- South African viral consumer rewards app Maholla and internet service provider (ISP) ikeja have partnered in a bid to provide the township youth with equitable access to high quality, cost-effective internet services. Maholla, which raised US$1.5 million funding earlier this year, is a viral…
- Standard Chartered Kenya in partnership with @iBizAfrica – Strathmore University has selected 15 women-led startups to undergo 12 weeks of business incubation training under the Women in Tech Programme, which will culminate in seven businesses receiving US$10,000 each in funding. Standard Chartered…
- Nigeria’s Flex Finance is a spend management solution for businesses in Africa, helping companies get visibility and control of their spending, and streamlining financial processes like approval workflows, expense tracking, employee reimbursements, and vendor payments. Flex was born out of the…
- Ethiopia’s Kubik, which specialises in the transformation of hard-to-recycle plastic waste into affordable, low-carbon building materials, has raised US$3.34 million via an oversubscribed seed round of funding to help it scale. Founded in 2021 by Kidus Asfaw and Penda Marre, Kubik produces low-…
- Egyptian startups Paymob and Chefaa have announced a partnership to power the digital transformation of pharmaceutical payments in Egypt. Paymob was founded in 2015, and its omnichannel gateway offers more than 40 payment methods and empowers over 200,000 SME merchants to manage and scale their…
- Kenyan startup Ed Partners is dedicated to expanding access to education by partnering with private schools and offering innovative financial and non-financial solutions. Founded in 2018 by Lydia Koros and David FitzHerbert, and currently led by CEO Amos Mwangi, Ed Partners provides financing…
- Egyptian Islamic invoice financing startup Agel has closed an undisclosed seven-figure pre-seed round of funding to help it roll out customised, digital, cashless, and Sharia-compliant financing products, including Murabaha, a cost-plus financing model that complies with Islamic principles. Founded…
- South African company Lexie Hearing, developed by hearX Group and a market leader in US hearing healthcare, has been named on TIME’s third annual TIME100 Most Influential Companies list. The renowned list highlights companies making an extraordinary impact around the world. To assemble the list,…
- A minority of Africa-focused venture capital companies have female general partners, while just 6.1 per cent of angel investors on the continent are women, according to a groundbreaking study on gender diversity released by Disrupt Africa. Since launching its research arm in 2016, Disrupt Africa…
- Ghanaian Web3 startup Mazzuma has secured an undisclosed amount of financing from Adaverse to implement the roll-out of its AI-powered smart contract creation platform – MazzumaGPT. Launched in 2017 by school friends Nii-Osae Osae-Dade and Kofi Genfi, Mazzuma began life as a payments app but has…
- Seven African tech startups have been named by the World Economic Forum (WEF) among its selection of the 100 most promising Technology Pioneers of 2022 – companies that are shaping industries from healthcare to retail and many more. The WEF Technology Pioneers are early to growth-stage companies…
- South African e-health startup Zoie Health has raised a pre-seed extension funding round to fund its expansion and growth. A holistic digital wellness platform for women by women, Zoie Health offers virtual consults, at-home consults, subscriptions for medications, resources and a community of…
- The Egypt-based Acasia Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Acasia Group, has opened a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, in a bid to extend its reach across the African continent and connect with founders and stakeholders on the ground. Known as Cairo Angels until announcing a rebrand late…
- Ivory Coast-based fintech company Syca has been selected for the startup programme run by Scaleway, a global provider of cloud infrastructure services, to accelerate its growth and expand its impact in the technology market. Syca provides advanced payment and point-of-sale management solutions…
- Nigerian startup Quantum Analytics is providing “tech education as a service” to Africans and then using technology to match talent with available tech jobs globally. Founded in February 2021, Quantum Analytics allows users to register and view available courses across a variety of subjects, which…
- Kenyan e-commerce startup Tappi has been selected for the latest edition of the Orbit Startups accelerator, securing US$180,000 in funding together with access to an intensive programme that supports its growth and fundraising beyond demo day. Part of global VC firm SOSV, which has US$1.5 billion…
- Kenyan insurtech startup Turaco has announced it has surpassed one million lives insured. Turaco provides simple and affordable insurance solutions for emerging markets and is a distributor, broker and key customer interface between the underwriter and the consumer. Turaco achieves this by forming…
