Tag: Investments & Funding

Global Innovation Initiative Group launches US$100m fund to fuel African tech investments

Frank

AFRICA – The Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), has announced the launch of GIIG Africa Fund, a Curaçao-based private investment fund aimed at investing in early-stage tech innovation start-ups across Africa. The GIIG Africa Fund will invest annually in the winners’ pool of start-up participants from the African region of the Global Start-up Awards (GSA), an independent start-up ecosystem competition. Through its multi-platform venture-builders, GIIG says it seeks to develop the largest relationship infrastructure of mission-aligned African innovation stakeholders to accelerate the co-creation of disruptive African solutions. According to a statement, the…

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Chekkit Technologies startup raises US$500,000 pre-seed round

Frank

NIGERIA – Chekkit Technologies, a Lagos-based drug anti-counterfeit startup, has announced the close of their first institutional investment, a US$500,000 pre-seed round that included Launch Africa, Japan Strategic Capital, Blockchain Founders Fund, and two syndicate groups of angel investors.  The round was completed with a grant from the Orange Corners initiative. The cash will be used for product development, as well as expanding their existing anti-counterfeiting and consumer interaction solutions and developing comprehensive supply chain tracking and infrastructure optimization technologies. “The funds raised will enable us to directly protect up…

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Insurtech firm Naked gets US$8.4m funding from Naspers

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Naspers, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry, announced a R120 million (US$8.4 million) investment in Naked, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven insurtech company that offers a new, fully digital way for consumers to insure their cars, homes, and valuables. In a statement, Naspers says the transaction is Naspers Foundry’s second insurtech investment in two weeks and its biggest investment to date. In July 2021, Naspers announced a R34 million (US$2.4 million) investment in the digital insurance advice platform, Ctrl. The investments are part of Naspers’s R1.4 billion (US$98.2…

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Fintech startup Kuda Bank raises US$55m in Series B funding in its expansion plan

Frank

NIGERIA – Nigerian fintech startup, Kuda Bank has raised US$55 million in Series B funding as it looks to expand into other African countries and launch new product offerings for its Nigerian market. The funding was made at a US$500 million evaluation and comes after raising a US$25 million Series A in March 2021 and a US$10 million seed round in November 2020. With a US$1.6 million pre-seed raise in September 2019 and a US$15,000 pre-seed in 2018, its total raise comes to US$91.6 million. The round was co-led by…

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African Diaspora Central Bank to invest US$9b in electric vehicle startup Mandrolli

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – The African Diaspora Central Bank has committed to invest US$9 billion in Mandrolli, a solar and battery-powered electric vehicle (EV) startup based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a base in the U.S. Mandrolli describes itself as an electric vehicle start-up that is set to drive electric mobility pioneering in Africa. The startup is co-founded by Tami Mase, Ndileka Mandela, and B. Taylor. The investment means that Mandrolli is the first in the EV space to raise investment for the entire full production in one round. “This move…

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Payments company Yoco raises US$83m Series C funding round to accelerate growth

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Payments and software startup Yoco has secured US$83 million in Series C funding to accelerate the development of its platform and expand internationally as demand grows among small businesses for its digital payments tools. Yoco builds tools and services to help small businesses accept card payments in-store and online, access loans, and manage their day to day activities and in less than six years, the startup has become the preferred payments partner for over 150,000 small businesses across South Africa, processing more than US$1 billion in card payments…

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REGMIFA secures US$10m additional funding from FMO to support growth of MSME

Frank

AFRICA – Dutch-based entrepreneurial development bank FMO has invested a further US$10 million in REGMIFA, the Regional MSME Investment Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa and a public-private partnership advised by Symbiotics SA. This additional funding will support the growth of Africa’s MSME sector and foster economic development through employment creation, income generation and poverty alleviation. The investment will finance loans to businesses and low- and middle-income households via more than 50 selected financial institutions. The investment in class B-Shares for a maturity of seven years will increase the fund’s total assets…

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UNDP-Togo, FAIEJ launch US$476,000 per year fund for young entrepreneurs

Frank

TOGO – The Support Fund for Economic Initiatives for Young People (FAIEJ) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP-Togo) has launched a new fund for the benefit of young Togolese entrepreneurs. The 265 million FCFA per year (US$476k) Togolese Facility for the Acceleration and ‘Innovation (FTAI), will help companies who are innovative and ambitious. The fund will also provide financial assistance to startups and incubators, with the goal of assisting in the formation of new enterprises and jobs for young people. “It is a fund that functions as a catalyst…

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ATI closes US$238m financing agreement for health and transportation projects in Ghana

Frank

GHANA – The African Trade Insurance (ATI), a pan-African financial institution providing credit and political risk Insurance Products to support African investments, has announced the closing of two €203 million (US$238.8m) financing agreements social loans, to fund four health and two transportation projects in Ghana. The first transaction, a €55 million (US$64.7m) financing package, relates to the construction of two new Trauma hospitals in Obuasi and Anyinam districts, a new Accident and Emergency center at Enyiresi Hospital and the rehabilitation of Obuasi’s current outdated Health Center. Once completed, the four…

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Healthtech startup RxAll raises US$3.15m funding to develop its technology

Frank

NIGERIA – RxAll, a startup based in the United States and Nigeria that uses deep technology to offer patients with high-quality medication, has raised US$3.15 million in funding to expand into other countries and develop its technology. This funding round combines a recently closed US$2 million seed round (which was oversubscribed by US$2.25 million) and a US$900,000 pre-seed round raised at the end of last year. The financing was led by Launch Africa, with participation from SOSV’s HAX and Keisuke Honda’s KSK fund. With the latest funding, the company hopes…

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