- The number of active investors in African tech startups increased by 28 per cent to almost 1,000 in 2022, yet this was a slower rate of growth than witnessed in previous years. This is according to the eighth edition of the annual African Tech Startups Funding Report released by startup news and…
- Nigerian investtech startup Bamboo has been granted a digital sub-broker license from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allowing the company to operate in the Nigerian capital market as well as include Nigerian securities on its platform. Founded in 2019, Bamboo is an online…
- Ghanaian startup Chestify AI Labs provides an artificial intelligence (AI)-based platform that gives a highly accurate algorithm for diagnosing pathologies on chest X-rays, CT-scans and MRI images. Co-founded by Mustapha Zaidan and Michael Osei-Gyeabour in 2020, Chestify aims to aggressively tackle…
- Egypt-based marketing CRM platform Gameball has closed a US$3.5 million seed round to accelerate product commercialisation, enterprise customer acquisition and strategic hiring. Founded in 2020 by Ahmed Khairy, Ahmed El Assy and Omar Alfar, Gameball is an all-in-one customer intelligence and…
- Google has announced that applications are now open for its inaugural Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders Africa Programme. An extension of the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa programme established in 2017, the female-focused accelerator aims to empower and support women founders…
- Egyptian digital healthcare startup Yodawy, which has pioneered a pharmacy benefit management platform in the MENA region using technology, expert pharmacists, and state-of-the-art logistics, has raised US$16 million in the first close of its Series B round. Founded in 2018, Yodawy enables its…
- South African social impact advisory firm Impact Amplifier has secured a second round of funding from Google.org to launch the second phase of the Africa Online Safety Fund, which seeks innovative solutions to online safety challenges. Over 500 million people have access to the internet in Africa,…
- Nigeria confirmed itself as the leading destination for African tech startup funding over the course of a record-breaking 2022, yet there is evidence of a trickle-down effect as more startups from more countries than ever before secured investment. This is according to the eighth edition of the…
- Partech, the global technology investment firm, has announced the first closing of its Partech Africa II fund at EUR245 million (US$262 million), already above the target fund size. Born in San Francisco 40 years ago and now headquartered in Paris, Partech is one of the most active global tech…
- Umba, a digital bank for emerging markets until now operating only in Nigeria, has launched operations in Kenya as it begins to expand across the continent. Umba is a digital bank built for Africa, aiming to open up banking services for Africa’s vast, underserved market. The startup aims to make it…
- Nigerian startup Lopeer is a P2P cryptocurrency exchange and decentralised finance app that enables Africans to perform peer-to-peer trading, cross-border payments and access DeFi opportunities. Describing itself as the first geolocation-enabled P2P exchange in the world, Lopeer allows users to…
- Nigerian blockchain payments startup Bingtellar has announced the launch of its instant crypto-to-fiat conversion service, which enables users and businesses to easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies and get paid in local currencies. Formed in 2021, Bingtellar allows real-time conversion of crypto to…
- South African venture builder Specno began life as a two-founder business out of Stellenbosch University but is now an international agency that works with more than 100 clients across the world. Specno is a venture builder that helps startups, businesses and large enterprises validate, design and…
- Moroccan fintech startup Gwala has raised an undisclosed pre-seed funding round to help it scale. Founded last year by Mossaab Abaouz, with the aim to offer an on-demand payment solution for employees and employers, Gwala enables employees to have instant access to their earned wages. Its…
- Nigerian startup Gifty has launched a digital storefront creation platform that allows merchants to list their products and get a unique link for their shop to start receiving orders via direct message. Formed in January 2022 by Victor Akpan (CEO), David Enejison (CTO), and Francisca David (COO),…
- Investment into the African tech startup ecosystem passed the US$3 billion mark for the first time in 2022, with the space withstanding global economic headwinds to post a record year. This is according to the eighth edition of the annual African Tech Startups Funding Report released by startup…
- Ghanaian startup FLUID has launched a new platform that helps smallholder farmers access loans, and has already signed one bank on a 12-month contract to provide financing to 25,000 farmers in Northern Ghana. FLUID was first formed in 2020 when founder Moustapha Seck left his job at the Canadian…
