- MAKA, a Nigerian social commerce startup that makes discovering and purchasing fashion items relatively easy and enjoyable, has raised a US$2.65 million pre-seed round of funding to help it scale. With additional support from Palm Drive Capital, 4DX Ventures and Janngo co-led the funding round.…
- Adobe and Figma, a cloud-based design tool, have announced that they will cancel their $20 billion merger due to regulatory constraints. “There is no clear path to receive necessary regulatory approvals from the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority,” a joint statement…
- Launched in collaboration with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the GSMA has announced the launching of its newest GSMA Innovation Fund to address critical humanitarian issues. The GSMA has awarded more than GBP5 million (US$6.3 million) to startups, SMEs, and social…
- E4E Africa, a venture capital firm based in South Africa, has announced the first closing of its US$30 million E4E Africa fund II. E4E Africa’s second fund has reached its first close, with a target size of US$30 million. The business announced that it is “actively attracting interest” from new…
- 12 startups will join Techstars’ pan-African accelerator programme in the second cohort, which runs in conjunction with ARM Labs, an innovation programme based in Lagos. The inaugural programme of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator was a smashing success, and the programme will continue to…
- TUNL, a South African parcel shipping platform, has received $1 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Founders Factory Africa, Digital Africa Ventures, E4E Africa, and Jozi Angels. The company was created in 2022 by CEO Matthew Davey and COO Craig Lowman. Davey was motivated to start…
- WIC Capital, a Senegalese and Ivory Coast-based local capital provider that focuses on financing women-owned and operated micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), has received a US$1 million loan from the FSDAi Nyala Facility BV to enhance its impact on the economy. FSD Africa Investments (…
- Bujeti, a Nigerian startup that offers a comprehensive platform for managing expenses and creating budgets, has secured $2 million in seed funding. Leading the fundraising round was YC, with participation from backers including Alan Rutledge, Tristan Walker, Heirloom VC, Abdul “Tomiwa” Hassan,…
- Tappi, a Kenyan startup that provides a chat tool that generates a webpage automatically, received US$1.5 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round of funding. With participation from Digital Currency Group, SOSV, Resilience17, growX ventures, Orbit Startups, and Reflect Ventures, the funding…
- BasiGo, a Kenyan startup that provides electric bus solutions, has received a US$5 million debt facility from British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development financing institution, for the delivery of 100 locally made electric buses. Accelerating climate innovation in developing…
- Mtor, an Egyptian online marketplace for auto parts, has received $2.8 million in pre-seed funding to enable the digitalization of local automobile workshops and the expansion of its product range. Algebra Ventures led the funding round, which also included the Dutch Founders Fund (DFF), Aditum…
- Amini, a Nairobi-based climate-tech startup focusing on bridging Africa’s environmental data gap with artificial intelligence and satellite technology, has raised $4 million in seed funding to drive its expansion into new markets. Salesforce Ventures, the investment arm of Salesforce, and Female…
- The iPhone has a pretty fascinating history! It all started in 2007 when Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, unveiled the first iPhone. It was a revolutionary device that combined a phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator all in one. The original iPhone had a 3.5-inch display, a 2-megapixel camera…
- WayUp Sports, an online retailer specializing in performance-oriented sports equipment in Egypt, has raised seed funding to support its regional expansion, the introduction of a private brand, and the improvement of user experience across its website and application. Index Sports Fund, Beltone…
- Aduna Capital, an African venture capital firm, has opened a $20 million fund with an emphasis on investing in the startup ecosystem in Northern Nigeria. Aduna Capital’s General Partner Surayyah Ahmad, who co-manages the fund alongside Sanusi Ismaila, expressed excitement about the effort and…
- Chari, a Morocco-based B2B e-commerce startup with embedded financing for the FMCG sector, has received funding from UM6P Ventures, the investment fund of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. The investment fund of Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique (UM6P), UM6P Ventures, seeks to advance…
- HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA) is a hybrid pan-African e-health accelerator program that is now accepting applications. The program provides entrepreneurs with a platform to build long-lasting enterprises and significant health impact. With a physical co-working location in Kigali, Rwanda, HealthTech…
- Pricepally, a Nigerian e-commerce platform for fresh and packaged foods has raised US$1.3 million in seed funding to help it scale. Investors in the seed funding round included Chui Ventures, Hi2 Global, SOSV, ELEA, Samurai Incubate, and David Mureithi, the former MD of Unilever West Africa. …
- According to the announcement from the two companies, Amazon will start selling Hyundai cars online in the United States in 2024. The deal builds on an earlier announcement made two years ago to extend Hyundai’s digital showroom on Amazon.com, where buyers can personalize a car, find out the…
- Shekel Mobility, a B2B mobility startup based in Nigeria, has successfully raised $7 million in funding. Ventures Platform and MaC Ventures were the primary investors in this round of funding. The funding consists of more than $4 million in debt and $3.2 million in equity. Among the other equity…
- Pineapple, a South African insurtech startup, has announced the close of a Series B funding round of ZAR400 million (US$21.3 million), led by new investors Futuregrowth, Talent10, and MIC. Additional investment support has been provided to the business by its current investors, which include Old…
- AKHDAR, an Egyptian Edtech startup, has received six-figure US dollar funding from Saudi Arabia-based venture studio ”Value Maker Studio (VMS)” to expand its operation in the Kingdom. AKHDAR, an innovative edtech company, provides a one-of-a-kind service in the form of Arabic audiobook summaries…
- StarNews Mobile, Africa’s top mobile video network, based in Ivory Coast, has raised $3 million in funding from investors including three French professional players. Janngo Capital led the funding round, which also included French football stars Aurelien Tchouameni, Jules Kounde, and Mike Maignan…
- JOBJACK, a South African recruiting startup, has raised ZAR45 million (US$2.5 million) in pre-Series A funding to help it change the narrative of entry-level recruitment in the country. NEXT176 led the funding round, which also included the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Christiaan van den…
- The first unicorn and fastest-growing fintech company in Egypt, MNT-Halan, revealed that it has closed five tranches of securitized bond issuances through its wholly-owned subsidiaries in consumer finance and microfinance in 2023 thus far. This latest investment through CI Capital follows four…
- AFEX, a Nigeria-based commodities platform, has received $26.5 million in capital from British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor. AFEX is a commercial platform that facilitates effective commodity trade in Africa. Through its three…
- Norrsken22, based in Kigali, has raised US$205 million, exceeding its goal of US$200 million, to close its first African tech growth fund. One of the founders of the Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna, Niklas Adalberth established Norrsken in 2016 with the intention of assisting entrepreneurs in their…
- Novastar Ventures, a pan-African VC firm, has raised $80 million from Japan’s SBI Holdings. Together, Novastar and SBI Holdings will work to get Japanese institutional investors to make matching commitments to the firm’s funds. To help further develop the Novastar platform, SBI Holdings has…
- Elon Musk launched an AI bot Grok to compete with ChatGPT, stating the prototype is already more advanced than ChatGPT 3.5. Musk’s xAI startup has released its first product, termed Grok, and is currently undergoing beta testing with a select set of users. According to the company website, Grok…
- Elon Musk launched an AI bot Grok to compete with ChatGPT, stating the prototype is already more advanced than ChatGPT 3.5. Musk’s xAI startup has released its first product, termed Grok, and is currently undergoing beta testing with a select set of users. According to the company website, Grok…
- Inclusivity Solutions, a South African insurtech startup, has secured a US$1.5 million Series A extension round to fund its plans for pan-African expansion. The funding round was led by impact investing firm Goodwell Investments, which has supported Inclusivity Solutions in its last two rounds of…
- Meta is launching a new subscription plan in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland to accommodate the region’s continually evolving regulatory framework. Meta will provide Facebook and Instagram users in these regions the option to use the services for free…
- Almouneer, a pioneering digital transformation platform that is redefining healthcare for physicians and patients throughout the Middle East and Africa (MEA), has announced that it has raised US$3.6 million for its seed round of funding. The Bridge Fund, Wrightwood Investments, the family office…
