Start-ups – Page 4 – Africa Tech Digest

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Omnibiz, secures $3m seed to expand across West Africa

10Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Omnibiz, secures $3m seed to expand across West Africa

Nigeria-based Business to Business (B2B) eCommerce startup, Omnibiz has announced securing $3million in a seed round. It plans to expand into other cities in West Africa and participate in Seed Stars’ accelerator program. Led by V&R Africa, Timon Capital and Tangerine Insurance, this seed round also saw investments from Launch Africa, Sunu Capital, Musha Ventures, Rising Tide Africa, and Lofty Inc. Swiss-based emerging markets investment company, Seed Stars also joined the round. Founded by Deepankar Rustagi — CEO — in 2019, Omnibiz connects manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) with local retailers using a mobile app, WhatsApp and a phone number. This enables direct communication between manufacturers and retailers. Continue reading (Ima...

Moove Raises $23 Million Series A Funding to Democratize Vehicle Ownership in Africa

9Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Fintech, Start-ups, West Africa

Moove Raises $23 Million Series A Funding to Democratize Vehicle Ownership in Africa

African mobility fintech start up provides revenue-based vehicle financing, empowering individuals across Africa to own their own vehicle LAGOS, Nigeria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moove, an African mobility fintech, today announced that it has raised $23 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Speedinvest and Left Lane Capital, with participation from DCM, Clocktower Technology Ventures, thelatest.ventures, LocalGlobe, Tekton, FJ Labs, Palm Drive Capital, Roka Works, KAAF Investments, Spartech Ventures, Class 5 Global, and Victoria van Lennep, co-founder of Lendable. Africa specialist, Verod Kepple Africa Ventures, and one of Moove’s existing lenders, Emso Asset Management, also joined the round. This brings Moove’s total funding to $68.2 million, including $28.2M in equity and $40.0M...

Raise, a startup building Africa’s Carta, gets backing from 500 Startups

8Aug

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups

Raise, a startup building Africa’s Carta, gets backing from 500 Startups

As startups in Africa continue to grow and raise money at a ridiculous pace, so too will their cap tables expand. Most African startups’ bulk of VC money is from foreign investors, making it imperative for African startups to incorporate abroad, especially in the U.S. The processes for incorporation are quite complicated, and even though most founders still get the hang of it, they risk the chance of messing up their cap tables. For instance, some Nigerian startups are guilty of issuing preferred shares in naira and then canceling to issue dollar-denominated SAFEs when they get incorporated in the U.S. Raise, a startup building Africa’s Carta is tackling these challenges and has received backing from 500 Startups to scale its technology. Continue reading (Photo Credits: Rais...

German government launches €1bn Africa fund

12Jun

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Start-ups

German government launches €1bn Africa fund

German ambassador to Ghana Christoph Retzlaff earlier today announced that the German government had launched a €1-billion Africa fund. Retzlaff (pictured above, left with former Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama) said in a tweet last week that the fund will support African startups and small businesses, as well as German and European companies. It’s not yet clear when the fund will make its first investments or which startup verticals it will target. Ventureburn sought comment from the German embassy in Ghana on this and other details on the fund but had not received a comment at the time of publication. The fund is part of the G20 Compact With Africa initiative which was launched under Germany’s G20 presidency in 2017 to promote investment in Africa....

This South African-founded podcast startup has just been acquired by global podcasting company Acast

30Apr

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Southern Africa, Start-ups

This South African-founded podcast startup has just been acquired by global podcasting company Acast

South African-founded podcast technology startup Pippa has been acquired by large global podcasting company Acast. Pippa provides people who create podcasts with a space to host their podcasts, and shares it to all the relevant outlets including iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and every podcast app. The platform also provides in-depth analytics on how their podcast is performing, as well as allowing them to place adverts in their content. ‘’Joining Acast represents an important, necessary, and extremely exciting leap forward for Pippa.’’ the company said in a statement. ‘’Acast’s reputation as the premier podcast company in the world is well deserved. We’re honoured to join their team and — with you — to continue crafting the future of podcasting together.’’ “We’re incredibly proud...

