To wrap up this month, we recorded some fundraising and acquisitions announcements that we found this week. We also included highlights of exciting news around Africa’s tech and startup ecosystem.
If you missed it, here are the highlights:
- Cartona raised a $12 million Series A funding round
- The Fashion Kingdom (TFK) raised $2.6 million in seed funding
- Qwili raised a $1.2 million seed funding round
- Michanic raised $400,000 in debt financing from MultiChoice Innovation Fund
Funding
Cartona, an Egyptian B2B e-commerce marketplace that connects buyers and sellers along the supply chain, raised $12 million in Series A funding led by Silicon Badia. Other investors participating in the round include SANAD Fund for MSME, an impact investment fund for the Middle East and North Africa, Arab Bank Accelerator, Sunny Side Ventures, Global Ventures and Kepple Ventures.
The Fashion Kingdom (TFK), an Egyptian e-commerce marketplace for fashion, beauty and home accessories items, raised $2.6 million in seed funding led by CVentures, A15, and Helios Investment Partners subsidiary, TPay.
Ubenwa, a healthtech startup that develops AI-powered software for the early identification of neurological and respiratory conditions in infants using their cry sounds, raised a $2.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Radical Ventures. Other investors participating in the round include AIX ventures, Pieter Abbeel, Richard Socher, Yoshua Bengio, Marc Bellemare, and Hugo Larochelle.
Qwili, a South African startup pioneering digital inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa by removing the barriers to smartphone and mobile internet access for sellers of these digital services, raised a $1.2 million seed funding round led by E4E Africa. Other investors participating in the round include Strat-Tech, Next Chymia, Untapped Global, Codec Ventures, Ashwin Ravichandran and Kanyi Maqubela.
Hashgreed, a Nigerian multi-purpose dApp platform for files, agreements, and email certification along with NFT marketplace and DeFi solutions, raised $1 million in funding for NFT and asset tokenisation expansion in Africa.
Debt Financing
Michanic, a South African mobile car service and repair platform, secured US$400,000 in debt financing from the MultiChoice Innovation Fund.
Acquisitions
Venture Capital
🤑 Seedstars announced the first close of its $30 million emerging market seed-stage fund
AUS Highlights
🚀 Nigerian Mobility Fintech Moove Makes Indian Expansion
🆕 CBK Governor Says Flutterwave is Not Licensed To Operate In Kenya
⚡ MAX partners with Yamaha to expand operations across the continent
✨ Creative Dock acquires FoundersLane, plans to invest €100 million in Mena startups – Wamda
👀 Kenya’s Central Bank says Flutterwave and Chipper Cash are unlicensed | TechCabal
📝 Safaricom’s zero-interest financing product fails to take off, here’s why
🤗 Spacefinish selected to design and build Twitter head office in Ghana
👩💻 Kodris launches M-Pesa mini-app to help Kenyans purchase coding lessons
💸 IFC’s Investment in Private Sector Development in Africa Hits a Record $9.4 Billion
📜 Nigeria Startup Bill passed by House of Reps | TechCabal
⚙ Technology sector players targets to upskill 1,000 people in new Digital Talent Program – Netick
👏 Nigerian logistics provider Kwik launches ecommerce platform, KwikStore
🏆 Treepz Emerges GSA Award Winner For Best Industrial Tech Company In Africa
🥳 SA agri-tech startup Aerobotics launches new platform for growers – Disrupt Africa
🔎 Meta faces pressure from rights groups to stop gagging Daniel Motaung — Quartz Africa
💪 Techstars CEO Maëlle Gavet outlines the accelerator’s newest program in Africa | TechCrunch
Opportunities
🎯 African Startup? Apply For Uncap’s Early-Stage Capital
🏫 Applications open for 2nd edition of DMZ Cairo incubator – Disrupt Africa
👩⚕️ Female-Led Health Tech Startups in Ghana
🩸 Digital Square Opens Application For African Digital Health Entrepreneurs
👨💻 African Developer? Apply For Huawei Competition ($230k)
💪 FSI to hold Financial Inclusion for All Hackathon
And it is wrapped for this month! Subscribe to our newsletter and share this with your friends.
Have a great weekend!
