This week, we saw fresh funding flow into energy, fintech, and climate tech startups across Africa, as investor confidence remains strong. Nigeria’s Arnergy secured a $15M Series B to scale clean energy solutions, while Vove ID and Octavia Carbon closed undisclosed rounds to drive innovation in digital identity and carbon removal tech.

Meanwhile, Twiga Foods made headlines with the acquisition of three FMCG distributors, despite swirling rumours of internal restructuring. And in Egypt, Development Partners International (DPI) took over Nclude, signalling the birth of DPI Venture Capital, a new force in early-stage tech investing across the continent.

Plus, we’ve rounded up some great funding opportunities you don’t want to miss!

Vove ID

Funding Round: Undisclosed

Investors: The Baobab Network

Founders: Khalid Aoussar, Tarik, and Youssef

Founded: 2024, Morocco

About Company

Vove ID is a digital solutions provider developing advanced identity verification and customer identification systems. The company has developed an innovative “Verify Once, Use Everywhere” model, which is aimed at enabling users to use a single verified digital identity across multiple platforms. The company’s approach is aimed at streamlining onboarding processes and reducing the time and effort customers need to put into registration. 

The company’s solution supports features such as biometric authentication and automated document checks.

What Next?

Vove ID plans to expand its products throughout the MENA region, and this funding will go into actualising that plan. Now that it’s also a member of the Baobab Network’s accelerator program, it’ll leverage the strategic mentorship and other opportunities to better position itself in the ecosystem.

Arnergy

Funding Round: Series B ($15 Million)

Investors: CardinalStone Capital Advisers, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, British International Investment, Norfund, EDFI MC, and All On

Founders: Femi Adeyemo

Founded: 2013, Nigeria

About Company

Arnergy provides sustainable energy solutions intended to deliver clean and reliable energy for homes and businesses. It operates a lease-to-own model wherein customers can obtain the solar systems and lock into a fixed monthly payment arrangement until they’re able to purchase the system. The company’s solutions are aimed at tackling the worsening grid reliability and skyrocketing fuel prices, making energy access more expensive for Nigerians. 

What Next?

The new funding will fuel the company’s goal of developing and rolling out at least 12,000 solar energy systems by 2029

Octavia Carbon

Funding Round: Undisclosed

Investors: Carbon Drawdown Initiative

Founded:  2022, Kenya

Founders: Martin Freimüller

About Company: 

Octavia Carbon is a pioneer in direct air capture (DAC) technology in Africa. The company builds systems that extract carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere, which can then be sold as carbon credits to businesses looking to offset their emissions. The company aims to harness natural resources to permanently remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

What Next?

The funding will contribute to Octavia Carbon’s efforts to scale its Project Hummingbird pilot plant and roll out next-generation, lower-cost DAC technology.

Acquisitions

DPI Completes Acquisition of Egypt’s Fintech Fund Nclude

Development Partners International (DPI), the UK-based Africa-focused private equity firm, has acquired Nclude, the Egyptian fintech fund managed by Global Ventures.

Founded in 2022, Nclude closed $110M in funding that same year and has since invested $28M in 9 promising startups—including Paymob, Khazna, and Partment.

DPI has been making bold moves in Egypt, with nearly $850M invested over the past decade. Its portfolio includes local heavyweights like MNT Halan and Kayzon, and it has also backed continent-wide success stories like Nigeria’s unicorn, Moniepoint. 

Now, DPI is taking things further with the launch of DPI Venture Capital, a new platform targeting early-stage, growth-focused tech startups across Africa.

Twiga Foods Acquires Three FMCG Distributors

Kenyan Agritech giant, Twiga Foods, has announced its acquisition of majority stakes in three local fast-moving consumer goods distributors: Sojpar, Jumra, and Raison. The move comes as the company ramp up efforts to accelerate its transition into a full-service FMCG platform.

While the details of the acquisitions weren’t disclosed, the company confirmed that it had obtained controlling interests in the three companies in an effort to strengthen its procurement capabilities and widen its national footprint across the Western, Central, and Coastal regions of Kenya.

Interestingly, these acquisitions are seen by many as an unexpected but bold move by the company, considering that there have been swirling speculations of concealed liquidation and leadership turmoil, with some publications claiming that the company is actively engineering a soft liquidation strategy and restructuring the brand into a newly incorporated entity referred to as NewCo.

Funding Opportunities

Direct investor funding isn’t the only way startups can raise capital for their businesses. And to assist startup founders who may be seeking alternative funding avenues, we’ve put together some funding opportunities for grabs.

FINCA Ventures Prize: $400,000 Up for Grabs

Submit your applications to stand a chance at Finca Ventures’ second annual prize competition. This initiative seeks to reward six early-stage startup companies with outstanding solutions related to Climate-smart agriculture and financial technology.

Application Deadline: April 30, 2025

Village Capital’s Greentech Africa Accelerator

The Greentech Accelerator program, launched by the environment and social impact-focused Village Capital, is aimed at supporting 10-15 early-stage companies across Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, and Senegal. 

The accelerator program targets companies offering tech-enabled solutions addressing climate change. The primary eligibility criteria are an MVP and prior capital of less than $1 million

Application Deadline: May 9, 2025

Savant Pre-Seed and Seed Fund (South Africa)

South African incubator, Savant, is accepting applications for its two funding tracks for startups. Eligible startups will receive either a pre-seed funding of up to R800,000 ($43,000) or seed funding of up to R1.2 million ($65,000) 

GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize: $160,000 in Awards

The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize is a competition aimed at identifying and rewarding the top youth-led startups in the agri-food business sector. 

The competition offers a $50,000 winning prize each to the top male and female finalists as well as $60,000 in impact awards for excellence in areas like climate resilience, food security, and gender equity.

Application Deadline: June 10, 2025

Techstars Opens Fall 2025 Applications

Techstars has opened applications for its Fall 2025 programs. This accelerator program seeks to support innovative founders and their ventures with pre-seed investment, usually $20,000, targeted mentorship, educational content, and access to Techsters’ alumni network.

Application deadline: June 11, 2025.