equity, HoaQ club, Rizq Investment Group, Microtraction, DFS Lab, Aidi Ventures, Prosper Otemuyiwa, Oo Nwoye, Perfect Makanju, Whogohost’s venture arm, and a few other angel investors took part in the round. Bumpa, formerly known as SalesCabal, was relaunched in February 2021 by Kelvin Umechukwu (CEO) and Adetunji Opayele (CTO). The company helps retailers manage and grow their businesses using their smartphones. Continue reading

Ridelink raises $150k pre-seed to build e-logistics technology for East Africa

1Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Africans in Tech, East Africa, Start-ups

Ridelink raises $150k pre-seed to build e-logistics technology for East Africa

Ridelink, an Ugandan e-logistics platform, has just closed a $150k pre-seed investment round to improve its technology and double down on its marketing efforts. The investment was birthed from the startup’s partnership with Ortus Africa Capital, Omidyar Network and African Leadership Academy’s Young Entrepreneurs Fund(Anzisha). This round brings Ridelink’s total fund raised to US$250k, having previously received funding from seedstars last year. Founded in 2017 by Daniel Mukisa, Ridelink operates an e-logistics platform developed to seamlessly connect SMEs to a network of transport operators. Uganda’s population grew by 6.8% from over 44 million in 2019 to over 47 million in 2021; this population uptrend has also led to the rise of SMEs across the c...

Pan-African fintech startup, PawaPay, raises $9 million seed for expansion and talent recruitment

26Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Fintech, Start-ups

Pan-African fintech startup, PawaPay, raises $9 million seed for expansion and talent recruitment

Africa-focused fintech company, PawaPay has announced the raise of $9 million in seed financing to strengthen its mobile money payment solutions team, scale operations, and foray into new markets. This investment saw cheques from five firms. The round was led by Uk-based 88mph — a company that invests in web and mobile-centric technology solutions — and Chinese VC firm, MSA Capital. Other participants include African VC firm, Kepple Ventures; South African Vunani Capital; and Zagadat Capital, an investment firm owned by Oluwatosin Ajibade, popularly known as Mr Eazi in the Nigerian music scene. Founded in 2020, PawaPay is a subsidiary of online betting platform, betPawa. It enables mobile payments for local and international transactions/financial activities by integrating data from...

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

Shared mobility startup, Plentywaka raises $1.2 million seed round, acquires Stabus Ghana

23Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups, West Africa

Shared mobility startup, Plentywaka raises $1.2 million seed round, acquires Stabus Ghana

Toronto-headquartered shared mobility startup, Plentywaka has announced a $1.2 million seed raise a month after completing the Techstars Toronto Accelerator program in July 2021. On the back of this raise, the company also revealed that it had acquired Ghanaian mobility startup, Stabus as it looks to expand its African operations, starting with West Africa. The round was led by Toronto-based VC, The Xchange. Other participants include China-based VC, SOSV; US-based VC, Shock Ventures; Nigeria-based Argentil Capital Ventures; and Nigeria-based ODBA & Co Ventures. Techstars Toronto also made a follow-on investment. Continue reading

A leaked bill for Nigerian startups reveals a theme of licenses, fees, fines and sentences

19Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups, West Africa

A leaked bill for Nigerian startups reveals a theme of licenses, fees, fines and sentences

For a while, there have been talks about revamping the outdated 2007 Act of Nigeria’s information and technology body, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The bill, which established NITDA as the agency to oversee Nigeria’s technological transformation, is quite outdated. This past decade, Nigeria has arguably become Africa’s most attractive destination for venture capital. It is also home to two unicorns (Flutterwave and Jumia) and billion-dollar fintech company Interswitch. Continue reading (Image Credits: Getty Images)

StatusPRO Raises $5.2M Seed Round As It Aims To Continue Shaping The Industry Of Sports Technology

14Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups

StatusPRO Raises $5.2M Seed Round As It Aims To Continue Shaping The Industry Of Sports Technology

When it comes to sports and technology, StatusPRO not only gets it right but encourages others to see just how significant technology is to the sports industry and vice versa. As athletes, founders Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins and Troy Jones know the importance of using technology to make training more efficient for sports professionals across the nation. The company marries technology and sports by combining player data, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) to design a suite of training and gaming products. Now, they can continue to execute the vision for their company thanks to a $5.2 million seed round, according to a press release provided to AfroTech. Led by venture capital firms KB Partners and TitletownTech, the round also received addi...

Union54, A Zambian Startup, Is Developing Africa’s First Card-Issuing API

14Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

East Africa, Start-ups

Union54, A Zambian Startup, Is Developing Africa’s First Card-Issuing API

Zambian startup Union54, which specializes in fintech, has announced that it’s developing Africa’s first card-issuing API. According to TechCrunch, the company founded by Perseus Mlambo and Alessandra Martini claims to be Africa’s first card-issuing API — and while, technically, they’re correct, they initially thought of the idea when they were part of Zazu, their previous startup. Back then, Zazu — which was launched in 2015 — was considered a “challenger bank,” and had to rely on outside vendors to issue debit cards to customers. According to Mlambo, some customers waited as long as 18 months to get a debit card issued in their name. “We just realized that either the processor or the bank was not necessarily well equipped to be able to answer our q...

More than 300 African tech startups have raised over $1.1bn so far in 2021

12Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups

More than 300 African tech startups have raised over $1.1bn so far in 2021

More than 300 African tech startups have raised more than US$1.1 billion combined so far in 2021, the first time the sector has broken the US$1 billion mark – and with four-and-a-half months of the year still to come. Up to and including August 11, 2021, a total of 303 African tech startups have raised a combined US$1,184,220,000, up 69 per cent on the US$701,460,565 banked over the entirety of 2020. This is according to figures being compiled by Disrupt Africa in advance of the release of its flagship funding tracker in January 2022. The report, which was the first of its kind upon its inaugural publication in 2016 and is now preparing for its seventh edition, tracks investment into the continent’s startup space, and highlights growth in funding for African tech ventures. Cont...