Welcome to this week’s issue of AU-Startups Funding Recap where we review all the deals announced during the week across the African startup ecosystem.
This week was a busy one with just over ten deals recorded. We also recorded three deals from countries outside the Big Four; talking about SecondSTAX’s pre-seed, Julaya’s extension round and GroDesto’s public offering.
Let’s get straight into the details.
Funding
Grant
Stax, an Africa-focused USSD-based payment platform, has secured a $500,000 grant from the Stellar Development Foundation’s (SDF) Matching Fund.
The platform enables users across Africa to access their bank accounts, and mobile wallets in one place without using mobile data, and transfer funds between accounts via automated USSD codes. Stax’s use of USSD codes allows its users to avoid the high costs associated with mobile data usage while also improving their access to digital financial services. The grant received will be used for the development of an affordable, borderless mobile wallet on the Stellar blockchain.
Pre-Seed
Exits.me, an Egypt-based investment marketplace, has secured $1M in a pre-Seed round from a group of local financiers including Baseeta Investments Holding, Mawelni Holding for Financial Investments, and a UK-based investment firm also known as Exits.me.
Founded in 2022 by Mohamed Aboulnaga, Ahella El Saban and Ayman El Tanbouly, Exits.me automates merger and acquisitions (M&A) transactions and investment deals for startups and SMEs through its marketplace. The founders aim to help increase investment awareness in the region by spreading education on the value of early investments in all verticals and business functions.
SecondSTAX (Secondary Securities Trading and Aggregation eXchange), a Ghanaian fintech startup, has raised $1.6M in pre-seed funding from private investors and venture capital firms including LoftyInc Capital and STEMeIn.
SecondSTAX users can trade debt and equity securities on other African bond and stock markets. The company intends to launch in Ghana and Kenya, enabling market orders for all equities across Ghanaian and Kenyan exchanges, as well as cross-border transactions within both capital markets, through its sponsored broker partnerships. The company also intends to increase its workforce and boost its technology by providing more features demanded by its customers.
Seed
Remedial Health, a Nigerian YC-backed startup, has raised $4.4M in a seed round led by Global Ventures, with participation from Tencent, Y Combinator, Cathexis Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners Scout Fund, Ventures Platform, Alumni Ventures, and True Capital Management, as well as a number of angel investors, including Guillaume Luccisano and Christopher Golda.
Founded in 2021 by Samuel Okwuada and Victor Benjamin, Remedial Health provides digital procurement and PMR (patient medication records) platforms that enable healthcare providers to source authentic pharmaceutical products from major manufacturers and distributors and receive them within 24 hours through Remedial Health’s logistics network. The startup also provides finance to pharmacies and PPMVs to cover inventory purchases, as well as loans and salary advances to staff. By 2023, the business hopes to expand across the country and into East and West Africa.
Series A
Julaya, an Ivorian fintech, has secured $5M in an extension round led by Speedinvest. EQ2 Ventures, Kibo Ventures, Unpopular Ventures, Jedar Capital, Ivorian business angel Mohamed Diabi, Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, and previous investors Orange Ventures, Saviu, and 50 Partners also participated in the round. Julaya additionally received investment from its own CFO and country manager in Senegal.
Julaya enables African businesses to make bulk payments across all mobile money channels, handle travel or online expenses using a corporate prepaid card tailored to their specific needs, and seamlessly import all transactions into their accounting system. The platform also assists businesses in improving operational efficiency by automating payments to a large number of unbanked staff and suppliers.
The funds secured in this round will enable the company to grow in the West African market, open offices in Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso, recruit multicultural talent and accelerate product development.
In the words of the Founder
“African companies are eager to improve their profitability, and digitizing their finances is one of the most important steps for them to grow their business. 90% of payments are still made in cash on the continent, and Julaya is proud to be part of the fintech landscape that helps businesses be more successful.” – Mathias Léopoldie, CEO & co-founder.
In the words of the Investor
“Julaya’s technology is fundamentally changing how companies operate in an increasingly complex payment landscape across Francophone Africa. As we look ahead, the potential for Julaya’s technology goes far beyond its payment capabilities, having the opportunity to become a close banking partner for companies in West Africa.” – Enrique Martinez-Haussmann, Principal at Speedinvest.