Africa Tech Summit Accepting Startup Tech Pitches Until Tuesday

26Apr

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Start-ups

Africa Tech Summit Accepting Startup Tech Pitches Until Tuesday

African tech startups looking to pitch their solutions at the Africa Tech Summit London, which takes place on 11 June, have until next week Tuesday (30 April) to apply for Pitch Live London. The Pitch Live London platform gives African startups an opportunity to pitch to top investors, corporates, innovators, the media and advisors. To be considered for the pitching platform, startups must either have one African co-founder or be based on the continent, as well as be less than five years old. In addition, the startups must have a minimum viable product with existing traction, must have raised less than $1-million in external funding and have a current “ask”. This year’s Africa Tech Summit London will take place during London Tech Week Africa Tech Summit London connects industr...

World Bank to Invest $200 Million in Egypt Startups

24Apr

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Start-ups

World Bank to Invest $200 Million in Egypt Startups

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2019 – The World Bank announced today a new US$200 million investment project to support the next generation of reforms in Egypt aimed at creating more opportunities for young people and women. The project will focus on expanding the amount and access to credit for small and medium enterprises, which have proven to be a major source of growth and job creation. The ‘Catalyzing Entrepreneurship for Job Creation’ project is designed to address the major obstacles that young people and women face when launching new businesses. In an economy where the financial system is dominated by banks lending primarily to mature businesses, the project will channel US$145 million mainly through non-bank financial institutions offering loans to small businesses. This pro...

Media must help unite Africa’s tech startup scene, but also act as watchdog – Buckland

11Apr

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Opinion, Start-ups

Media must help unite Africa’s tech startup scene, but also act as watchdog – Buckland

While the media has a role to play in uniting the continent’s fragmented tech startup scene, it also has a duty to perform the role of a watchdog, argues Burn Media founder and publisher of Ventureburn, Matthew Buckland. In an interview that appeared today in Seedstars’ 2019 booklet distributed at the Seedstars Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, Buckland says the role of media is to unite the ecosystem and tell a “cohesive and realistic” story about the tech startup sector. Seedstars runs one of the largest emerging markets startup competitions of its kind, which culminates in tomorrow’s annual summit, where startups from about 75 countries will this year compete to be named Seedstars Global Winner and get a chance at clinching $500 000 in equity investment. The media must both hel...

African tech startups raised $1.163B in equity in 2018

9Apr

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Start-ups

African tech startups raised $1.163B in equity in 2018

African tech startups raised $1.163B in 2018 according to Partech Africa’s 2018 annual report on the financing on the continent confirming the attractiveness of African entrepreneurs and their ability to transform the continent into a global powerhouse. The report covers equity deals in tech and digital spaces, and funding rounds higher than US$200K and lower than US$100 Million. Deals covered are includes African startups only i.e. companies with their primary market in Africa itself. In 2018, 146 African startups raised a total of US$1.163 Billion in equity through 164 rounds, this is a +108% growth YoY, compared to +33% in 2016 and +53% in 2017. This represents x4.2 growth multiple over the last 36 months. “It’s quite simply astonishing. When we started our journey to create t...

Nigeria’s AMPZ.TV, Ghana’s OZÉ & Kenya’s WayaWaya named regional winners in MEST Africa’s $50,000 pitch competition

11Mar

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

East Africa, Start-ups

Nigeria’s AMPZ.TV, Ghana’s OZÉ & Kenya’s WayaWaya named regional winners in MEST Africa’s $50,000 pitch competition

Five promising start-ups from across Africa have been chosen as regional winners in MEST Africa’s annual Pan-African pitch competition, moving one step closer to winning $50,000 in equity investment, a place in the MEST Africa incubator of their choice and global mentorship to help their company scale. Winners will pitch on a global stage in the finals at the 4th MEST Africa Summit, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, June 10-12. Out of nearly 1000 applicants from across the continent, 10 finalists were chosen to pitch at the regional finals in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town and Abidjan, held February 27-28th. Winners from each region include: Nigeria –AMPZ.TV, the ‘LinkedIn for Sports’ that is developing the next generation of Etos, Drogbas and Aubameyangs through te...