- Planet42, a South African auto subscription company that purchases used vehicles from car dealerships and rents them to consumers on a subscription basis, has raised $100 million in debt and equity. This latest round of funding includes a mix of equity, a credit line, and debt. With a $15 million…
- Vexi, the Mexican neo bank has raised an $8M round, led by Magma Partners. Previous investors Alpha4Ventures, Noa Capital, and Pomona Impact also participated in the round, along with new investors Redwood Ventures and U.S.-based Rebalance Capital. These funds follow the US$24M round that included…
- QUASH.ai raised $3.7M in a seed round led by HTwenty, G2 Momentum, and Q Capital Venture Capital. Other angel investors, including Barak Kaufman from Insight Partners and Alex Porto from Riverwood Capital, also participated in the round. QUASH.ai’s platform, powered by artificial intelligence,…
- Zurich-based UNISERS, a developer of wafer inspection and particle detection solutions for semiconductor materials, announced that it has secured approximately €13M in a Seed round of funding led by Intel Capital. Participating investors include M Ventures, RSBG Ventures, and Swisscom Ventures. The…
- Faroe Islands-based Ocean Rainforest, a seaweed cultivation and processing company, announced that it has raised approximately €5.8M funding in a Series A round of funding, led by The Grantham Foundation. Katapult Ocean’s Deep Blue fund, Builders Vision, and the Ocean Born Foundation invested along…
- London-based Dronamics, a freight drone airline with a European operating authorisation, announced that it has raised $40M in a pre-Series A round of funding. The investment came from Founders Factory, Speedinvest, Eleven Capital, and the Strategic Development Fund (SDF), the financial arm of the…
- Susan Wojcicki, who has served as CEO of YouTube for the past nine years, has decided to step down from her position. She wrote on her blog that she had “chosen to start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.” Wojcicki explained that she felt…
- Jumba, a Kenyan marketplace for construction materials, has completed a $4.5 million seed funding round. The seed funding comes a year after the company’s initial $1 million in pre-seed funding. LocalGlobe led the funding round, and Enza Capital joined it along with other investors like…
- RNR, a South African breakdown management startup, has raised US$555,000) to assist its growth and African expansion. RNR is a breakdown management firm with technology that mobilizes a network of nationwide providers to service whole fleets at the push of a button. RNR, which stands for “Right…
- Smile Identity, an Africa-focused firm, has secured a US$20 million Series B fundraising round to aid in its expansion throughout the continent. Costanoa and Norrsken22 served as the round’s lead investors, and 500 Fintech, Commerce Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Two Culture Capital, Valuestream…
- Curacel, an AI-powered platform for claims processing and fraud management in Africa, was founded in Nigeria and has raised US$3 million in seed funding to launch new products and support its growth in North Africa. Y Combinator, Tencent, AAF Management, Elefund, Blue Point Capital Partners,…
- Naked, a South African insurance technology startup powered by artificial intelligence (AI), has raised US$17 million in Series B funding to fuel its expansion. The German Development Finance Institution (DEG) and Naked’s original investors, Yellowwoods and Hollard, are also participating in the…
- The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) has ordered all of the country’s banks to cease “all crypto-related activity until a regulatory framework has been put in place.” The NBR’s acting governor, Soraya Hakuziyaremye, defended the organization’s activities in a letter sent to managing directors and…
- Terraa, based in Morocco and provides B2B tech-enabled food delivery, has successfully raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding. FoodLabs, a European early-stage VC investor and venture studio for food, sustainability, and health, took the lead in the funding round. UM6P Ventures, Outlierz…
- Sendmarc, a leading provider of email and domain security based in South Africa, has secured a US$7 million Series A funding round. Allan Gray E-Squared Ventures, Fireball Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, 4Di Capital, Kalon Venture Partners, Endeavor Harvest, and Alpha Private Capital joined Atlantica…
- Pade HCM, a human resources technology business in Nigeria, has closed a US$500,000 pre-seed funding round to help it expand its operations. Zrosk IML, Zedcrest Capital, Microtraction, Expert Dojo, and Resilient 17 are among the international network of investors who contributed to the funding…
- The Ethiopian government has been planning to sell off 40% of its holdings in Ethio-Telecom, a state-owned telecom company, since 2021. In public records, the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance lauded Ethio-near-monopoly Telecoms in Ethiopia’s telecommunications market. The company’s outstanding…
- CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated on Instagram that Meta is launching Meta Verified, a new paid subscription service for verification. Instagram and Facebook users on Meta’s platforms can now submit their government ID for a blue verification badge for $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month on…
- Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), the largest innovation hub in Africa, is creating a $15 million accelerator program that will be known as The Edtech Fellowship Program. The goal of this program is to back and support 72 startups based in Nigeria and Kenya over the next three years. The accelerator…
- Bolt, a ride-hailing service, plans to invest $530 million in its African operations over the next two years. This expansion would allow the firm to hire and train over 300,000 new drivers and couriers by 2023. “During the past seven years, we have created a solid team of 500 individuals in Africa…
- The Rice Business Plan Competition 2023 for Student Entrepreneurs, which offers student entrepreneurs practical experience and financial rewards, is now accepting applications. The tournament, which is organized by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, has grown over the past 20…
- BuuPass a B2B2C full-stack marketplace has raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding to enable operators with a bus management system (BMS) to manage their operations, inventory, and sales. Founders Factory Africa, FrontEnd Ventures, Adaverse, Gullit, Five35, Renew Capital, Changecom, XA Network,…
- Qotto, a company that sells solar kits and has operations in Burkina Faso and Benin, has secured $8 million in a Series A equity-debt round. In addition to the Off-Grid Energy Access Fund (FEI-OGEF), Cordaid, and Qotto’s current investors, the IBL group led the round. Qotto was established in…
- After a two-year suspension, Meta Platforms has reinstated former US President Donald Trump’s access to Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta spokesperson Andy Stone. After determining that Trump’s accounts posed a significant risk of further inciting violence following the tragic Capitol Hill…
- Chari, a business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce startup based in Morocco that offers embedded financing for the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, has just raised $1 million. The additional US$1 million in funding was provided by Orange Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of…
- Yodawy, an Egyptian digital healthcare startup, has raised US$16 million in the first close of its Series B funding. The company has pioneered a pharmacy benefit management platform in the MENA market by combining technology, experienced pharmacists, and cutting-edge logistics. Delivery Hero…
- Huawei Technologies Co chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, daughter of company founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei, is expected to take her turn as “rotating chairwoman” in the company from April, according to local media reports, signaling that a succession plan looks to be in place at the…
- Germany-based APK, a company that specializes in a unique solvent-based recycling technology for low-density polyethylene (LDPE), announced that it has raised nearly €130M in a fresh round of funding. The investment came from London-based LyondellBasell, a global leader in the chemical industry,…
- Netherlands-based Solarix, a startup that designs and supplies innovative coloured solar panels for facades, announced that it has secured €900K investment from ROM InWest, the regional development agency in North Holland, The Netherlands. ROM InWest manages two funds – the SME Fund of €60M and the…
- Zurich-based Nanoflex Robotics, a company that provides advanced medical robotic interventions for treating ischemic stroke, announced that it has raised over €11.23M in a Series A round of funding. The medtech startup says it will use the funds to roll out its first-generation system to market and…
- Utrecht-based Red Kubes, the creator of Kubernetes production-ready platform Otomi, announced that it has secured €1.1M in a Seed extension round of funding from VC firm Capital Mills. The Dutch company says it will use the funds to accelerate sales and marketing efforts as well as the overall…
- Geneva-based Taurus, a company developing market infrastructure for digital assets, announced that it has secured approximately €60.4M in a Series B round of funding led by Credit Suisse. Deutsche Bank, Pictet Group, Cedar Mundi Ventures, and Series A investors Arab Bank Switzerland and Investis,…
- Paris-based Defthedge, an application addressed to business leaders and CFOs facing the volatility of the foreign exchange market, announced that it has raised €900K in its ‘second’ round of funding. The investment was finalized with business angels from corporate finance, banking, energy, and…
