We had a major upturn of events over the last week on the African funding scenes with capital flowing across multiple fronts. The funding rounds featured startups building financial access, clean energy, and enterprise software. Most notably, Kuunda, Chari, and Nanovate secured major rounds while Adenia Partners expanded its insurance footprint and FUNGUO grew its innovation fund. The week’s activities are a practical showcase of the industry’s resilience in the face of disappointing developments.
FUNDING
Ades
Funding Round: CFA 350 million (≈US$620,000) equity
Investor(s): CDC-CI Capital
Founded in: Côte d’Ivoire (2019)
About Company
Ades is the company behind uMED, a telemedicine platform that combines remote consultations, connected imaging, and home-based care for individuals and corporate clients. uMED links on-demand medical visits, telemonitoring and diagnostic services to improve access outside major urban centres. Since it commenced operations in 2019, the company has delivered more than 6,000 home-care treatments and serves over 50 corporate occupational-health accounts.
What’s Next
CDC-CI Capital’s funding will go into Ades’ effort to modernise biomedical and imaging equipment, expand mobile care with ambulances and motorbikes, and upgrade its technical and logistics facilities. The capital will also support wider partnerships with private clinics and help the company to scale capacity for corporate occupational health and household services across Côte d’Ivoire, strengthening the local e-health ecosystem.
Kuunda
Funding Round: $7.5 million (pre-Series A)
Investor(s): Portugal Gateway Fund, Seedstars Africa Ventures, 4Di Capital, Accion Ventures, Nedbank, E4E Africa
Founder(s): Andy Milne, Sam Brawerman, Morne van der Westhuizen
Founded in: Tanzania (2018)
About Company
Kuunda runs an API-driven embedded finance platform that supplies working capital to partners across e-commerce, point-of-sale and mobile money ecosystems. Its products include airtime float loans, merchant cash advances and embedded overdrafts. Over the years, the company has facilitated over $3 billion in loans and reported more than $100 million in monthly disbursements to roughly 2 million users in multiple markets.
What’s Next
The $7.5M raise will help deepen integrations with merchants, PoS providers and mobile money players while supporting expansion into Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Morocco. This will further enable Kuunda to scale its capital-light model, increase partner liquidity lines, and close cash-flow gaps for millions of micro and small businesses across Africa and select MENA corridors.
Chari
Funding Round: $12 million (Series A)
Investor(s): SPE Capital, Orange Ventures, Verod-Kepple, Global Founders Capital, Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst
Founder(s): Ismael Belkhayat, Sophia Alj
Founded in: Morocco (2020)
About Company
Chari provides B2B commerce, inventory management and financial services to small grocery retailers. The platform connects 20,000+ stores with suppliers and credit lines. The company has also made recent regulatory progress, securing a payment institution licence from Bank Al-Maghrib. This will further enable it to issue payment accounts, IBANs and debit products.
What’s Next
With the new capital, Chari will expand its merchant super app ambitions and roll out Banking-as-a-Service. It will also enable it to implement its plans for a deeper penetration in Morocco and entry into Tunisia and Côte d’Ivoire.
Rana Energy
Funding Round: $3 million (pre-seed: $500k equity + $2.5M green debt)
Investor(s): Techstars, EchoVC Eco, angel investors; green debt by Optimum Global (backed by FSDH Asset Management)
Founder(s): Abraham Mohammed, Mubarak Popoola
Founded in: Nigeria (2023)
About Company
Rana Energy offers AI-driven Clean Energy-as-a-Service via its Virtual Solar Network. The platform forecasts demand, orchestrates distributed solar plus storage, and aggregates small projects into bankable portfolios. To date, Rana has deployed 1.3MW in Nigeria, reporting 99.9% uptime, an 80% reduction in diesel use and cost savings up to 30% for customers.
What’s Next
The round will accelerate capacity to 10MW within 12 months, expand into Ghana and Zambia, and scale subscription models that remove upfront costs for customers. The company also intends to invest in operations, expand installation teams, and use AI to optimise dispatch and storage, supporting near-term CO₂ avoidance and energy access gains.
Jahazii
Funding Round: $400,000 (pre-seed)
Investor(s): Antler East Africa, DEG Impulse, Jozi Angels, Innovest Afrika (and others)
Founder(s): Sven Grospitsch, Vaidehi Tembhekar, Martin Gitehi
Founded in: Kenya (2023)
About Company
Jahazii is building what it calls the Workforce Operating System for Africa, combining digital payroll, HR automation and embedded financial services. The platform is designed to deliver verified payroll data, earned wage access, savings and insurance to workers while automating attendance and shift scheduling for employers in sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture.