- The Fashion Kingdom (TFK), the leading curated fashion marketplace in Egypt, has acquired direct-to-consumer (D2C) fashion brand Opio to create a powerhouse fashion group. A marketplace offering access to fashion, beauty and home accessories, with 360 value proposition for brands, TFK was launched…
- Women have always been underrepresented in the venture capital space worldwide. Some of the earliest research from the US (2018) found that only nine per cent of VC decision makers were women. In Africa, new data by Disrupt Africa shows some more promising trends – 39.6 per cent of VCs actively…
- South Africa-based solar energy and digital devices asset financier Yellow has raised US$14 million in Series B funding to deepen its reach in its existing markets. Founded in 2018 by Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart, Yellow focuses on the last-mile distribution of affordable “pay as you go” (PAYG)…
- Google for Startups has announced the 25 Africa-based startups selected for this year’s US$4 million Black Founders Fund. Disrupt Africa reported in July 2021 on the US$3 million Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa, which is part of Google’s racial equity commitments announced in June…
- A Londoner of Nigerian descent, Oyin Solebo has worn various hats in the investment and entrepreneurial world, but now she is based out of Lagos running the only Techstars accelerator programme active on the African continent. Techstars is a global investment business that provides access to…
- Convergence Partners Investments, the deep tech investor started by Andile Ngcaba in 2003, has announced it has rebranded to Solcon Capital as it launches a big push to empower global deep tech growth through platform economics. Established in 2003, the company now known as Solcon Capital is a…
- The GrEEK Campus and MQR, two of Egypt’s largest entrepreneurial communities, have announced a definitive merger agreement. Founded in 2013, The GrEEK Campus is a hub for homegrown innovation where businesses at all stages are able to join together to develop and grow new ideas, products, and…
- Seedstars Capital and Fondation Botnar have announced the launch of the Seedstars Youth Wellbeing Ventures mandate, intending to invest US$20 million in early-stage, purpose-driven companies aiming to improve the wellbeing of young people in low- and middle-income countries across the continent.…
- Nigeria’s Eze, a wholesale marketplace for used and new electronics, has secured US$3.7 million in seed funding to develop its technology infrastructure, broaden its product offering and expand into new markets in Africa, Europe and South America. Eze is a B2B wholesale marketplace for smartphones…
- The Obuntu Foundation has announced applications for its second programme, which aims to catalyse, accelerate, and support emerging venture capital fund managers in Africa. The Obuntu Foundation, in an effort to foster innovation and economic growth in Africa, has established the Obuntu Launchpad…
- Egyptian startup Shobly is a specialised e-commerce enabler that empowers SMEs in the MENA region to establish and manage their independent online stores effectively. Founded in October 2021 by CEO Abdulrehman Ahmed and CTO Ali Dawood, Shobly makes it easy for SME owners to launch an online store…
- ErrandPay, a leading fintech startup, is thrilled to announce its revolutionary partnership opportunities for microfinance banks, co-operatives, and entrepreneurs aiming to accelerate financial inclusion and transform Africa’s tech space. With its multi-currency white-label agency banking and…
- The Baobab Network, a Nairobi-based accelerator that invests in early-stage tech companies across Africa, has announced its latest cohort of five investees, each of which secures US$50,000 in funding. The Baobab Network has been accelerating startups with capacity building and fundraising since…
- South African accelerator Grindstone has partnered Digital Jersey to launch the inaugural Grindstone UK & Channel Islands programme in Jersey. Sponsored by a number of companies, including Polygon Collective and KischIP, to name a few, the six-month acceleration programme will support 10 high-…
- A survey of female founders within the African tech startup ecosystem has revealed high levels of discrimination, with respondents reporting negative experiences with customers, employees and investors, as well as numerous unwanted sexual advances in the workplace. The survey forms part of “…
- BoxCommerce is now the leading B2B e-commerce platform in Kenya having reached 5,400 merchants to make it 16 times larger than main competitor Shopify in the East African country. Founded in 2017, BoxCommerce was created to allow merchants in emerging markets to sell online in under 10 minutes with…
