Africa
The latest startup and technology news coming out of Africa.
Jumia plans to raise more than $100 million in secondary shares to drive stalled user growth
African e-commerce company Jumia is selling 20 million American depositary shares over the next couple of weeks, TechCrunch has learned. The at-the-market transaction is to take advantage of strong results…
When Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform Cartona last raised money in 2022, global and local investors were eager to invest in African startups solving the supply chain and operational challenges for…
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Endeavor CEO says long-term capital needs to be prioritized in emerging ecosystems
Venture capital has become a more global industry as the tech sector slowly decentralizes. In 2022, more than 50% of VC deployed globally was invested in startups outside the U.S., according to data available from the National Science Foundation (NSF) — a stark contrast to 20 years ago, when nearly…
Voice recognition is getting integrated in nearly all facets of modern living, but there remains a big gap: Speakers of minority languages and those with thick accents or speech disorders…
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Pesa unlocks new markets to keep remittances flowing to emerging economies
Founders of Pesa, a remittance fintech, know too well how costly, inaccessible and unreliable remittance services drive people to opt for risky informal channels — like WhatsApp groups — to transfer money. Their firsthand experience using informal channels and realizing how prevalent their use was among Africans living in the…
Nala, a remittance startup that is now widening its portfolio through a new B2B payments platform, has raised $40 million equity in a rare deal that becomes one of the largest…
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…
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…
The merger has yet to close due to extended due diligence amid ongoing restructuring and macroeconomic headwinds across multiple countries.
Inflation and currency devaluation have always been a growing concern for Africans with bank accounts.
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 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, 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…
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, 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.…
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…
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 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 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…