Nexford Learning Solution, the company behind Nexford University, has secured $8M in a Series A fundraising round led by New Markets Venture Partners and Learn Capital. Other participating investors include Learn Capital’s Emerging Markets Fund, Bisk Ventures, Global Ventures, Future Africa, AMK Investments, and the Future of Learning Fund are among the other investors.
Nexford’s AI-informed curriculum and tech-enabled platform deliver learning outcomes that are comparable to those of US universities at a fraction of the cost of competitors. The funds will be utilized to expand into new markets, expand the Company’s academic offerings, including career pathway programs, and improve its technology infrastructure.
Series B
Yellow Card, an Africa-focused cryptocurrency exchange platform, has announced the completion of its $40M Series B fundraising round. Polychain Capital led the round, with participation from Valar Ventures, Third Prime, Sozo Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Fabric Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, The Raba Partnership, Jon Weiner, Alex Wilson, Pat Duffy, and more.
Yellow Card enables users to purchase, trade, and store supported cryptocurrencies for free using their local currencies and a range of payment options. It also allows customers to enjoy free local and cross-border transfers and easily track all payments using Yellow Pay, which completes client transactions in USDT via Yellow Card’s crypto exchange platform.
The investment will allow the company to continue its successful expansion across the continent, develop new product innovations, and advance strategic partnerships across Africa.
Locumbase, a South African online medical booking platform, has received an undisclosed investment round from Grindstone Ventures.
Founded in 2016 by Zulé Vuuren, the startup connects freelance medical professionals with practices in South Africa to build their careers or grow their practices on their terms. The company aims to further improve their service offering with the funding secured, as they prepare for international expansion and growth.
Public Offering
GroDesto, an Algerian logistics platform, has announced the successful completion of a public offering to raise 200 million DA ($1.4M) in order to become a joint stock company (SPA).
GroDesto is an initiative that enables consumer product distribution in Algeria. The startup consists of a logistics distribution mobile app and a website. The funds obtained will be utilized to support its logistics distribution platform in accordance with the provisions of the Algerian commercial code.
Partnerships
Africar, an online auto marketplace that operates in over 40 African nations, has partnered with Stellantis, the parent company of Maserati, Peugeot, Fiat, and Chrysler, among other brands, to launch Auto24, a used car marketplace for Africa.
The marketplace will begin operations in Ivory Coast, where it will purchase locally used automobiles, recondition them, and resell them. They expect to generate up to $30 million in sales by 2024 and plan to expand the marketplace across the continent in the coming quarters and years.
Acquisitions
Naijacrypto, a Nigerian-owned cryptocurrency exchange initially focused on the African markets has been acquired by Wyoming-based blockchain financial startup, PowerDFI.
Naijacrypto, which recently expanded its offering to include multiple African countries and the United Kingdom, is one of the few exchanges having a presence in the Caribbean and has indicated an interest in expanding to other Latin American countries.
PowerDFI appears to be most interested in Naijacrypto because of its growing technical infrastructure, which has been optimized to fulfill retail demands and B2B use cases.
Venture Fund
Byld Ventures, an investment firm focusing on early-stage funding for fintechs in Africa has made a new close of its $15 million fund launched in May, with a focus to back fintechs in the African ecosystem.
The fund raised $10 million in its first closure in June and another in August of this year. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year. A number of athletes, the Dubai government, and a number of institutional investors have contributed to the fund.It plans to invest in fintech businesses in Nigeria and Egypt, where it has the prior market knowledge, as well as Ethiopia and Algeria.
Interesting Finds
Embedded Finance: What It Takes to Prosper in the New Value Chain | Bain & Company Report
Building a capital-efficient startup | Sifted article
Is raising venture capital the right path for your start-up? | VentureBurn
How to plan a PR roll-out for your startup or client | Benjamin Dada
What SMEs should be looking for in a start-up accelerator | VentureBurn
Conversations
26 Specialized VC Funds Investing in Africa
2 approaches to market sizing that VCs use
Jobs and Opportunities
Click this link to access our curated jobs and opportunities of the week.
And that is all on this week’s review of the deals that happened across the African startup ecosystem. Do have a pleasant weekend.
Do not forget to share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues.