- Latvia-based Trace.Space, a SaaS startup building AI-powered tools for engineering product development, announced that it has raised €1.3M in a Pre-Seed round of funding led by Fiedler Capital. Nebular, Tiny VC, Foreword VC, Microsoft’s former GM Charlie Songhurst, and Change Ventures also…
- The rapid evolution of technology in the present day enables quicker and more efficient change and innovation, hence accelerating the pace of development. Business leaders ought to start realizing that to continue being successful and relevant in the marketplace, they need to have an understanding…
- The global VC firm Partech, which manages multiple funds, has announced that the first closure of Partech Africa II has reached a total of 245 million euros, making it the most successful and largest Africa-focused fund to date. According to managing partners Tidjane Deme and Cyril Collon, the…
- GlossAi, creators of an AI-driven video generator that allows organizations to rapidly create multi-audience content at scale using generative AI capabilities has announced a successful $8 million seed round. Led by New Era Capital Partners with participation by Guidestar ventures, 97212 Ventures,…
- Gameball, the all-in-one customer intelligence and marketing CRM platform for consumer brands, has announced the completion of a $3.5 million funding to accelerate its international expansion. A roster of global investors joined the company’s seed round including 500 Global; Africa-focused funds…
- Lulalend, a South African fintech startup, has raised US$35 million in Series B funding to expand its digital lending platform for underserved SMEs. The international impact investor Lightrock led the investment round, which included previous investors International Finance Corporation (IFC) and…
- The three-year GrindstoneX accelerator program, which seeks to empower female entrepreneurs while generating jobs, has selected ten South African startups. Grindstone, founded in 2014 and owned jointly by Knife Capital and Thinkroom, provides support to high-growth, innovation-driven companies in…
- SunFi, a clean technology startup in Nigeria, has raised $2.33 million from a variety of investors, including Factor[e] in Nairobi, SCM Capital Asset Management, Voltron Capital, Norrsken Impact Accelerator, Ventures Platform, and Sovereign Capital. SunFi is an energy financial technology platform…
- The inaugural ARM Labs Lagos Techstars accelerator, which offers access to up to US$120,000 in equity capital and other sorts of support, has selected twelve African tech startups. The first edition of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars accelerator will last for three months. The initial batch, which is…
- Over 80% of crops require insect pollination, but growers can no longer rely on the dwindling wild bee population. But it’s a complex problem. Pollinating crops with honey bees can pose a threat to indigenous wild bees who are forced to compete with honey bees for food and are then exposed to new…
- Paris-based Ever Dye, a deep-tech startup, announced that it has raised €3.4M in a Seed round of funding. The startup creates a chemical method for textile dyeing factories to color fibers quickly, efficiently, and without the use of petrochemicals. The round was led by Maki.vc, an investment fund…
- Amsterdam-based Vipper, a B2B2C mobility platform that provides interlining and multimodal door-to-door travel services, announced that it has raised €2M in a fresh round of funding. Vipper.com is an all-in-one travel booking platform that allows users to browse and book international tickets from…
- London-based Ziflow, a SaaS company that provides creative review and online proofing solutions for agencies and brands, announced that it has raised approximately €18.56M in a Series A round of funding. The round was led by US-based Riverside Acceleration Capital (RAC) and Companyon Ventures.…
- Sweden-based Modvion, a company developing modular designs in renewable engineered wood to simplify and improve construction logistics, announced that it has raised approximately €10.98M in funding. The investment came from global wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, Almi Invest Greentech, the…
- Madrid-based Webel, an on-demand home services marketplace, announced that it has raised €550K in Simple Agreement for Future Equity in a funding round led by Trind Ventures. Tiburon (a super angel fund from Daniel Wild and Felix Artmann) and business angels such as Hugo Arévalo (founder of…
- Amsterdam-based Aiir Innovations, a provider of AI-based software solutions for aircraft engine inspection, announced that it has raised €2.1M in an oversubscribed funding round. Aiir Innovations says it will use the funds to grow its remote-first team and expand globally, and set a new standard…
- Freightify a freight rate management platform is solving the complex challenges facing freight forwarders and helping them to do more business faster at lower costs. Freightify announced a $12M debt & equity Series A funding round to help power the digital transformation of Freight forwarders…
