Deal-Street Africa [October 11-15]: Tala Raises USD 145 Mn Series E Funding

Nigerian Fintech Startup Mono Raises USD 15 Mn Series A Round

Mono, a Nigerian fintech startup building open banking infrastructure that allows digital businesses in Africa access to customer financial data and bank payments, announced a USD 15 Mn Series A funding round led by Tiger Global to help it accelerate its continental expansion goals.

Tunisian Mobility Startup Lamma Raises Funding From Orange Ventures

Lamma, a Tunisian last-mile delivery startup, received an undisclosed amount of funding from Orange Ventures. Lamma intends to use this new investment to expand internationally, starting in Morocco, and to open three more dark stores by the end of the year.

Fawry Invests In Sudan-based Classifieds Marketplace Alsoug.com

Fawry, one of Egypt’s leading providers of e-payments solutions and digital banking services, acquired a minority stake in the Sudan-based classifieds marketplace Alsoug.com after investing in the company’s recent USD 5 Mn round, marking its first foray outside of its home market. AlSoug is the first-ever Sudanese startup to have raised a VC round.

Kenyan Tech Startup Sanergy Secures USD 2.5 Mn Funding

Sanergy, a tech-enabled startup and the owner of the Fresh Life toilets franchise received USD 2.5 Mn funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Sanergy plans to expand its reach into additional African and Southeast Asian cities with the new investment.

Africa50 Launches Fund To Catalyze Investment Flows In Africa

Africa50, an investment bank for infrastructure in Africa, launched Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, a new fund aimed at catalyzing further investment flows into African infrastructure. The Fund is the product of Africa50’s long-term effort to raise more cash to help bridge Africa’s infrastructure financing gap. The Fund intends to invest in power, transport, ICT, midstream gas, health, and education sectors.

South Africa’s DigsConnect Secures USD 200 K Grant

DigsConnect, a South African student housing marketplace, secured a ZAR3 million (USD 200 K) grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to help university students from low-income backgrounds secure safe and affordable accommodation.

Gaming Platform GBarena Raises Six-Figure pre-Series A Funding

GBarena, a Cairo-based gaming and tournament platform, secured a six-figure pre-Series A funding round led by angel investors Ahmed Aboudoma, Kushal Shah, and the HIM Angels network. GBarena will use the new funds to develop and generate new services, such as a digital store integrated with a unique GBarena coin currency that will allow gamers to purchase in-game items directly from the platform.

Eden Life Raises USD 1.4 Mn Seed Round To Scale

Eden Life, an African home services app, completed a USD 1.4 Mn seed round led by UK-based LocalGlobe. Other investors in the round included, Future Africa, Samurai Incubate, Village Global, Rising Tide Africa, and Enza Capital. The company plans to use the new capital to build Eden Life’s in-house technology, and develop world-class kitchens and operations hubs. 

South African Edtech Startup d6 Secures Funding To Expand

d6, a South African school management, and communications startup, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from  Knife Capital, Hlayisani Capital, and NuState Ventures to help it with further international expansion.

Egyptian B2B Marketplace Talabeyah Raises pre-Seed Funding

Talabeyah, a Cairo-based B2B food and beverage platform, raised a seven-figure pre-seed round from strategic angel investors. The new funding will allow Talabeyah to scale its operations by developing its technology and leverage the use of AI and machine learning algorithms to enhance the user experience of its platform.

Digital Lender Tala Raises USD 145 Mn Series E Funding For Expansion

Tala, an emerging markets digital lender, raised USD 145 Mn in a Series E funding led by Upstart. Other investors in the round included Stellar Enterprise Foundation, a DeFi network, and new investors J. Safra Group and Kindred Ventures. Existing investors IVP, Lowercase Capital, and Revolution Growth also joined the round. Tala plans to use the new investment to facilitate geographic expansion and grow its team across the four markets that it is currently serving and the United States.

Nigerian Wi-Fi Sharing Startup Wicrypt Raises USD 1.5 Mn Funding

Wicrypt, a Nigerian blockchain-based Wi-Fi sharing startup, raised USD 1.5 Mn 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.

Nigerian Retail-tech Startup Alerzo Acquires Fintech Shago Payments

Alerzo, a Nigerian retail-tech startup, acquired Shago Payments, a fintech company, to expand on its growth. With Shago’s integration into AlerzoPay, the company’s payments arm, Alerzo now provides informal retail stores with a portfolio of new digital services such as mobile airtime top-up, bill payments, and peer-to-peer transfers.