In what appears to be the busiest week in recent times, startups in Africa raised a total of at least $82.4m across 8 deals, plus 4 other deals with amounts undisclosed. Over 60% of the total amount raised went to Nigerian Fintech, Teampt who raised a Pre-series C round of $50m from QED Investors. TeamApt, which is Nigeria’s largest agency banking provider intends to use the funds to widen their credit offerings. Being QED’s first investment in the african fintech sector, Teampt CEO said the investment proves TeamApt’s opportunity for exponential growth as a world-class financial institution at the forefront of Africa’s economic revolution.
In the sector vertical fintech is also first place driven by Teamapt and another ghanaian fintech, Zeepay who received $10m from Symbiotics BV and a Mauritius-based fund. Following closely is Big Data, E-commerce and Marketing.
In other news from the ecosystem;
● Bluechip Technologies, a Nigerian software company that provides management solutions to companies, has recently announced an expansion move into Europe. Bluechip, which started in Nigeria and has expanded to Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, and the DRC, has been at the forefront of Africa’s data warehousing growth.
● Kenya’s Elloe, a conversational e-commerce startup, has acquired counterpart Flo by Saada with plans to incorporate the technology to complement its existing portfolio of messaging services with a packaged, AI-driven offering. Flo by Saada’s technology enables SMEs to build conversational commerce solutions and process payments over USSD, programmable SMS, Voice (IVR), and WhatsApp Business.
● South African fintech company Retail Capital, which provides funding to small and medium-sized businesses, has been acquired by TymeBank, South Africa’s fastest growing digital bank, which plans to use the deal to bolster its business banking offering. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will see Retail Capital become a division of TymeBank, and the foundation of the bank’s expanded business banking offering.
● The Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) competition, a flagship philanthropic programme established by the Jack Ma Foundation to spotlight and support African entrepreneurs, has announced the top 50 finalists for its 2022 edition. Nigeria leads the way with 13 startups, but the top 50 came from 14 countries in all. For the first time, Burundi, Guinea, Madagascar and Somalia are represented in the top 50.
● Crypsense Digital Group, a Kenya-based digital assets capacity building and management platform, has been selected for the Draper VeChain Web 3 Accelerator Programme, giving it access to mentorship and support. Crypsense is a brainchild of The Africa Blockchain Centre, one of the startups at Adanian Labs – a venture studio that aims to establish, nurture, and scale 300 impact-driven tech startups across Africa.
● One of Africa’s largest telecom groups Airtel Group has signed a $125 million revolving credit facility with investment banking group, Citigroup Inc. This facility provides potential interest rate savings in exchange for achieving social impact milestones relating to digital inclusion and gender diversity, with a focus on rural areas and women, and aligning with Airtel’s sustainability strategy.
