This Week in African Tech 🌍

Moniepoint is Africa’s 8th unicorn 🦄

November 03, 2024

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Tech Roundup

  • Techstars Lagos has officially closed after two years and 24 investments. The 24 founders and their companies will remain in the Techstars portfolio and continue to receive support from the global network.

  • Ahmad Farroukh is joining Globacom as its new CEO, marking the first leadership change since Mike Adenuga launched the company on August 29, 2003. Farroukh is a former CEO of MTN Nigeria.

  • Bamboo, a Y Combinator-backed investment app that lets Africans trade in the global stock market, is expanding to Canada after getting a Money Service Business (MSB) license. Bamboo has also launched a remittance app called ‘Coins by Bamboo’ for fee-free money transfers from the diaspora to Africa.

  • Egyptian health-tech Vezeeta has launched "Vezeeta Lab" to expand its services and create new healthcare and fintech solutions in the Middle East and Africa.

  • Kenya's Sistema.bio has acquired Inclusive Energy, a digital platform for monitoring solar and biogas systems, just weeks after raising $15 million to expand clean energy technology in Africa.

  • Kenyan ed-tech startup Eneza Education has partnered with Pakistan's Knowledge Platform to create a new ed-tech company based in Singapore. The venture will improve access to quality education for over a million learners in emerging markets.

  • Google has added 15 more African languages to Voice Search, making it easier for users to type with their voice on Gboard and use voice input on Translate. According to Google, this update helps connect 300 million people in Africa as more come online for the first time.

  • Vesti, an AI-powered neobank and visa service for immigrants, plans to preorder 100 Tesla Robotaxis. This will offer convenient pick-up and drop-off services in major cities, helping immigrants settle smoothly into new environments.

  • Gebeya, a Pan-African talent cloud technology company, has partnered with NVIDIA to create an ecosystem of 50,000 NVIDIA-certified developers across Africa.

  • Kuda Bank, Moniepoint, OPay, and Palmpay are expanding their compliance and fraud monitoring teams in response to the Nigerian central bank’s customer onboarding ban. The fintechs are also improving transaction monitoring, customer management, and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes.

  • Wasoko and MaxAB have appointed Mo Elshenawy as an independent board director and technical advisor. Elshenawy, who is the president and CTO of Cruise, will focus on bumping up the companies' technology infrastructure and advancing their AI tools to boost business capabilities.

Deal Roundup

  • Moniepoint has achieved unicorn status after raising $110 million in a Series C funding round led by Development Partners International. The company will use the funds to expand throughout Africa, starting in Kenya, where it is close to acquiring KopoKopo.

  • BURN, a Kenyan clean-tech startup, has raised $15 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB). This funding will help BURN expand its ECOA Electric Induction Cooker distribution in East Africa and offer affordable payment plans for households.

  • Janngo Capital has closed its oversubscribed fund at $78 million, exceeding its initial target of $63 million by 20%. Janngo Capital is now the biggest venture capital firm in Africa focused on supporting gender equality.

  • Nigeria has received a $1,704,864 grant from Google to support AI talent development as part of Google's $5.8 million commitment to enhancing digital skills across Sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Morocco is investing $36 million to turn Rabat into a regional gaming hub. This new zone will focus on game development, coding, and professional training while providing resources and support for local gaming startups.

  • Oyster Agribusiness, a Ghanaian agri-tech startup, has secured $2 million in a funding round led by Pangea Africa Limited. This investment will help expand operations, support more farmers, and boost climate-smart agriculture in Ghana.

  • Telecom Egypt has secured a $370 million loan to improve its financial flexibility and cash flow. The loan involves 13 banks, with Commercial International Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr serving as lead arrangers and bookrunners, along with the National Bank of Egypt.

  • Still in Egypt, Deloitte has launched its first Innovation Hub with a $30 million investment over three years. This center will export digital services, offering clients in Europe and the region AI, data analytics, marketing, cloud services, cybersecurity, and enterprise resource management.

  • And finally, Tagmarshal, a golf management startup, has raised a multi-million dollar Series A funding round. The company was founded in South Africa but moved to the United States, where it is now a leader in on-course optimization technology.

 Events and Opportunities

  • The Africa Digital Finance Summit (ADFS) is happening in South Africa from November 20th to 23rd, 2024. The summit will gather governments, central banks, and fintech leaders to discuss the future of finance on the continent. Sign up here to learn more.

And that's a wrap!

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