June 08, 2022
Kenya: Tiktok Found to Fuel Disinformation, Political Tension Ahead of Elections
TikTok is fueling disinformation and political tension in Kenya ahead of its August general elections, new research by Mozilla Foundation says. Read more »
Africa: New Report Examines Africa's Growth in the Digital Economy and VC Investment Landscape
A new report from Endeavor Nigeria reveals that Africa's digital economy and tech ecosystem is set to experience exponential growth periods. The report is dubbed "The Inflection… Read more »
Africa: Virridy Raises U.S.$5.5 Million to Expand Its Sensor Catalog
Virridy, a developer of technologies for monitoring and managing water, energy, and agricultural resources, has raised $5.5 million series A funding in a round led by Accord… Read more »
June 07, 2022
Nigeria: Startup Klasha Gets an Additional U.S.$2.1 Million for Its Cross-Border Commerce Play
Lagos and San Francisco-based Klasha has received an additional $2.1 million to complete its $4.5 million seed round. The startup, which provides multiple products for the… Read more »
June 06, 2022
Africa: MFS Africa Acquires GTP for U.S.$34 Million As It Looks to Issue Prepaid Cards to Its Clients
Pan-African digital payments company MFS Africa is acquiring U.S.-based Global Technology Partners (GTP) in a cash-and-shares deal worth $34 million, FT reported today. Read more »
Nigeria: Indicina Raises U.S.$3 Million to Help Businesses Offer Credit to Their Customers At Scale
For years, Africa's credit infrastructure has lagged behind the rest of the world due to low credit coverage from its bureaus. Per a World Bank report, only 11% of Africa's… Read more »
June 02, 2022
Kenya: Visa and Safaricom Launch Virtual Card to Support Global Digital Payments Via M-Pesa
Global digital payments giant, Visa, and East Africa's biggest telecom Safaricom, the operator of the M-Pesa mobile money product, have today launched a virtual card, enabling… Read more »
June 01, 2022
Egypt: Q-Commerce Platform Appetito Bags Lamma for Over U.S.$10 Million
Appetito, the Egyptian platform that delivers groceries and household products to customers from 11 dark stores across three cities in the North African country, is acquiring… Read more »
South Africa: Talk360 Raises U.S.$4 Million to Build Single Payment Platform for Africa
Many businesses looking to set up pan-African operations are often met with the challenge of establishing payment services that are appropriate for each country they go to. Most of… Read more »
May 30, 2022
Central Africa: Betastore Gets U.S.$2.5 Million to Solve Challenges for Informal Retailers in West and Central Africa
About 80% of household retail in sub-Saharan Africa is delivered through informal channels, which perennially face several challenges like stockouts, leading to an instability in… Read more »
Africa: Ayoken Raises U.S.$1.4 Million to Grow Its NFT Marketplace for Creatives
Ayoken, an NFT marketplace for creatives, has raised $1.4 million pre-seed funding to enable users grow their revenue streams through digital collectibles. Read more »
May 27, 2022
Mozambique: Elon Musk Says Starlink Has Been Approved in Nigeria and Mozambique
Elon Musk announced in a tweet on Friday that Starlink, the satellite internet service launched by SpaceX, his space exploration company, has been approved in Nigeria and… Read more »
May 26, 2022
Africa: As the Head of Helios' New VC Arm, Wale Ayeni Sees Value in Frontier Markets
Wale Ayeni, one of Africa's well-known investors, has a new role as the head of Helios Digital Ventures, the venture capital strategy of private equity firm Helios Investment… Read more »
May 25, 2022
Namibia: B2B E-Commerce Retail Platform JABU Raises U.S.$15 Million Led By Tiger Global
More venture capital keeps trooping into Africa's B2B e-commerce retail, a space where startups are digitizing informal trade to get thousands of merchants to operate more… Read more »
Kenya: MotiSure Rides On Micro-Payments to Drive Personal Mobility Insurance Growth
Affordability is one of the biggest impediments for insurance penetration in Kenya. Often, policy holders are required to make one-off payments for long-term covers, and the quoted… Read more »
Egypt: Health and Wellness Platform Esaal Raises U.S.$1.7 Million to Scale Across MENA
There's a vast unmet demand for medical consultation in developing markets like Egypt due to low doctor supply. As of 2018, Egypt's doctor to citizen ratio stood at 1:2,000; you… Read more »
May 24, 2022
South Africa: Edtech FoondaMate Eyes Speedy Takeoff After U.S.$2 Million Funding
South African edtech startup FoondaMate has secured $2 million seed funding in a round led by LocalGlobe, the UK-based venture capital firm, to drive uptake of its Whatsapp and… Read more »
Africa: Uber Hits 1 Billion Rides in Africa
Uber today announced a significant milestone -- it has completed 1 billion rides across all its markets in Africa. This feat translates to over 10 billion kilometres in terms of… Read more »
May 23, 2022
Kenya: Ex-Uber Executive Reveals How Driver Earnings Were Slashed in Kenya
New details have emerged showing that Uber was planning to further reduce commuter charges in Kenya, months after the 35% cut of 2016, which is the subject-matter of a civil suit… Read more »
Egypt: Online Used-Car Retailer Sylndr Raises U.S.$12.6 Million Pre-Seed to Disrupt Automotive Market
Egypt is home to one of Africa's largest vehicle fleets, with over 6 million cars (80% are passenger cars) on its roads. According to this finding, most are used cars; their ratio… Read more »
May 19, 2022
Africa: Plan to Deploy 12,000 Drones Across Africa
Wingcopter this week announced a partnership with Continental Drones designed to establish a massive delivery network spanning 49 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. The deal sets… Read more »
Africa: How Untapped Global Plans to Bring the Revenue Financing Model to African Startups
In the developed world, almost anyone can get financing for, say, a car lease. But in an emerging economy like South Africa, the only people who own cars or can even get a car… Read more »
May 17, 2022
Africa: Carepoint Raises $10m to Spread Healthcare Tech Across Africa
CarePoint, a technology-driven healthcare startup, has raised $10 million bridge round to accelerate its growth across Africa, as it seeks to make healthcare accessible to the… Read more »
May 16, 2022
Kenya: Twiga Starts Commercial Farming, Looking to Guarantee Quality, Sustain Supply
Twiga, a B2B e-commerce food distribution platform, has today announced the launch of its new subsidiary, Twiga Fresh, through which it will farm and distribute its own… Read more »
Nigeria: Topship Raises $2.5m From Flexport and YC to Help Merchants With International Shipping
African merchants encounter many challenges when it comes to international shipping ranging from logistics and customs to hidden and excessive charges. Read more »