The African startup ecosystem continues its impressive momentum as the first month of the year rounds up. Eight startup companies across the continent announced substantial funding rounds over the course of the week, bringing the total deals registered in the month to twenty-five. Additionally, two companies that raised funds recently have begun implementing their expansion plans as they moved to acquire other companies. Let’s delve into the funding and acquisition details below:
Funding Round-up
Kapu
Funding Round: Pre-Series A (Undisclosed amount)
Investors: Blackwood, Giant Ventures, Firstminute Capital, and Norrsken VC
Founded: 2022, Kenya
Founders: Sam Chappatte, Stanislas Barth and Meera Dhanani,
About the Company:
Kapu is a B2C e-commerce startup operating a digital platform designed to give consumers easier access to essential goods. The company uses a social commerce model which leverages local agents and small-format stores to reduce the cost of everyday products, allowing households across Kenya to get their day-to-day items at more affordable prices.
What’s Next?:
With the new capital infusion from its investors, Kapu plans to scale its operations, enhance its technology infrastructure, and expand its reach to more regions within Kenya with the ultimate goal of lowering the cost of living for many.
Enko Education
Funding Round: $24 million
Investors: Capitalworks and Adiwale Fund I
Founded: 2013, Cameroon
Founders: Cyrille Nkontchou and Eric Pignot
About the Company:
Enko Education is a network of African international schools dedicated to increasing access to high-quality education. With 16 schools across 10 countries offering globally recognized programs, Enko develops and offers innovative educational programs to prepare students for admission into the world’s leading universities.
What’s Next?:
Having already educated over 7000 students with more than 1700 graduates, Enko Education intends to utilize the substantial investment to expand its network of schools across Africa and enhance its educational programs to provide more students with the opportunity to pursue international qualifications.
Insight Terra
Funding Round: Series A ($5.7 million)
Investors: E3 Capital, Fireball Capital, Atlantic Bridge, Globalive, and JLR Star
Founded: 2021, South Africa
Founders: Adrian Sussmann and Peter Jardine
About the Company:
Insight Terra is a climate-tech startup specializing in environmental risk monitoring and management solutions. The company’s Insight Platform is an Internet of Things data management Software-as-a-service solution which integrates real-time data analytics, to monitor and mitigate environmental risks. Among its many applications, the platform is designed to help in managing geotechnical risks in the mining and infrastructure sectors.
What’s Next?:
The Series A funding will support Insight Terra in scaling its AI-powered platform for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and managing geotechnical risks, to help companies address growing regulatory and investor demands.
Hamilton
Funding Round: Pre-seed ($1.7 million)
Investors: Disruptech Ventures, CMS, DeSpread, Hyperithm, and Core Ventures
Founded: 2024, Egypt
Founders: Mohamed El Kastawy and Ehab Zaghloul
About the Company:
Hamilton is an Egyptian blockchain and crypto startup designing solutions to promote blockchain adoption in the MENA region. The company has developed a protocol that leverages the Bitcoin network to tokenise real-world assets, allowing users to create digital certificates for their physical assets and keep/trade them on the blockchain network.
What’s Next?:
Hamilton plans to utilize the funding to further develop its digital infrastructuree, improve regulatory compliance, and drive its innovative solutions across several markets. The company’s goal is to improve financial accessibility and stability in regions like Africa, Latin America, and Asia by increasing blockchain adoption.
Accrue
Funding Round: Seed ($1.58 million)
Investors: Lattice Fund, Maven 11, Lava, Kraynos Capital, and Distributed Capital
Founded: 2021, Nigeria
Founders: Adesuwa Omoruyi and Clinton Mbah
About the Company:
Originally a crypto investment service producer, Accrue has expanded its solutions and grown into a full-fledged fintech startup offering full-stack payment solution to customers. Specifically, the company operates Cashramp, a versatile cross-border payment platform that simplifies global transactions for users.
What’s Next?:
With over 200,000 users on a robust software being administered by a lean team of 18 employees, the company plans to use the seed funding to expand its team, as well as scale the platform to support a larger user base in new markets.
