This week saw eight funding deals, three of which were pre-seed rounds. This week’s rounds were also diverse, including startups from the Big Four (Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria), Rwanda, Algeria, and Morocco.
Let’s get right into it!
Funding
Pre-Seed
Eden Care, a licensed digital insurer based in Rwanda, has completed a pre-seed funding round led by DOB Equity, Seedstars International, Norrsken Foundation, and Bathurst Capital.
Launched in 2021 by Moses Mukundi, Eden Care uses technology and data science to create a digital-first insurance solution that assists members in navigating the healthcare system with ease.
With this investment, the digital health insurer plans to offer free telemedicine to its members later this year, cutting administration costs by half and allowing it to provide more value to a member’s health than incumbent brokers.
Contro, a South African telehealth startup, has announced the completion of its oversubscribed pre-seed funding round, which raised a total of R10.1 million ($580,000) from Plug & Play, iCubed Capital, WZ Capital, and the Jozi Angels Network.
Launched in June 2021 by Alex Schmid, Contro provides six services in the area of sexual health and confidence building, including birth control subscriptions, erectile dysfunction treatment, and hair loss treatment, as well as one-time treatment for STIs, Thrush, and UTIs.
Contro will use this funding to develop its platform, expand its services, and grow its team, with the goal of facilitating targeted growth across South Africa.
CutStruct Technology, a Nigerian startup, has raised a US$600,000 pre-seed funding round led by Zedcrest Capital, DFS Lab, and LoftyInc Capital, with angel investors including Kola Aina, Founding Partner of Ventures Platform, taking part.
Founded in 2019 by John Oamen and Tayo Odunsi, CutStruct has developed LiveVend, a construction procurement platform that allows buyers such as contractors and real estate developers to work with vetted vendors while also utilizing other services such as trade credit, goods-in-transit insurance, and transportation.
The funds raised will be used to aid in the development and scaling of LiveVend, the company’s B2B construction procurement product.
Seed
Brotinni, an Egyptian foodtech startup, has raised $600,000 in a seed round led by Innlife investments.
Founded in 2020 by Dalia Abou Omar, Brotinni provides a platform for customers to order meat and poultry for same-day delivery. It recently introduced the concept of “dark butchers,” which serve as fulfillment centers for its e-commerce platform.
The startup intends to use the funds raised to grow its network of dark butchers, expand its logistics team, and invest in technology.
Series B
Yassir, a super app based in Algeria, has raised $150 million in Series B funding led by BOND, with participation from DN Capital, Dorsal Capital, Quiet Capital, Spike Ventures, and Y Combinator, among others.
Founded in 2017 by Noureddine Tayebi and El Mahdi Yettou, Yassir is a super app that offers a variety of services to its users, including ridesharing, food and grocery delivery, and financial services. It is now present in six countries and 45 cities around the world.
The company intends to expand its presence in the region with this latest round of funding.
Others
WafR, a Moroccan fintech startup, has raised $120,000 in funding from First Circle Capital, bringing the company’s post-funding valuation to more than $10 million.
Founded by Ismail Bargach and Reda Sallak in 2018, Wafr digitizes cashback and in-store rewards, allowing FMCG companies and retailers to increase customer loyalty.
With the recent fundraise, WafR will be able to expand its network of clients and FMCG brands.
Blnk, an Egyptian fintech, has raised $23.7 million in equity and debt funding, as well as $8.3 million in securitized bond issuance.
Emirates International Investment Company and Sawari Ventures led the combined pre-seed and seed funding rounds of $12.5 million. A number of local banks provided the $11.2 million in debt financing. The National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire underwrote the $8.3 million securitised bond issuance.
Founded in 2021 by Amr Sultan and Tarek Elsheikh, Blnk has created a digital lending platform that enables merchants of all sizes to instantly underwrite and finance their customers’ purchases at the point of sale, with payments spread out over six to 36 months.
The funds will be used to support Blnk’s development of AI-powered lending infrastructure as well as the financing of the company’s customer portfolio.
Sendy, a Kenyan logistics startup, has received undisclosed funding from Japanese venture capital firm MOL PLUS.
Founded in 2014 by Don Okoth, Evanson Biwott, Malaika Judd, Meshack Alloys,Sendy makes it simple for businesses of all sizes to move goods, with thousands of businesses using its platforms and APIs to sell and deliver goods to customers.
Sendy will be able to expand its services in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire as a result of this investment.
Venture Fund
Quona Capital, an emerging markets venture capital firm, has announced the final close of its Fund III at $332 million, far exceeding its target of $250 million.
Quona Capital was founded in 2015 by co-founding managing partners Monica Brand Engel, Jonathan Whittle, and Ganesh Rengaswamy as an independent venture capital firm.
The firm focuses its investments on innovative technology firms that are increasing access to financial services for underserved consumers and businesses in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
AU-Startups Highlights
Amazon Web Services picks Lagos for its second African office
Development Bank of Ethiopia Launches New $75.5M Startup Fund
9 African start-ups picked for new Startup Wise Guys cohort
Egypt’s Lucky fintech strikes it lucky with 10m users
Challenger Bank Kuda makes UK Expansion with its Remittance Product
Dutch Fintech Yabx enters Nigeria market, plans to democratize Credit Access
Interesting Read
Tracking Egypt’s Swvl Long After Its SPAC Outing: Three Hard Lessons For African Startups
Events, Opportunities and Jobs
And that’s a wrap for this week. Please help grow our readership by sharing this newsletter issue with your friends and colleagues at work.
