Ecosystem Insider

Issue #74: Moove Secures $76 Million in Mixed Debt and Equity Funding, Talents Arena Raises $750,000 for Expansion

August 14, 2023

The past week brought a flurry of activity within the African startup ecosystem, marked by nearly ten funding agreements. The mobility sector took the spotlight with Moove securing a substantial $76 million in a blend of equity and debt, complemented by Spiro’s $60 million debt financing. Adding to the momentum, Saviu Ventures stood out by spearheading two pre-seed funding rounds in Ivory Coast.

Funding

*Tajiri***

Funding round: Pre-Seed ($250,000)

Investors: Saviu Ventures

Founded: 2023, Ivory Coast

Founders: Alex Degny, Serge Theophile Kokoua

Product: Tajiri enables restaurant owners and staff to efficiently track sales and monitor essential business data, streamlining daily operations and improving decision-making processes.

What next?: The injected capital will be pivotal in advancing Tajiri’s vision, primarily focusing on enhancing the mobile application, strengthening the sales team, and improving the restaurant acquisition strategy.

Djoli

Funding round: Pre-Seed ($250,000)

Investors: Saviu Ventures

Founded: 2023, Ivory Coast

Founders: Thomas Giannetti, Stane Blegbo

Product: Djoli streamlines the supply chain, minimizing intermediaries between producers and restaurateurs, ensuring prompt, high-quality produce delivery at competitive prices, benefiting all stakeholders.

What next?: The funding will empower Djoli to acquire new customers, expand geographically, develop technology, and recruit top talent.

Talents Arena

Funding round: Pre-Seed ($750,000)

Investors: UI Investments and others

Founded: 2019, Egypt

Founders: Aya Elgebeely

Product: Talents Arena employs an AI-driven hiring engine that fully automates the recruitment life cycle, disrupting traditional practices by expediting time-to-hire, enhancing job matching, and empowering organizations to optimize their hiring processes and meet KPIs.

What next?: The new funds will drive the company’s expansion into Saudi Arabia and the GCC region.

Veggie Victory

Funding round: Seed (Unknown)

Investors: Value Create Inc.

Founded: 2013, Nigeria

Founders: Hakeem Adeyanju, Bola Adeyanju

Product: VeggieVictory stands as Nigeria’s pioneering plant-based food tech company, offering plant-based meats and meals to promote a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle.

What next?: With this investment, the startup seeks to diversify its product range and expand its footprint not only in Nigeria but also across multiple African countries.

Buguard

Funding round: Seed ($500,000)

Investors: A15 (Lead)

Founded: 2021, Egypt

Founders: Youssef Mohamed

Product: Buguard provides offensive security services, such as penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, phishing simulation, compromise assessment, threat intelligence, and red teaming. It also monitors the dark web, hacking forums, underground channels, and private clouds to identify and mitigate breaches across various platforms.

What next?: The investment aims to support Buguard’s expansion in the GCC region and enhance its offensive security services against dark web cyber attacks.

Spiro

Funding round: Debt ($60M)

Investors: Société Générale, GuarantCo

Founded: 2019, Benin

Product: Spiro serves as a sustainable transportation provider in Africa, offering “mobility as a service” through innovative systems that enhance earning potential via productive asset ownership.

What next?: The funding is expected to support the acquisition of more electric motorcycles via a structured payment approach, facilitating the entry of new entrepreneurs into this mobility-focused venture.

Moove Africa

Funding round: Mix of equity & debt ($76 million)

Investors: Mubadala Investment Company, BlackRock

Founded: 2019, Nigeria

Founders: Jide Odunsi, Ladi Delano

Product: Moove integrates its innovative credit-scoring technology into ride-hailing and e-logistics platforms, enabling mobility entrepreneurs to access personalized performance and revenue insights for loan underwriting. Their approach involves providing loans to customers through vehicle sales and financing up to 95 percent of the purchase within just five days of enrollment.

What next?: The funding will support their mission to create a leading tech-driven financial services platform for mobility entrepreneurs and enhance their global presence.

FinMeUp

Funding round: Undisclosed

Investors: SAAD, Blu Sky Investments

Founded: 2019, South Africa

Founders: Higgo Biljon

Product: FinMeUp provides a diverse array of solutions, including education, financial advice, investment, insurance, and credit services. Operating as a community-oriented platform, the startup focuses on creating a collaborative space for individuals to learn, interact, and develop collectively.

What next?: A notable portion of the funding will be directed towards the creation and introduction of innovative products, including the upcoming SnapMillion and Snap200 offerings.

Luxury Time

Funding round: Undisclosed

Investors: Fledge Capital

Founded: 2009, South Africa

Founders: Adriaan Rootman

Product: Luxury Time is an e-commerce platform specializing in the sale of premium pre-owned authentic watches and accessories. The company is renowned for its offerings of pre-owned watches from esteemed brands like Rolex, Omega, and Cartier.

What next?: The company aims to broaden its inventory, strengthen its online presence, and enhance its customer service capabilities.