- Egypt’s Stllr, a regional network of independent creators and boutique agencies, has partnered with Payoneer, a financial technology company empowering the world’s small and medium-sized businesses to transact, do business and grow globally. Launched in December 2021, Stllr reduces wasted costs in…
- Not many in the African startup space will have heard of Prembly, which is best known for its Y Combinator-selected Identitypass product. But the company is much more than just one service. Formed in 2021 when it commercialised Identitypass, a digital verification product, Prembly formalised as a…
- Kenyan fintech startup Pezesha has partnered retail distribution platform Kyosk App to enable Kyosk merchants in Kenya – and soon in Uganda – to access affordable inventory credit. Founded in 2017 by Hilda Moraa, Pezesha offers a B2B digital lending infrastructure focused on providing affordable…
- Winners have been announced across 14 categories for the third edition of Egypt’s Entrepreneur Awards (EEA). This year’s edition of the awards brought new categories including “Next Gen Intrapreneur of the Year”, “Rising Entrepreneur of the Year”, “Entrepreneur for Good Award”, “From Art to…
- Kenyan startup Nifty Works is an award-winning creative company, but since its formation in 2013 the way people consume content has changed. Now, with the help of key partners, it is truly transitioning into the on-demand age. Co-founded by Muthoni Waigwa and Nyatetu Kiragu, Nifty Works recognised…
- Ten African entrepreneurs from five startups on the continent have been accepted into the global Endeavor network in the last 12 months, gaining access to various support services to help their companies scale. The Endeavor initiative works to catalyse long-term economic growth by selecting,…
- African venture capital talent network Dream VC has selected 54 fellows from 22 countries into the 2023 cohort of its flagship VC accelerator programme, which helps current and aspiring investors to break into the African venture space. Founded in 2021, Dream VC has trained more than 80 African and…
- Women-led African tech startups are significantly less likely to raise funding than their male-run counterparts, according to a groundbreaking study on gender diversity released by Disrupt Africa. Since launching its research arm in 2016, Disrupt Africa has built up a significant portfolio of…
- The Rwanda-based Ampersand, an integrated electric motorcycle and transport energy solution, has reached a major milestone in its mission to provide sustainable mobility solutions in Kenya and Rwanda, with it now having more than 1,000 commercial use electric motorcycles on the roads. Launched…
- Applications have opened for the latest edition of Pitch AgriHack 2023, which is seeking young agri-tech entrepreneurs with solutions addressing food security challenges and empowering smallholder farmers across the continent. Pitch AgriHack offers a platform for these entrepreneurs to present…
- Tunisia-founded expense management software company Expensya is to be acquired by Swedish counterpart Medius for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 2014 by Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani, Expensya offers a software-as-a-solution (SaaS) platform that helps businesses of all sizes manage their expenses.…
- Nigeria’s Haul247, an end-to-end logistics tech platform connecting businesses to haulage and warehousing assets in one ecosystem, has raised US$3 million in seed funding to increase its market share in Nigeria, expand to other African markets, recruit talent, and develop its technology. Founded by…
- Startups in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania have been offered the chance to scale their impact-driven companies and receive a grant investment of up to EUR100,000 (US$107,000) from develoPPP Ventures. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and…
- Nigerian fintech startup Creditchek is helping lenders mitigate credit risks by reliably verifying the creditworthiness of potential consumers in Africa. Founded in November 2021, Creditchek has developed an easy-to-use web app and API that leverages machine learning to turn raw data from multiple…
- Nigerian customer engagement startup Termii has raised US$3.65 million in funding to further its expansion efforts, particularly in Francophone Africa. Founded by Emmanuel Gbolade and Tayo Awe in 2017, Termii helps businesses with their customer retention with affordable tools to personalise their…
- Venture for Africa, a talent community and leading source for top tech startup hires on the continent, has opened applications for its second bootcamp offering. Venture for Africa is a community created to enable top global talent to transition into roles within the African tech startup ecosystem…
- Having a clear investment thesis, picking strong teams with large addressable markets, and spreading risk effectively are key aspects towards building a successful venture capital fund portfolio, say leading African tech investors. For the latest episode of Disrupt Podcast’s “The month in VC”…
