Africa
The latest startup and technology news coming out of Africa.
Internet goes dark in Kenya in the wake of major protests over finance bill
Update: Internet was restored on Wednesday morning, hours after the interruption. London-based internet rights monitoring group NetBlocks has reported a major internet disruption in Kenya following a wave of demonstrations…
Connect Money scores $8M to enable non-bank businesses to offer embedded finance services
Banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platforms have become instrumental in driving access to digital financial services by introducing fintech capabilities to non-bank businesses. Multiple businesses are tapping these platforms to circumvent the need…
Kenya closes its probe of Worldcoin, opening the door to a relaunch of its orbs after a year-long suspension
Worldcoin — the crypto “proof of personhood” startup co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman — has been given the green light to resume iris-scanning and other operations in Kenya after a…
Sources: Wasoko-MaxAB e-commerce merger faces delays amid headwinds in Africa
The merger has yet to close due to extended due diligence amid ongoing restructuring and macroeconomic headwinds across multiple countries.
Starting in war-torn Sudan, YC-backed Elevate now provides fintech to freelancers globally
Inflation and currency devaluation have always been a growing concern for Africans with bank accounts.
Spend management startup SiFi raises $10M to grow further in Saudi Arabia
The global spend management sector is experiencing a tailwind of sorts. North America is arguably the biggest market in this space, but spend management companies have seen demand rise across…
YoLa Fresh, a GrubMarket for Morocco, digs up $7M to connect farmers with food sellers
YoLa Fresh works with over a thousand retailers across Morocco and records up to $1 million in gross merchandise volume.
OpenseedVC, which backs operators in Africa and Europe starting their companies, reaches first close of $10M fund
Founder-market fit is one of the most crucial factors in a startup’s success, and operators (someone involved in the day-to-day operations of a startup) turned founders have an almost unfair advantage…
Accion’s new $152.5M fund will back financial institutions serving small businesses globally
For over six decades, the nonprofit has been active in the financial services sector.
Maad raises $3.2M seed amid B2B e-commerce sector turbulence in Africa
Maad, a B2B e-commerce startup based in Senegal, has secured $3.2 million debt-equity funding to bolster its growth in the western Africa country and to explore fresh opportunities in the…
Renda, which provides order fulfillment for businesses in Africa, takes in $1.9M
The logistics industry in Nigeria, like any informal sector, struggles with poor infrastructure and other inefficiencies, making it difficult for businesses — both large and small — to move and…
Productive solar technologies draw investors as global off-grid solar sector funding slumps
Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE) technologies, especially those in the solar irrigation and cold chain segment, saw increased investor interest last year, despite a 43% funding slump recorded in…
Ethiopian plastic upcycling startup Kubik gets fresh funding, plans to license out its tech
Kubik, a plastic upcycling startup, has raised a $1.9 million seed extension, months after announcing initial equity investment. The startup’s latest investment is from African Renaissance Partners, an East African…
Madica, a program by Flourish Ventures, steps up pre-seed investing in Africa
Madica, an investment program launched by U.S.-based investor Flourish Ventures to back pre-seed startups in Africa, plans to invest in up to 10 ventures by the end of the year,…
Kenyan B2B e-commerce company MarketForce is winding down its B2B e-commerce business that served informal merchants (mom-and-pop stores) after a turbulent two-year period that saw it scale down operations severely.…
B2B marketplace The Folklore bags $3.4M seed to get brands into global stores
Amira Rasool founded The Folklore in 2018 to help fashion brands from emerging markets like Africa, Asia and The Caribbean tap into the international market. In 2022, the startup introduced…
Pula raises $20M Series B to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and LatAm
Since 2015, Pula, an insurtech based in Kenya, has been keen on enhancing the access to agricultural insurance by small-holder farmers across emerging markets, shielding them against losses from pests,…
Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) plans to back up to 21 growth-stage companies across the continent after closing its first fund at $60 million. The pan-African VC hit the milestone following…
Climate tech VC Satgana closes first fund that targets early-stage startups in Africa, Europe
Climate tech VC Satgana has reached a final close of its first fund, which aims to back up to 30 early-stage startups in Africa and Europe. The VC firm reached…
Farm to Feed is cutting food loss and creating data platform to improve farming outcomes
Globally, a third of the food produced is lost or wasted, and in Kenya, that figure stands between 20% and 40%. For Kenya, unlike the developed world, food loss, not…
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Nala set out to offer remittance services, it’s building a B2B payment platform too
Payments company Nala pivoted to offer remittance service in 2021, tapping the growing money transfer market in Africa, and demand for reliable and affordable services. Nala founder Benjamin Fernandes said they intended to build their products on this premise right from the outset. Over the last two years, the Tanzanian…
Uber leads $100M investment in African mobility fintech Moove as valuation hits $750M
Moove, an African mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers, has raised $100 million in a funding round as it plots expansion into new markets.…
Nigeria demands Binance disclose top users, executives remain detained
Nigeria is actively seeking information from Binance regarding its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history spanning the past six months, according to a Financial Times report.…
MDaaS raises $3M to improve healthcare access and expand network across Nigeria
MDaaS Global, a Nigerian health tech company that operates a network of tech-enabled diagnostic centers across the country, has secured $3 million in pre-Series A funding. The round was led…
BRKZ, a construction tech startup eyeing MENA, emerges from stealth with $8M
Saudi Arabia is poised to become one of the largest global construction hubs, owing to its trillion-dollar infrastructure and the real estate projects that are underway in the country. Yet…
Binance to halt naira services amid ongoing regulatory probe in Nigeria
Binance will discontinue its naira (NGN) services in response to heightened regulatory scrutiny in Nigeria, it said in a blog post today. The cryptocurrency exchange will begin delisting any existing…
RemotePass, which helps companies onboard, manage, pay and retain remote workers, raises $5.5M
As remote work becomes increasingly prevalent, organizations globally are adapting, especially regarding onboarding procedures for new employees and navigating cross-border payment complexities. This new age of work has led to a…
Bfree, a Nigerian startup enabling lenders to recover debt ethically, gets $3M backing
Bfree, a tech-enabled debt collection startup based in Nigeria, was founded to automate and introduce ethical debt recovery processes after its founders witnessed the use and adverse effects of aggressive…
Ethiopian startup eQub won the fintech pitching battle at 4YFN 2024, the startup event of Mobile World Congress.
MoneyHash raises $4.5M for its payment orchestration platform serving merchants in MENA
The payment landscape in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is marked by significant fragmentation, with numerous payment providers and methods in each country, evolving regulations and diverse customer…
