This week’s African startup ecosystem news features funding announcements from three startup companies. Egyptian payment solutions provider, Paymob, raised $22 million in its Series B extension round. South African communications solutions provider, Talk360, secured $1.4 million in pre-series A funding. Elsewhere, Nigerian pharmaceutical supply chain company, Field Intelligence, secures an $11 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Funding
Paymob
Funding round: Series B ($22 Million)
Investors: EBRD Venture Capital. Endeavor Catalyst, PayPal Ventures, BII, FMO, A15, Nclude, and Helios Digital Ventures.
Founded: 2015, Egypt
Founders: Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj and Mostafa El Menessy,
Products: Paymob offers a comprehensive suite of payment solutions designed to facilitate seamless transactions for businesses across various channels. Their services include a payment gateway for online transactions, POS systems for in-store payments, and in-app payment integration for mobile applications. Additionally, they provide merchant services with features like fraud detection and transaction analytics, as well as tools for managing recurring payments.
What Next?: Fuelled by the funding, Paymob aims to streamline payment processes further, enhance security, and support a wide range of industries in the MENA region.
Talk360
Funding round: Pre-Series A ($1.4 Million)
Investors: HAVAIC, 4Di Capital, E4EAfrica, Kalon Venture Partners, Brooklyn Ventures and Allan Gray
Founded: 2016, South Africa
Founders: Hans Osnabrugge, Dean Hiine
Products: Talk360 provides a global communication platform that enables affordable international calls from mobile phones and computers. Their services include a VoIP calling app that offers high-quality, cost-effective voice calls to landlines and mobile numbers worldwide.
What Next?: The company plans to invest the funding into expanding its in-house payments platform to external companies across the continent.
Field Intelligence
Funding round: Grant ($11 Million)
Investors: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Founded: 2015, Nigeria
Founders: Michael Moreland
Products: Field is a pharmaceutical supply-chain technology and service company. They leverage digital technology to provide seamless supply chain solutions for pharmaceutical products, helping customers easily access pharmaceutical and care products
What Next?: Fuelled by the funding, the company has launched its route-to-market service designed to address critical healthcare challenges in Africa such as maternal mortality, infant health, and nutrition.
Opportunities
NEF Africa Energy Innovation Challenge 2024 ($10,000 prize)
Round 2 Partners for Going Beyond Project 2024 (USD 40,000 and 120,000 Grant)
