Tag: Technology

Tech startup Elmawkaa raises Seed round to expand its suppliers base

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EGYPT – Cairo-based construction tech startup Elmawkaa has raised a six-figure Seed round headed by Flat6labs and joined by a group of Oqal investors from Saudi Arabia.   Elmawkaa plans to use the funds to onboard 2,000 suppliers and complete 4,000 transactions worth US$2 million in gross merchandise value.  “We are not a listing or ordinary marketplace, we are digitalising and innovating the process of buying building materials through a bidding process and our matching algorithms,” Ebrahem Anwar, the co-founder and CEO of Elmawkaa said.     “Which we built with our hands that deliver accurate and competitive quotations based on our experience in engineering,…

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Wicrypt startup US$1.5m funding round to help in expanding to new countries

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NIGERIA – Wicrypt, a blockchain-based Wi-Fi sharing startup, has raised US$1.5 million in a strategic funding round to help it expand into new countries.  The round was led by AU21 Capital, with participation from Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal, Inclusion Capital, Outlier Ventures, Chain Capital, Pluto Digital Assets, Onega Ventures, N7 Labs, Cardano and PolkaFoundary.    “While we have formed substantial business partnerships in Africa, this funding allows us to grow into new countries by increasing our marketing efforts,” said Ugochukwu Aronu, chief executive officer (CEO) of Wicrypt.    “Wicrypt is providing last-mile internet to people of the world who need it,…

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Nigeria’s Eden Life closes US$1.4m Seed Funding Round

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NIGERIA – Africa’s first home services app for scheduling food, laundry and cleaning services, has completed a US$1.4 million Seed round, led by UK-based LocalGlobe, along with participation from Samurai Incubate, Future Africa, Village Global, Rising Tide Africa and Enza Capital. The funding round brings Eden Life’s total investment to date to US$2 million following pre-seed backing from all of Andela’s original co-founders, and additional accelerator support over the last 18 months. The new capital raised will be deployed to build out Eden Life’s in-house technology and develop its own…

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Tech startup Sanergy secures US$2.5m funding from Japanese investor JICA

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KENYA – Sanergy, a tech-enabled startup and the owner of the Fresh Life toilets franchise, has received US$2.5 million funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This is in an effort to address the city’s growing sanitation needs while also helping farmers across Kenya produce more crops with fertilizer produced as a byproduct. Sanergy plans to expand its reach into additional African and Southeast Asian cities, on the wings of the investment. “We are thrilled to expand Sanergy’s pioneering circular economy model which solves multiple social problems, such as…

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Tech company Klasha raises US$2.4m seed fund to improve on its infrastructure

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NIGERIA – Klasha, cross-border technology company, has announced that it has raised US$2.4 million in seed funding that it plans to use to build the necessary technology infrastructure for cross-border commerce in Africa. Greycroft led Klasha’s funding round, while Seedcamp, Berrywood Capital, AVG Basecamp Fund, Practical VC, Plug and Play, First Round VC, Expert Dojo, 2.12 Angels, MiLA Capital and several angel investors also participated in the effort. Klasha will use the new money to help international B2B and B2C businesses take in online payments in African currencies from consumers…

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Tech logistics firm Sendy to raise US$100m for Africa growth

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KENYA – Sendy, a Kenyan tech logistics startup, is seeking to raise US$100 million by 2022 to fund the digital logistics platform’s plan to expand in western and southern Africa, reports Bloomberg. The Nairobi-based company, which facilitates door-to-door deliveries between individuals and businesses, will use the funds to commence business in the new markets, including Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana and South Africa, co-founder Malaika Judd said in an interview. Sendy, backed by Toyota Tsusho Corp, is seeking growth and partnerships amid the continent’s push to boost trade through the African Continental Free…

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PE firm 1K1V acquires minority stake in tech company Digital Ecosystems

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SOUTH AFRICA – One Thousand & One Voices (1K1V), a private equity firm that invests in sub-Saharan Africa with an exclusive limited partners (LP) base of leading family offices, has announced a R200 million (US$13.5 million) investment in a minority stake in Digital Ecosystems (DigiCo), a market-leading investment holding company that provides integrated technology services to the telecommunications sector, as well as various SaaS platforms. This investment marks 1K1V’s second investment in the technology space this year and the third technology investment in its portfolio. DigiCo operates at the forefront…

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Nigeria startup Andela raises US$200m, acquires unicorn status

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NIGERIA – Andela, a startup that connects African software engineering talent to global companies, has become the country’s newest startup to attain the unicorn status after raising US$200 million from investors. The firm, which is based in New York, is now worth US$1.5 billion. In the startup world, a unicorn is a company, mostly in the software or technology sector, valued at more than a billion dollars. Flutterwave and Opay, two other Nigerian fintech companies, reached that status earlier in 2021, coming behind Interswitch. Andela’s latest round of fundraising was…

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Property startup Nomad Homes closed US$20m Series A funding round

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EMEA – Nomad Homes, a property technology startup that offers an end-to-end buyer experience for real estate across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has closed a US$20 million Series A funding round. The round is co-led by 01 Advisors, an investment fund co-founded by former Twitter executives Dick Costolo and Adam Bain, and The Spruce House Partnership, a New York based investment partnership. Nomad pairs technology with local customer service experts to equip home buyers with the confidence to buy their best home, resulting in the simplest, most customized…

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The Foschini Group acquires Flat Circle team to sharpen digital offerings

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SOUTH AFRICA – TFG Labs, the new technology arm of local retail chain The Foschini Group (TFG), has completed the talent acquisition of the Flat Circle team, a specialist mobile app development agency based in Cape Town. Launched in 2021, TFG Labs has the mandate to attract the continent’s best tech talent, as the retailer invests significantly in technical capabilities to accelerate its digital strategy. The tech division aims to attract tech talent to develop software and solutions that will redefine the customer shopping experience and reshape TFG’s omnichannel capabilities, said the…

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