What’s Next
Funds will be invested in scaling product development, strengthening compliance and risk controls, and expanding employer partnerships across East Africa. Essentially, Jahazii aims to onboard larger payroll customers, deepen integrations with financial services, and widen worker access to predictable wages and formal credit products
Yakeey
Funding Round: Up to $7 million (Series A commitment)
Investor(s): International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Founder(s): Karim Beqqali
Founded in: Morocco (2023)
About Company
Yakeey is a managed marketplace digitising property transactions in Morocco. The platform connects buyers, sellers, notaries and banks, addressing opaque transactions and long processing times. Essentially, the company, Yakeey, is building AI valuation tools, digital mortgage workflows and broker training modules to formalise and streamline the real estate market.
What’s Next
IFC’s investment will strengthen Yakeey’s technology, governance and compliance capabilities while accelerating product rollouts like AI valuations and digital mortgage services. Yakeey also plans to train and digitise independent brokers, improve access to housing finance for middle-income buyers, and expand platform adoption across Moroccan property markets.
Djamo
Funding Round: $3.5 million (debt)
Investor(s): Symbiotics
Founder(s): Hassan Bourgi, Régis Bamba
Founded in: Côte d’Ivoire (2019)
About Company
Djamo operates a digital banking platform offering virtual accounts, payment cards, savings tools and budgeting features. Its service brought formal financial access to many previously underbanked users. Roughly half of Djamo’s users were previously unbanked, and a majority obtained their first bank card via the platform.
What’s Next
The Symbiotics facility will help scale Djamo’s product deployment across Francophone markets and upgrade operations to deliver low-cost digital finance. The funding will also support wider card and account distribution, regulatory compliance, and partnerships that drive financial inclusion across Côte d’Ivoire and neighbouring countries.
PAYDAY
Funding Round: $3 million (pre-seed)
Investor(s): United Gulf Financial Services (UGFS) North Africa, TALYS Group, BioProtection SA
Founder(s): Mohamed Anouar Gadhoum, Shaher Abbas
Founded in: Tunisia (2024)
About Company
Payday offers salary-linked advances and Sharia-compliant micro-insurance to low and middle-income workers through employer integrations. The platform connects insurers, banks and employers to enable earned wage access and micro-Takaful products. Since its launch, Payday has processed 10,000+ transactions worth TND 8.2 million.
What’s Next
Payday will use the funding to enhance platform resilience, expand into North African markets, and build integrations with payroll providers and insurers. The company aims to scale employer partnerships and position itself as a regional aggregator for salary-based credit and ethical microinsurance.
REasy
Funding Round: $1.8 million (pre-seed)
Investor(s): Ingressive Capital, Launch Africa, 54 Collective, Digital Africa, angels (Christophe Chausson, Mathias Léopoldie, Joël Nana Kontchou)
Founder(s): Brice Mba, Mathieu Wing
Founded in: Cameroon (2023)
About Company
REasy tackles trade frictions by combining trade finance, FX, logistics and customs compliance in a single platform. The startup focuses on the China–Cameroon corridor and integrates mobile money and global payment rails to speed supplier payments, reducing settlement timelines from weeks to minutes for importers.
What’s Next
Fueled by the capital, the company is set to build multi-currency channels, as well as expand to Nigeria and other West African markets, and pursue PAPSS integration to ease intra-African payments. Essentially, REasy aims to onboard one million SMEs by 2030, increase trade formalisation, and reduce foreign exchange and logistics bottlenecks for regional importers.
Nanovate
Funding Round: $2 million (pre-seed)
Investor(s): MINT Incubator (EG Bank), Raya FutureTECH Accelerator, angels
Founder(s): Nancy Madbouly, Ahmed Gamal
Founded in: Egypt (2025)
About Company
Nanovate builds Arabic-native AI models and enterprise tools across 22 dialects. Its products include chat and voice agents, workflow automation and emotion recognition suited for e-commerce, healthcare, education and real estate. Its product features a no-code dashboard designed to enable businesses to deploy custom Arabic AI agents without heavy engineering.
What’s Next
The round will fund further R&D, talent hires and regional expansion into Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Fueled by the capital, Nanovate aims to refine LLMs for dialect nuance, expand enterprise integrations with CRM and ERP systems, and pilot vertical solutions that automate customer service and operational workflows for Arabic-speaking organisations.
MNT-Halan
Funding Round: EGP 3.4 billion (≈US$71.4 million) securitised bond (7th issuance)
Investor(s): Arranged by Commercial International Bank (CIB) and CI Capital; rated by MERIS
Founder(s): Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen
Founded in: Egypt (2018)
About Company
MNT-Halan is an Egyptian fintech and payments unicorn that has disbursed over $11 billion in loans and serves more than eight million customers. The company uses securitisation to convert receivables into investable securities and free capital for lending without diluting equity.
