Last week, we recorded more funding announcements and acquisitions in the African startup ecosystem; if you missed it, here are the highlights.
Ghanaian Startups
Farmerline, a Ghanian ag-tech startup that develops solutions to increase access to farmers and simplify transactions throughout the agricultural value chain, raised a $12.9 million pre-Series A funding round. The equity round was led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, with participation from Greater Impact Foundation. The debt financing was from DEG, Rabobank, Ceniarth, Rippleworks, Mulago Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, the Netri Foundation and Kiva.
Nigerian startups
Afriex, a Nigerian fintech that allows its users to send and receive money to anybody around the globe, raised a $10 million Series A funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital China and Dragonfly Capital with participation from Goldentree, Stellar Foundation and Exceptional Capital, and others.
OnePort 365, a Nigerian B2B digital freight forwarding platform that provides optimal freight solutions to Africa’s traders, including trucking, shipping, warehousing, customs brokerage & marine insurance, raised a $5 million seed funding round led by Mobility 54. Other investors that participated in the round include SBI Investment, Flexport, ODX, a Singaporean syndicate fund, Samurai Incubate and other angel investors.
Aladdin, a Nigerian digital bank that provides savings accounts, loans, payments, money transfers, trading, and other financial services, completed its $3.5 million debt financing round.
9jacodekids Academy, a Nigerian STEM ed-tech startup specialising in teaching kids aged 4-16 technology and entrepreneurship skills, including coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence, raised a $350,000 seed funding round. Bolaji Balogun, the CEO of Chapel Hill Denham, participated in this investment round.
Senegalese startups
Kwely, a Senegalese B2B wholesale marketplace for Africans working to connect the dots between local African producers, global consumers and international buyers, raised a $1 million seed funding round. WIC Capital led the investment round with participation from Loftyinc Capital, Afropreneur Angels, Haskè Ventures and other investors.
Malagasy startups
SAYNA, a Malagasy startup that creates mobile video games designed to teach digital professions, which uses algorithms to automatically connect learners to IT micro-tasks requested by international companies, raised a $600,000 funding round from Orange Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures and MAIC Investors Club.
South African startups
Inseco, a South African startup that converts low-value organic by-products into nutritious and sustainable insect ingredients, raised a $5.3 million seed round led by Futuregrowth Asset Management, with participation from E4E Africa, Oak Drive Ventures, and other investors.
Digsconnect.com, a South African startup that makes it find shared housing for students, ex-pats and young professionals worldwide, secured investment from The Delta, an international venture builder.
Ugandan startups
Laboremus, a Ugandan B2B fintech company that creates financial technology solutions for clients in East Africa and Europe, received funding from DOB Equity and FCA Investments.
Acquisitions
EdenLife, a Nigerian startup that offers home concierge services like cleaning, laundry and food, has acquired Lynk, a Kenyan startup that connects households and businesses with verified domestic workers, artisans, and blue-collar professionals, for an undisclosed amount.
PEG Africa, a Ghana-based cleantech startup, was acquired by Bboxx, a London-based cleantech startup
And it is a wrap! Happy new month 🎈🎆