- Egyptian smart infrastructure management startup Pylon says it is “saving the planet” one smart meter at a time as it democratises access to “Smart Metering as a Service”. Founded in 2017 by Ahmed Ashour and Omar Radi, Pylon is a smart infrastructure management platform providing a subscription-…
- South African startup Peachz aims to become the country’s foremost online tech and mobile accessories retailer after its August launch. The Johannesburg-based Peachz is aims to make shopping for well-priced, durable products online “peachy”, with founder Tali Flax saying that early uptake has been…
- Three African agri-tech startups – ThriveAgric of Nigeria, Kenya’s DigicCow and Botswana-based Brastorne Enterprises – have been named winners of the AYuTe Africa Challenge, securing shares of US$1.5 million in grant funding and access to expert advisors. Organised by Heifer International, the…
- South African prop-tech startup Preferental wants to revolutionise the way landlords manage and grow their property portfolios, leveraging cutting-edge technology and expert support to help users manage their properties with ease and efficiency. Formed in 2017 by Ross Fitzcharles, Preferential has…
- South African fintech startup Lulalend, a digital lender catering to underserved small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has raised a US$35 million Series B funding round to help it scale its business. Founded in 2014, Lulalend, South Africa’s first online automated provider of business funding…
- Ten South African startups have been selected for the three-year GrindstoneX accelerator programme, which aims to empower women entrepreneurs while creating jobs. Disrupt Africa reported in October South Africa’s Grindstone Accelerator had partnered Naspers Labs to launch GrindstoneX, a new all-…
- Egyptian fintech company MNT-Halan is now indisputably the best-funded startup in the the country after securing US$200 million in equity funding, plus a further US$140 million in debt. Having begun life as a ride-hailing app for two- and three-wheeler vehicles back in 2018, MNT-Halan has morphed…
- Nigerian startup VENCO has seen strong growth of its platform, which helps property owners, property managers, and residents to run their communities sustainably and with minimal stress, and is now targeting continental expansion. Co-founded by Chude Osiegbu (CEO), Reagan Mbitiru (CTO) and…
- Landwey Investment Limited is one of Nigeria’s leading real estate firms currently building Isimi Lagos, a future city that will allow residents to experience technology and nature differently. The new town development project located in Epe Lagos promises to transform the way we live in Nigeria…
- Twelve African tech startups have been selected for the inaugural ARM Labs Lagos Techstars accelerator, which provides access to up to US$120,000 in equity funding and other types of support. Launched by Techstars, a global investment business that provides access to capital, one-on-one mentorship…
- Fourteen startups from across the continent have been selected to Pitch Live at Africa Tech Summit, which will host its fifth edition on February 15-16 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Africa Tech Summit Nairobi provides insight and networking with the African tech ecosystem. bringing…
- Nigerian fintech startup Trade Lenda, which helps micro, small and informal retailers with access to financing for their business needs, has raised US$520,000 in pre-seed funding to speed its growth. Founded in 2021, the Lagos-based Trade Lenda helps small businesses get quick and affordable access…
- Smile Identity, a leading provider of digital identity verification solutions for Africa, has released its highly-anticipated end-of-year 2022 Know Your Customer (KYC) report. Using data from nearly 50 million KYC checks from different industries, this comprehensive report provides in-depth…
- Female founders in the African energy sector can apply for up to US$100,000 funding from the OPEN fund. An initiative of the CSI Energy Group, a diversified network of Africa-centric companies providing sustainable solutions to the energy sector across the continent, OPEN is looking for women-led…
- South African e-commerce startup Yebo Fresh, an order-to-delivery service providing townships with fresh groceries and food, has raised a ZAR78 million (US$4.5 million) pre-Series A equity investment, as well as a Jobs Fund grant. Launched in 2018 in the garage of founder Jessica Boonstra’s home,…
- Applications have opened for the sixth edition of the AFD Digital Challenge, which is dedicated to the cultural and creative industries. For the sixth consecutive year, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is committed to supporting high-impact tech startups in Africa. The competition is…
