Startups

A collection of 279 posts

Startups

Facebook to add four new branches to its 2Africa undersea cable network

Social media giant, Facebook has announced that it will expand the 2Africa, giant subsea cable it is building to four more branches in Africa. According to a statement released on Monday, the new branches will extend to the Indian Ocean island nations of Seychelles and Comoros along with Angola and

Startups

Acumen Software, a South African workforce and asset management startup secures funding

Acumen Software, a South Africa-based workforce and asset management startup has secured an undisclosed amount of funding to scale its My Smart City platform. Acumen Software is the company behind My Smart City, a platform for city residents to report service delivery issues, track reported matters, and mobilize fellow community

Startups

What Chaka’s partnership with TradingView mean for Africans

A startup of many firsts… Some weeks ago, Chaka became the first fintech startup in Nigeria to be licensed by the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). This license gave the company the legitimacy to continue its digital investment operations for Nigerian companies, retail investors, and institutional investors. After securing

Startups

MTN Group closes in on tower deal amid wider breakup

All plans are in place for the MTN Group to complete the sale and lease-back of the South African towers by the end of September. A separation of the FinTech and optical fiber units is also being developed as the wireless service provider works to pay off its debt. According

Startups

Tizeti launches NeXTGEN connectivity solutions to address post-pandemic 'new normal', announces partnership with $5m fund for African

Tizeti, West Africa’s pioneer solar-based internet and voice service provider has launched new connectivity offering to enable more Africans to take advantage of digital offerings in a new world defined by the Covid-19 pandemic. The new products encompass the company’s commitment to widening the broadband envelope in Nigeria

Startups

Nigeria to lift Twitter Ban in a few days – Information Minister

The federal government of Nigeria has on Wednesday said the ban on Twitter will soon be lifted. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in a media briefing with State House correspondents at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by

Startups

Nigerian eCommerce startup, Omnibiz, raise a $3m seed round to expand across West Africa

Omnibiz, a Nigerian Business to Business (B2B) eCommerce startup, has announced the close of a $3million seed round to expand to other African countries. The funding round was led by V&R Africa, Timon Capital, and Tangerine Insurance. Other participants in the round include Lofty Inc., Musha Ventures, Sunu

Startups

Nigeria-based anti-counterfeiting startup, Chekkit raises $500k pre-seed funding

Nigerian anti-counterfeiting startup, Chekkit, has secured a $500,000 pre-seed funding round to enable it to expand its operations within the pharmaceutical and FMCG industries. Pan African VC, Launch Africa, Japan Strategic Capital, Blockchain Founders Fund, and two syndicate groups of angel investors participated in this round. The company also

Startups

Decagon raises $1.5m seed round, receives $25m loan to finance and train software engineers

Nigeria-based IT firm, Decagon has today announced the close of a $1.5 million seed round and a $25 million student loan facility received from Sterling Bank, a leading financial institution in Nigeria. The seed round was led by Kepple Africa and Timon Capital, with investments from Tokyo-based UNITED Inc.

Startups

Nigeria’s digital cargo provider MVX raises $1.3 million from Kepple Africa, other investors

MVX, a Lagos-based digital freight, and the hauling startup has secured $1.3 million in seed funding to help merchant shippers move cargoes faster. The startup which started as a booking service for chartered sea vessels, but pivoted into a digital freight forwarding and trade finance venture last year, raised

Startups

South African Insuretech startup, Naked closes $11 Million Series A led by Naspers Foundry

South Africa-based insuretech platform, Naked has announced the close of its $11 million Series A round led by Naspers through its early-stage tech investment vehicle, Naspers Foundry. Previous investors, Yellowwoods and Hollard, also participated in the funding round. This deal is coming on the heels of Naspers investment in another

Startups

Payhippo gets accepted into YCombinator Summer Cohort 2021

Nigeria-based fintech startup, Payhippo, has been accepted into Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 cohort, joining 167 startups, four of which are African. Launched in January 2020 by Zach Bijesse (CEO), Chioma Okotcha (COO), and Uche Nnadi (CTO), Payhippo is working to bridge the gap between small business owners and the

Startups

Kenya’s Wapi Pay raises $2.2M pre-seed to facilitate cross-border payments between Africa and Asia

Kenya based fintech startup, Wapi Pay, has closed a $2.2 million pre-seed funding round to facilitate global payments and remittances between Asia and Africa. Investors that took part in the round include China-based MSA Capital, which has previously backed unicorns such as Meituan, Nubank and Klarna; Pan African and