- My Easy Transfer, a fintech company based in Tunisia, has secured a $423,000 investment from 216 Capital. 216 Capital has invested 400,000 euros in the Franco-Tunisian business My Easy Transfer, which enables safe money transfers from the diaspora, as part of its commitment to supporting value-…
- BluePeak Private Capital, an alternative asset manager firm that helps expand rapidly expanding businesses in Africa with the help of privately negotiated and structured debt-like instruments, has closed its first private capital fund at a total of US$156 million. The African Development Bank (…
- Maisha Meds, a pioneering digital health organization in Africa, received US$5.25 million in scale-up stage 3 funding from USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV). Over the course of three years, Maisha Meds will use the US$5.25 million in funding from DIV to support its expansion efforts.…
- The Global Startup Awards Africa (GSA) Africa, in collaboration with the Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), the Ethiopian Ministry of Labour and Skills (MOLS), the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MInT) with the support of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI)…
- Formerly known as Twitter, social media company X has introduced two new subscription plans, one of which is a Premium+ tier for those who are ready to pay to remove ads from their feed. According to a post made by the company on the platform, the Premium+ plan, which costs roughly $16 a month, has…
- According to a slide released in a federal antitrust trial against Google, the corporation paid $26.3 billion in 2021 to be the default search engine on mobile phones as well as web browsers. This figure provides a more precise estimate of how much Google pays companies like Apple to use its search…
- Supporting companies from seed to Series A, the THRIVE Global Accelerator program is a 12-week award-winning program that helps businesses get ready for growth and scale. The THRIVE Global Accelerator supports businesses along the whole agrifood value chain, with a particular focus on those using…
- OBM Education, an Egyptian ed-tech startup, has announced a substantial six-figure funding round to increase its market share in Saudi Arabia. Value Maker Studio (VMS) has contributed six figures to the current funding round, which has made it possible for the round to take place. OBM Education…
- Due to its continuous austerity effort and a resurgence in digital advertising investment in anticipation of the holiday season, Meta’s third-quarter profit and sales surpassed projections. In addition to reporting its highest operating margins in the past two years, Meta the company that owns…
- Following a three-day selection event attended by approximately 40 mentors, investors, partners, and industry experts, ten startups have now been chosen to participate in the fourth edition of the Startupbootcamp AfriTech’s ASIP Accelerator. They will now take part in the three-month program, where…
- Husk Power Systems, a clean technology firm based in the United States, has successfully completed its Series D funding round, raising a total of $103 million. This includes $43 million in equity financing and $60 million in debt financing. The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC…
- COVA Africa, an insurtech dedicated to French-speaking Africa, has won the sixth edition of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa. From October 16 to 20, 2023, representatives of ten African fintechs traveled to Togo in Lomé to take part in the latest edition of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa, an accelerator…
- Brazilian maritime tech company, TideWise, raised a $1.9M round led by MSW Capital through the MSW MultiCorp2 fund. TideWise invested $5.9M in research and development, resulting in the creation of Brazil’s first registered unmanned vessel, the USV Tupan, which has provided services to prominent…
- Lyon-based Mon Petit Placement, a fintech company that claims to simplify the investment experience by making it accessible to everyone, announced that it has secured €6.5M in a fresh round of funding. The company aims to become the key player in accessible savings in France (and beyond). The…
- Denmark-based Creative Force, an end-to-end creative operations workflow platform, announced that it has raised $8.9M in a Series A round of funding, bringing the company’s total funding to $17.9M. The investment comes from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) and Hearst Ventures, the…
- Stockholm-based Ankra, a cloud infrastructure automation platform, announced that it has raised €1.1M in a pre-seed funding round led by UK-based B2B investor Superseed, alongside industry-leading angel investors. Ankra says it will use fresh capital for the development of its platform to…
- According to a company regulatory filing, Microsoft has completed the $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. It’s the biggest acquisition Microsoft has ever made, and it comes after the corporation addressed regulators’ concerns about competition in the U.K. and Europe…