- The Cape Innovation and Technology (CiTi), recognised along with its Bandwidth Barn as Africa’s oldest tech incubator, has rebranded to UVU Africa to mark its new pan-African approach. Established in 1999, CiTi works with government, academia, business and society to promote inclusive growth of the…
- Egyptian startup GBarena, the leading Middle Eastern e-sports platform, has acquired the Tunisia-based Galactech in a share swap deal worth US$15 million. Founded in 2016 by Mustafa Zaza and Bishoy Mesdary, GBarena aims to create an online gaming community connecting gamers with tournament…
- South African mobile gaming startup Carry1st has raised a US$27 million funding round to develop, license, and publish new games, as well as further expand Pay1st, its monetisation-as-a-service solution. Founded in 2018 and based in Cape Town, Carry1st is a mobile games publisher serving the first…
- Startupbootcamp AfriTech and telecom firm Telecel Group have selected 11 startups to take part in the third edition of the Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP) accelerator. Startupbootcamp AfriTech was launched in 2017 as the first multi corporate-backed pan-African startup accelerator. Disrupt…
- Here’s a little spoiler from our upcoming African Tech Startups Funding Report (released very soon!) – marketing tech had a big year from an investment perspective in 2022. Though that fact may get buried amongst larger headline numbers, the future looks bright for a sector that is growing in…
- Zimbabwean fintech startup Cashlinq has launched a baking-as-a-service platform to enable businesses and startups across the continent to offer superior banking solutions. Formed in 2022 by four by experienced co-founders after they identified how expensive foreign-based solutions did not meet the…
- Kenyan startup Zemo is a financial management solution for growing businesses that enables them to eliminate wasteful spending, tedious expense reports and employee out-of-pocket spend, as well as providing access to working capital loans. Formed in 2021 by CEO Davis Nyamari and CTO Solomon…
- Ten Kenyan agri-circularity startups have been selected for the second edition of the O-Farms accelerator programme, which will award two peer-selected companies with milestone-based grant funding of up to EUR25,000 (US$24,000). Led by Bopinc and Village Capital, and implemented by E4Impact…
- South African prop-tech startup Flow has secured a US$4.5 million pre-Series A investment round to drive its international expansion. Founded in 2019 by Daniel Levy and Gil Sperling, Flow goes straight to the source of the largest social platforms in the world – Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn –…
- As a British Pakistani, who grew up in Dubai, Sacha Haider has experienced multiple cultures firsthand. After studying History and Politics at the University of Warwick, with hopes of becoming a news anchor, an internship at the PE arm of LVMH, L Capital Asia, in her final year of studies was where…
- Kenyan startup iGas has launched a digital LPG marketplace that aims to accelerate access to clean cooking by solving affordability, accessibility and last mile delivery constraints. Formed in 2021, but only available to the public late last year, iGas enables gas vendors – commercial or domestic…
- Applications are open for the latest Westerwelle Young Founders Programme, which offers outstanding young entrepreneurs from developing and emerging countries six months of business mentoring and the chance to participate in the Young Founder Conference in Berlin. The Westerwelle Foundation for…
- Egyptian startup Shahbandr is helping the next generation of merchants to build and grow online businesses via its SaaS-based e-commerce platform. Formed in May 2021, Shahbandr is a one-stop solution to help merchants to build, start, sell, manage and grow an online business in the e-commerce…
- Forbes and the Aviram Foundation have launched a US$500,000 competition to identify new businesses committed to driving significant, profound positive change through technological innovation. The event – for which the top prize is US$500,000 – looks for original products or services that will…
- Kenyan fintech startup Kwara has raised a US$3 million seed extension round that takes the company’s total funding to US$7 million. Founded in 2018 by Cynthia Wandia and David Hwan, Kwara has built a digital banking platform designed to help unbanked and underbanked individuals to build wealth…
- Kenyan fintech startup Kwara has agreed to wholly acquire IRNET Coop Kenya, a software company which is a subsidiary of the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Cooperatives (KUSCC), in a deal that will see it offer its banking software solutions and mobile banking channels to rapidly increase growth…
- African startups have been invited to apply for the Earthshot Prize, a global environmental prize to discover, accelerate, and scale ground-breaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. Each year, the Earthshot Prize launches a global search for breakthrough solutions, with a worldwide…
