South African Startup Qwili Raises USD 1.2 Mn Seed Round

Hybrid hardware-software company Qwili, based in Cape Town, has raised USD 1.2 Mn in an oversubscribed seed funding round to help launch its low-cost NFC-enabled smartphone. The funding round was led by E4E Africa, an entrepreneur-centric VC firm, and also involved Strat-Tech, Next Chymia, and Untapped Global alongside other funds and angel investors.  

Qwili is a hybrid hardware-software product consisting of an NFC-enabled smartphone and a digital sales ecosystem. Its software turns users’ phones into point-of-sale devices, enabling them to sell value-added services such as data, electricity, pay-TV subscriptions, groceries, clothing, and much more to their friends and communities. The investment will be used for app development, new hires, and hardware production.