Fincart
Funding Round: Pre-seed (Undisclosed amount)
Investors: Plus VC, Plug and Play, Orbit Startups, and Jedar Capital
Founded: 2023, Egypt
Founders: Mostafa Elmasry and Nihal Ali
About the Company:
Fincart operates fincart.io an Egyptian e-commerce logistics platform designed to streamline logistics and shipping options for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform provides SMEs with integrated multi-courier shipping services, seamless last-mile delivery and access to capital to cover their logistics needs. Essentially, the platform aims to address logistical challenges faced by SMEs in Egypt.
What’s Next?:
With the new funding, Fincart.io aims to develop its technology infrastructure, expand its courier network, and grow its presence within the e-commerce market in MENA.
Pula
Funding Round: Grant ($10.4 million)
Investors: Bayer Foundation
Founded: 2015, Kenya
Founders: Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru
About the Company:
Pula is an agricultural insurance and technology company that provides innovative insurance solutions to smallholder farmers. Combining data and technology, Pula has developed a scalable agricultural insurance solution that helps farmers protect themselves against production risks associated with climate change and other uncertainties.
What’s Next?:
The partnership with Bayer Foundation will enable Pula to expand access to its climate risk insurance options, reaching more farmers across Africa, and developing new products to support the farmers. The company’s goal is to empower smallholder farmers across Africa to contribute more to global food security.
NjiaPay
Funding Round: Pre-seed ($1 million)
Investors: HAVAÍC, founders of Anyfin, Banxware, and Maxidrive
Founded: 2023, Kenya
Founders: Jonatan Allback
About the Company:
NjiaPay is a Payment-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider that helps businesses integrate seamless payment solutions into their platforms, offering a unified checkout experience. The company offers a centralized merchant portal that leverages intelligent routing and AI technology to optimize payment transactions on its clients’ digital stores, enabling shoppers to enjoy frictionless transactions.
What’s Next?:
With its services currently available only in Kenya and Nigeria, the company plans to use the new funding to expand its team and enhance its technology infrastructure, accommodating more businesses looking to streamline their payment processes.
Acquisitions Roundup
Lemfi Acquires Bureau Buttercrane to Strengthen European Operations
Nigerian fintech Lemfi (formerly Lemon Finance) has completed the acquisition of Bureau Buttercrane, an Irish currency exchange platform, marking a key milestone following its $53 million Series B funding round. Lemfi, which provides cross-border payment solutions for immigrants, operates across 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
This acquisition secures Lemfi an Irish financial license, adding to its UK license obtained through its 2021 acquisition of RightCard. The deal, approved by the Central Bank of Ireland, is a strategic move to ensure regulatory compliance in Europe post-Brexit, granting Lemfi the freedom to operate across the European Economic Area (EEA).
Unlike many fintech acquisitions driven by technology or profitability, this deal prioritizes market access and licensing, solidifying Lemfi’s position in the European remittance market.
Moove Acquires Kovi in Bid to Expand Across Latin America
Nigerian mobility fintech Moove, known for providing vehicle financing for ride-hailing and delivery drivers, has acquired Kovi, a Brazilian urban mobility provider, in an all-share transaction.
This move supports Moove’s expansion into Brazil and other South American markets, where Kovi has built a strong presence. By integrating Kovi’s operations, Moove aims to strengthen its regional footprint and increase its annual revenue.
The deal is still pending approval from Brazil’s antitrust authority, but if finalized, it will allow Moove to scale its financial services across Latin America, enabling more drivers to access affordable vehicle financing solutions.
Stitch Acquires ExiPay to Expand into In-Person Payments
South African fintech Stitch, recognized for its enterprise payment infrastructure, has acquired ExiPay as part of its efforts to scale its product offerings and enable in-person payments.
While Stitch has traditionally focused on online payment solutions, this acquisition allows the company to offer a unified payment platform supporting both online and in-store transactions. Due to this deal, enterprise merchants using ExiPay, including clients like Bash / The Foschini Group will now transition to Stitch’s expanded infrastructure.
According to Stitch’s co-founder and president, Junaid Dadan, this acquisition is a major step toward providing businesses with a seamless, reliable, and flexible payment experience, ensuring that customers can make payments effortlessly, whether shopping online or in physical stores.
Although the financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, it positions Stitch as a more competitive player in Africa’s evolving payments landscape.