What’s Next
This bond forms part of an EGP 8 billion securitisation programme. Proceeds will go into expanding the lending portfolio and supporting credit growth across consumer and merchant segments. The issuance demonstrates the growing depth of Egypt’s local capital markets and MNT-Halan’s ability to access structured debt to scale responsibly.
Cold Solutions East Africa
Funding Round: $20 million commitment via Evolution III Fund
Investor(s): Inspired Evolution (through Evolution III)
Founded in: Tatu City, Kenya
About Company
Cold Solutions East Africa provides temperature-controlled logistics and cold storage facilities serving agribusiness, processors and retailers. Its Tatu City hub is the flagship asset. The platform aims to reduce post-harvest losses and enable higher-value exports by offering regional cold-chain capacity integrated with clean energy and smart operations.
What’s Next
The $20M will fund new facilities in Mombasa, Kampala, Kigali and Dar es Salaam and expand the company’s energy-smart cold storage. The investment will ultimately support smallholder farmers’ access to markets, reduce food waste, and strengthen regional supply chains, boosting resilience for perishable exports and improving food security across East Africa.
ACQUISITIONS
Adenia Partners Acquires Minet in Africa Expansion
Adenia Partners has acquired Minet Holdings, a leading pan-African insurance and risk advisory group with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, and Botswana. The Competition Authority of Kenya approved the deal unconditionally, confirming no adverse market effects.
Minet, the exclusive Aon Global Network Correspondent in Africa, offers insurance brokerage, pension administration, and claims management. The acquisition, financed through Adenia’s $470 million flagship fund, marks its fourth investment from that vehicle. With existing assets like QuickMart and ESS Equipment, Adenia expands its footprint in Africa’s insurance sector and strengthens its financial services portfolio.
SHUT DOWNS
Inseco’s $5.3M Journey Ends in Shutdown
South Africa’s insect-protein startup Inseco has shut down after raising $5.3 million in seed funding. The company faced heavy operational losses due to load-shedding and unstable power supply at its Cape Town facility, which disrupted production and increased costs.
Inseco’s inability to reach cost-efficient scale in a capital-intensive industry compounded financial pressure. Rapid hiring, energy costs, and investor caution strained operations. Its closure highlights infrastructure fragility and the need for operational discipline in cleantech manufacturing. Inseco’s assets have been sold, leaving a cautionary case for startups operating in fragile-grid markets.
INVESTOR ACTIVITIES
Chocolate City Unveils $1 Million Founders Fund for Creative Startups
Chocolate City Group has launched a $1 million Founders Fund for early-stage creative startups in music, film, and creative technology. The fund provides $20,000–$50,000 in flexible capital, mentorship, and business guidance.
Announced during the company’s 20th anniversary event, the initiative was endorsed by Nigeria’s Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa. Chairman Audu Maikori said the fund bridges Nigeria’s creative financing gap, while Paul Okeugo emphasized its mentorship-driven model. Applications are open via the Founders Fund Africa platform. Nigeria’s creative economy is projected to reach $15 billion by 2025, making this a timely intervention.
EIB Targets Egypt’s Private Sector with USD 38 Million Fund Proposal
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has proposed a USD 38 million equity investment in Tanmya Capital Ventures Fund II (TCV II) to expand growth capital access for Egyptian SMEs and mid-caps.
The Cairo-based fund, targeting USD 150 million, supports firms in industrial processing, healthcare, energy, and financial services. Managed by TCV Fund Manager BV, it builds on the success of TCV’s first fund launched in 2017. The investment aligns with the EU Global Gateway and Team Europe strategies, promoting private-sector growth and regional integration.
If approved, EIB’s participation will reinforce Egypt’s private-sector competitiveness and strengthen EU–Egypt investment cooperation.
FUNGUO Expands Startup Funding to USD 2.65 Million
The FUNGUO Innovation Programme has expanded its pool to USD 2.65 million (TZS 6.5 billion) to accelerate Tanzania’s startup ecosystem. Backed by UNDP Tanzania, the EU, FCDO, and Finland, FUNGUO now supports 74 startups and MSMEs with catalytic grants and growth support.
The program prioritizes women- and youth-led ventures and ecosystem initiatives such as YouthIgnite and GreenCatalyst. It aligns with Tanzania’s Vision 2050 and new Crowdfunding Guidelines to foster inclusive innovation.
Startups like MazaoHub demonstrate FUNGUO’s model: early pilot funding leading to follow-on investment. The expansion confirms FUNGUO’s role as a key platform for de-risking early-stage capital in Tanzania.
