We recorded a number of funding deals across the African startup ecosystem since the beginning of the year, with the largest being Jetstream’s $13M Pre-Series A deal. Notably, BioNTech also recently acquired Tunisian AI startup InstaDeep in a deal worth $684 million, making it Africa’s biggest exit till date.
Our H2 2022 Funding Review is now available; click this link for insights from funding data collected from across the entire African startup landscape in the second half of 2022. According to the report, the Fintech, Logistics, and E-commerce sectors received the most funding, accounting for 28.5%, 18.8%, and 13.3% of the total $1.25B raised by African startups in H2 2022.
Read the H2 2022 Funding Review here.
Pre-Series A
Jetstream Africa, a logistics platform based in Ghana, has raised $13 million in pre-Series A funding through a combination of debt and equity. Proparco, ASC VC, Octerra, Cauris, Wuri Ventures, Seed9, The MBA Fund, W Fund, and project44 are among the new investors. Existing investors Alitheia IDF and Golden Palm joined the round as well.
Jetstream, founded in 2018 by Miishe Addy, Racquel Micenheimer Wilson, and Solomon Torgbor, enables businesses to quickly book and monitor door-to-door logistics, financing, insurance, and other trade support services online.
The new funds will enable the company to broaden its reach and improve its service offerings, which vertically aggregate various logistics and financing vendors.
Releaf, a Nigerian agtech startup, has raised $3.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Samurai Incubate Africa. Stephen Pagliuca and Jeff Ubben also participated in the round.
Ikenna Nzewi and Uzoma Ayogu founded Releaf in 2017 to develop technology that enables decentralized purchasing and processing of raw crops to improve profitability and prevent post-harvest loss for a more climate-resilient future.
The new investments will be used to launch two new technologies: Kraken II, a portable version of the company’s award-winning palm nut desheller, and SITE, a geospatial mapping application that informs the most profitable positioning of food processing assets.
Gebeya, an Ethiopian freelance talent marketplace has secured an undisclosed pre-Series A equity investment from Inclusion Japan (ICJ).
Gebeya, founded in 2016 by Amadou Daffe and Hiruy Amanuel, connects startups, SMEs, and multinational corporations in more than 30 African countries with vetted, skilled talent and professional services.
Gebeya will use the investment to transition from a single two-sided tech talent marketplace to a marketplace provider using a Marketplace-as-a-Service model.
Debt financing
KarmSolar, an Egyptian cleantech, has received $3 million (EGP83 million) in debt financing from HSBC.
KarmSolar, founded in 2011 by Ahmed Zahran, Xavier Auclair, Yumna Madi, and Randa Fahmy, provides renewable energy to several sectors in Egypt as part of its goal to expand the private clean energy market.
The new investment will be used to fund the development of the company’s Farafra Solar Grid, its second grid solution after the Marsa Alam Solar Grid in Egypt.
Others
Millesima Technologies, a Tunisian private video streaming startup, has received $480,000 (DT1.5 million) in funding from BH Equity, BH BANK’s venture capital investment subsidiary.
Millesima Technologies, founded in 2021 by Haythem Dridi, focuses on video technology and data analytics. It provides a complete solution that allows users to create customisable in-person, hybrid, and fully virtual events to ensure high audience engagement.
This investment round’s proceeds will go toward the launch of the MYVIOO platform.
Mahaseel Masr, an Egypt-based agtech, has raised funding from Emirates International Investment Company (EIIC).
Mohamed Abdel Rahman founded the startup in 2020, which provides a B2B marketplace for fresh produce, connecting farmers and growers to global buyers.
The new capital will be used to accelerate the deployment of its e-commerce platform, as well as to improve its product offering and supply chain operations.
Acquisition
InstaDeep, a Tunisian AI startup, has been acquired by the German biotech company BioNTech SE in a deal worth up to $684 million to its shareholders.
InstaDeep, founded in 2014 by Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim, uses deep reinforcement learning and other advanced machine learning techniques to create AI-powered decision-making systems that aid in the optimization of processes in real-world industrial environments.
Our H2 2022 Funding Review is now available; click this link for insights from funding data collected from across the entire African startup landscape in the second half of 2022. According to the report, the Fintech, Logistics, and E-commerce sectors received the most funding, accounting for 28.5%, 18.8%, and 13.3% of the total $1.25B raised by African startups in H2 2022.
