Africa’s Biggest Mega Rounds in 2022
There was a time when mega rounds were confined to the West. That is no longer the case now. Macroeconomic conditions are now favoring Africa well enough to attract such levels of funding (deals valued at $100 Million & above). African late-stage startups that have reached a certain degree of maturity and require funding to go further but do not yet want to take the IPO route are particularly responsible for the rise in overall venture capital deal value. And yes, we’re beginning to see more and more of such startups in Africa.
2021 still holds the record for mega rounds in Africa. In the year, there were 13 mega rounds from OPay, Chipper Cash, JUMO, Tala, TymeBank, MFS Africa, MNT-Halan, Wave, Zepz, Zipline, Andela, Flutterwave and TradeDepot. Although 2022 would be a record funding year, Africa’s startup space failed to replicate its 2021 success in terms of mega rounds.
Mega rounds in 2022 is a sign that inspite of the global economic downturn, venture firms and investors still showed desire to in Africa’s growing startup space. The Ouut spotlights the top 5 mega deals in 2022.
Sun King’s $260M Series D
In April, Sun King secured $260 million in a Series D funding round led by BeyondNetZero, the climate investing venture of General Atlantic, with participation from M&G Investments’ Catalyst and Arch Emerging Markets Partners. Sun King’s solar home energy solutions is currently adopted by over 15 million households in 40 countries.
The energy company had claimed that part of the fund to expand its pay-as-you-go solutions, boast its business presence and introduce larger setups that are capable of powering bigger appliances like refrigerators, an upgrade to its current systems that can only power lights, mobile phones, and small home appliances like TVs.
Flutterwave’s $250M Series D
There is probably no African that has not been pleased with the enormous progress Flutterwave has made across Africa. In February, the Pan African fintech startup, raised $250 million in Series D funding, valuing the company at over $3 billion. The round ensured Flutterwave becomes the highest valued African startup.
Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, the founder and CEO of Flutterwave stated that the firm was thrilled that investors believes in its story and are dedicating their resources to this belief. The CEO added that it provides Flutterwave with the crucial backing needed to carry out its goals and give merchants and customers everywhere the greatest possible experience.
Afterwards, the firm had engaged in several product and service expansions across Africa. In September, Flutterwave obtained a switching and processing license from the Central Bank of Nigeria to procure switching and card processing transaction services for customers and the introduced Google Pay payment option to allow online purchases, in-app purchases, peer-to-peer transactions and contactless payment via near-field communications.
Yassir’s $150M Series B
Yassir was ranked number 1 in terms of startups’ activities in North Africa. Yassir’s e-commerce activities targets unbanked users, giving them the ability to participate in digital finance activities. In November, the Algerian heavyweight secured a $150M series B round led by BOND.
Yassir’s delivery and ride-hialing services also operates as an outlet to propel the provision of financial services. The startup utilizes it delivery agents and drivers to encourage users use the Yassir wallet, via money deposit and merchant payment. So far, the startup has onboarded 8 million users to its platform.
One month after securing its mega round, Yassir announced the official launch of its on-demand grocery delivery service in Gauteng, South Africa. While South Africa provides a competitive ecommerce market, Yassir’s expansion is strategic due to the country’s growing income class. Yassir Express has opened a number of specialized dark stores or high-tech warehouses to service customers in Centurion’s and Johannesburg’s northern districts. These “dark businesses” are not accessible to the general public and provide supplies as an alternative to typical retail outlets, which frequently run out of stock and experience delays.
Wasoko’s $125M Series B
In March, Kenyan B2B startup, Wasoko, raised $125 million in Series B round led by Tiger Global and Avenir Growth. Prior to the round, the startup was identified as Sokowatch. The name change “Wasoko”, which translates to “People of the Market” in Swahili is to reinforce the company’s transition from a back-end distribution software platform in East Africa to a Pan-African brand that’s serving and empowering informal retailers.
Aside its delivery services, Wasoko through its platform, offers market trends, business insights, and customized promotions to retailers and manufacturers. Wasoko has since delivered 2.5 million orders to over 50,000 retailers across its market reach, with revenue growth of over 500%.
In August, the startup partnered the government of Zanzibar, to launch the “Wasoko Innovation Hub.” With the aim of developing top-notch tech solutions that will power Africa’s e-commerce industry for years to come, the hub houses over 500 forward-thinking engineers, product managers, UX designers, and researchers from Africa and around the world.
Moove’s $105M Series A2
Nigerian mobility fintech startup providing seamless vehicle financing to drivers raised $105 million in an oversubscribed Series A2 round in March. The round was led by Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital – the lead investors from its Series A. The round came about seven months after Moove closed its $23 million Series A round and a month it had closed $10 million in debt financing; bringing the total fundraising to $174.5 million.
The mega round had enabled the startups expand into new markets including Accra, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, and Ibadan – and three product categories – automobiles, trucks, and motorcycles.
In July Moove announced its entry into the Indian market with the launch of operations in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.