Issue #81: Revio gets $5.2 million in funding, Root raises $1.5 Million, while SunCulture secures in debt funding

October 2, 2023

3 min read

The African startup ecosystem had a calmer pace of events last week as we only recorded five funding deals, two of whose details are not yet public information. The three other deals featured Revio raising $5.2 Million in Seed funding, Root also secured an additional $1.5 Million from Invenfin while SunCulture got a Debt financing of $12 Million.

Funding

Revio

Funding round: Seed ($5.2 Million)

Investors: Speedinvest, Ralicap, Everywhere Ventures, QED Investors, Partech

Founded: 2020, South Africa

Founders: Ruaan Botha

Products: Revio operates an Africa-focused payment orchestration API which streamlines order-to-cash lifecycles for businesses. The API gives businesses access to over 70 payment methods and service providers, facilitating transaction routing, automated failover, and real-time customer engagement workflows.

What Next?: Revio intends to use the funding to double down on its efforts in addressing the fragmented payment landscape in Africa, unlocking new opportunities and expanding its customer base.

Root

Funding round: ($1.5 Million)

Investors: Invenfin

Founded: 2016, South Africa

Founders: Louw Hopley

Products: Root operates a cloud-based, end-to-end insurance API infrastructure that helps companies build, sell and manage digital insurance products in Africa and Europe.

What Next?: Fuelled by the financing, Root seeks to capitalize on the evolving global insurance landscape by expanding into the United Kingdom and the broader European market.

SunCulture

Funding round: Debt ($12 Million)

Investors: Nithio, Mirova SunFunder, Triodos Investment Management

Founded: 2012, Kenya

Founders: Samir Ibrahim

Products: SunCulture develops and maintains Internet of Things-enabled solar energy systems and irrigation equipment, as well as other productive agricultural tools and resources.

What Next?: The funding provides the necessary backing for SunCulture to deepen its footprint within Kenya, providing improved solutions for Agri-producers in the country while also expanding its customer base, with a particular emphasis on aiding smallholder farmers.

Ampersand

Funding round: Undisclosed

Investors: Beyond Capital Ventures

Founded: 2019, Rwanda

Founders: Josh Whale

Products: Ampersand develops electric motorcycles and transport energy solutions. The company operates a fleet of unique electric motorcycles and battery swap stations, managed through a user-friendly app and software backend.

What Next?: The funding will be used to support Ampersand’s mission to provide clean and affordable mobility solutions across East Africa.

Arnio

Funding round: Pre-Seed (Undisclosed)

Investors: Eero Invest, Cozbaz Co

Founded: 2019, Ivory Coast

Founders: Jean Hontinfinde

Products: Arnio specializes in design engineering. The company develops electric vehicles and charging station technology with the aim of setting a new standard for intelligent electric mobility and fostering the adoption of more sustainable transportation in Africa.

What Next?: The company will use the funds raised for the final stages of development and testing for its electric vehicles and charging stations. Additionally, a portion of the funding will go into expanding its engineering team.

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