Startups

Once Again, Accelerex Demonstrates Fintech Leadership with Two Awards

One of Nigeria’s foremost financial technology companies, Global Accelerex (Accelerex), has yet again demonstrated its leadership in the financial technology industry by clinching the FinTech Services Provider of the Year and Customer Focused ICT Company of the Year awards at the 12th edition of the Beacon of Information and

Startups

Nigerian neo-bank, Kuda Bank raises $55 million Series B to fuel expansion across Africa

Kuda Bank, a London-based, Nigerian operating startup that prides itself as the “bank of the free”, working to provide cheaper and personalized mobile banking services to Africans has secured $55 million in a Series B round to accelerate its expansion across Africa. The Series B funding which was an inside

Startups

Egyptian ride-sharing startup, Swvl is going public via SPAC at a valuation of $1.5 billion

Swvl, a Cairo-born, but Dubai headquartered ride-sharing startup has disclosed on Tuesday that it is going public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The mobility startup said it’s merging with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, a women-led SPAC, which will see the startup’s valuation rise

Startups

Nigerian fintech startup, Piggyvest Acquires Savi.ng

In a blog post released on their Medium platform, Nigerian fintech startup, Piggyvest has announced its acquisition of a smaller competitor, Savi.ng. Prior to this acquisition, Savi.ng was a wealth management app that helps users save money using diverse features such as automated savings, fixed deposits, joint savings

Startups

Autochek partners Appzone to provide affordable car loans for Nigerians

Autochek, the automotive technology company facilitating auto financing across Africa, has announced a partnership with Appzone Group, the continent’s leading FinTech organization, to provide Nigerians with quick and flexible access to car financing. The partnership will see the Autochek platform integrating with Appzone’s proprietary digital core banking service,

Startups

Franco-Ivorian fintech startup, Julaya secures $2 million for its West African expansion

Julaya, an African fintech startup with offices in Ivory Coast and France has secured US$2 million in a pre-Series A round to grow and expand its product in West Africa. The startup had previously raised $250,000 in 2018 and US$550,000 in 2019/2020. It has now

Startups

South African insurtech startup, Pineapple raises $3.4M Series A

South Africa based insurtech startup, Pineapple has recently announced the raise of a $3.4 million Series A round to expand its footprints in the car insurance space. Participants in this round include Lireas Holdings, the ASISA Enterprise and Supplier Development Fund, E4E Africa, Vunani Capital, and Old Mutual’s

Startups

Egyptian grocery delivery startup, GoodsMart raises $3.6 million to accelerate market expansion

Cairo-based grocery delivery startup, GoodsMart, has raised $3.6M in a round led by Sawari Ventures, to accelerate market expansion. GoodsMart will be using the investment to further accelerate its expansion across the market and to expand its team. GoodsMart is now covering West Cairo and will be expanding in

Startups

South Africa based Startup, Omnisient wins Global Award

Omnisient’s recent recognition by the World Marketing Congress proves yet again that the African continent is producing some astonishing scale-ups and entrepreneurs, along with innovative solutions to complex challenges. On 15 July, Omnisient was awarded the prestigious South African Best Brands citation at the CMO Asia Brand Leadership Awards

Startups

South African payments startup Yoco secures $83M in a Series C round, backed by Dragoneer

Yoco, a South African payments, and software startup have announced the raise of $83 million in a Series C funding round to accelerate the development of its platform and expand internationally. One of the major backers in the round includes Dragoneer Investment Group, making its Africa investment debut. The fund

Startups

PayQin raise €300K to grow its e-wallet service for the underbanked in West Africa

PayQin, a cross-border payment startup that operates a comprehensive e-wallet service for the underbanked in West Africa, is announcing a new €300K seed investment round that takes the company’s funding up to $1 million. The startup has a tall ambition to reach one one million daily transactions in a

Startups

Egyptian proptech startup, Nawy raises Seed round from Sawiris Family Office

The Cairo-based prop-tech startup, Nawy, announced the raise of an oversubscribed seven-figure Seed round led by the Sawiris family office. Other participants in the investment round include notable angels, including Hatem Dowidar (renowned telecom leader and angel investor). Founded in 2016 under the brand name “Cooing” by Mohamed Abou Ghanima,