Deal-Street Africa [November 22-26]: 3 Acquisitions; Fifteen Startups Funded

Here is a recap of last week’s notable deals on the African continent, Fintechs lead with 33.3% of last week’s total funding deals

South Africa’s VoxCroft Analytics Raises USD 2 Mn Series A Funding

VoxCroft Analytics, an open-source intelligence company, raised close to USD 2 Mn in Series A funding from Knife Capital, a South African venture capital company specialized in helping brands build a global presence. The company plans to use the funding to expedite its already-rapid expansion in the United States and other international markets.

Salpha Energy Nigeria Secures USD 1 Mn To Scale Operations

Salpha Energy Nigeria received a USD 1 Mn investment from All On, a Shell-backed impact investment firm, to help scale the company’s solar home systems distribution business. The investment will go into increasing Salpha’s inventory and product range, expanding sales channels and customer service infrastructure, and testing more flexible pricing models to sustainably manage rural customers in states across Nigeria including in Niger Delta.

Blockchain Startup NFTfi Raises USD 5 Mn Seed Round To Expand

NFTfi, a blockchain startup, raised USD 5 Mn in a seed round to continue pioneering the financialization of NFTs. The round was headed by 1kx, with participation from Sound Ventures, Maven 11, Scalar Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and others. NFTfi intends to use the new funding to expand its workforce, introduce new product features, expand the platform to other blockchains, invest in its community, and fund its decentralization.

Egyptian Startup Tyro Acquires Edtech Platform Nafham

Egyptian startup Tyro, an ed-tech platform connecting students with qualified instructors through one-to-one and group sessions, acquired Nafham, a social startup that offers free crowd-sourced educational content, under a share-swap agreement. The acquisition agreement sees Tyro’s leadership taking over Nafham’s management and operations, with the aim of enhancing the customer experience of Nafham’s six million users. Tyro will be the overall holding company and will continue to deliver live tutoring services as well as extend technology capabilities to the group. Tyro has also secured funding for the new entity from several investors including, Flat6Labs and NXL Partners.

Nigerian Startup Identitypass Secures USD 360 K pre-Seed Funding

Nigerian digital compliance and security company Identitypass raised USD 360 K in pre-seed funding to help it acquire more customers, further develop its product and expand its team.  Investors in the round included CcHub, Midlothian Angel Network, D Global Ventures Fund, and other angel Investors.  

Egyptian Edtech Startup Career 180 Secures USD 200 K Funding

Career 180, a Cairo-based edtech platform, raised USD 200 K from EdVentures to enhance its services and reach for users. The startup plans to merge that platform with its Freelance Yard offering to create an integrated platform that provides employment and qualifying services to youth covering all job types.

Nigerian Startup Mecho Autotech Secures Funding

Mecho Autotech, an on-demand auto repair and maintenance platform for individuals and businesses, secured an undisclosed amount of funding from VC firm Ingressive Capital as it bids to improve the quality and reliability of auto care services. Tekedia Capital Investment and Mono’s CEO Abdul Hassan also participated in the round. The investment will help introduce the startup to large organizations and fast-track its growth.

Mobility Startup Treepz Raises Closes Seed Round, Acquires Uganda’s Ugabus

Treepz, a Nigerian shared mobility startup, closed out its seed round at USD 2.8 Mn and expanded to Uganda with the acquisition of bus company, Ugabus. The startup raised a further USD 1.6 Mn in funding, closing its seed round at USD 2.8 Mn. The additional funding comes from Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa, Japanese VC firm Uncovered Fund, and Dubai-based VCs including, Blanford Capital and Jonomi Capital. Egypt-based fund Jedar Capital also participated in the round with follow-on investments from previous investors.

Nigerian Fintech Startup Kippa Secures USD 3.2 Mn Funding

Kippa, a Nigerian business accounting startup, secured USD 3.2 Mn in pre-seed funding in a bid to improve the lifespan of small businesses in Nigeria with its finance management app. The funding round was led by Berlin-based VC Target Global, and other participating VCs like Entrée Capital, Alter Global, and Rally Cap Ventures. A number of prominent angel investors also participated in the round, including Sriram Krishnan, Raffael Johnen, Babs Ogundeyi, Chris Bouwer, Kyane Kassiri, Edward Suh, and Sajid Rahman.

South African Fintech startup Ozow Raises USD 48 Mn Series B Round

Ozow, a South African fintech company, raised a USD 48 Mn Series B funding round to help it further develop its product offering and expand into new markets. The round was led by Tencent, and also included Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor Harvest Fund. 

Nigerian Logistics-tech Company T40 Secures Investment

T40, a Nigerian intercity transport, and logistics tech startup received an undisclosed amount of funding from GreenTec Capital Partners, a Berlin-based venture capital firm.

Egyptian Fintech Hollydesk Raises USD 325 K pre-Seed Round

Cairo-based fintech Hollydesk closed a USD 325 K pre-seed investment round from angel investor Faisal Abdel Salam and other investors. The newly acquired funding will support Hollydesk’s expansion plans into other countries in the region.

Nigerian Fintech Startup Busha Raises USD 4.2 Mn Funding

Busha, a Nigeria-based digital platform that helps people buy, sell and store cryptocurrency, has raised seed funding of USD 4.2 Mn in a round led by Jump Capital. Cadenza Ventures, Blockwall Capital, CMT Digital, Greenhouse Capital, Raba Capital, and other investors also participated in the round. The new funding will go towards deepening its market positioning in Nigeria, the leading crypto economy in Africa.

Sierra Leone’s Logistics Startup Fleeti Secures USD 1.1 Mn Seed Funding

Fleeti, a start-up specializing in fleet management in Africa, raised USD 1.1 Mn from Newfund, Groupe Clim, Janngo, SkalePark, Mapinvest, and business angels. The funding will allow the company to speed up the technological development of its solutions and expand its reach into new markets.

Kenyan Fintech Asilimia Raises USD 2 Mn Funding To Expand

Asilimia, a Kenyan-based fintech startup building the digital infrastructure to connect African MSMEs to the formal financial economy, secured USD 2 Mn to grow its team, deliver new services, and expand into new markets in East Africa. The startup raised USD 1 Mn in pre-seed funding from a wide range of investors, including, Fredrik Jung Abbou, Norrsken Impact Accelerator, and other prominent founders from across Europe. It also raised USD 1 Mn in a debt round that included Bpifrance and GreenTec Capital Partners. The pre-seed funding will support team growth and expansion while debt funding will enable Asilimia to extend credit to MSMEs, providing much-needed financing to help them scale their businesses.

Fundi Acquires South African Edtech Company EduOne

Fundi, an education finance and education fund management solution specialist, acquired EduOne, a South African edtech startup.