Tuesday, April 21, 2026Global tech, startups & capital — covered for Africans.
It’s just the first week of April and Q2 2025, and the activities were a bit disappointing as only one startup funding was announced throughout the week. Of course, it’s only the first week and there’s no cause for alarm yet. We expect the activities to pick up in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, while startup […]
By AU-Startups
It’s just the first week of April and Q2 2025, and the activities were a bit disappointing as only one startup funding was announced throughout the week. Of course, it’s only the first week and there’s no cause for alarm yet. We expect the activities to pick up in the coming weeks.
Nevertheless, while startup funding took a step backward, partnerships and acquisition deals took the headlines. See more details below.
Funding Round: $17 Million Investors: Janngo Capital, SANAD Fund for MSMEs, Partech, Oikocredit, Enza Capital, and Y Combinator. Founders: Regis Bamba and Hassan Bourgi Founded: 2021, Ivory Coast
About the company: Djamo is a Neobank offering traditional banking alternatives to individuals and businesses. The company enables unbanked and underbanked individuals to easily own personal accounts and access other banking services, including free Visa card ownership, automated savings, investment options and other SME banking tools. What next? The company raised the funding to finance its plans to expand its mobile banking services across Francophone Africa. The startup is also working on securing licenses to offer credit services to its clients. Parts of the funding will also be channeled towards achieving this goal.
Peach Payments, a South African payment gateway solutions provider, is set to fully acquire PayDunya, a fellow payment services provider operating in West Africa. This acquisition marks a strategic move by Peach Payments to expand its footprint into Francophone Africa, particularly the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) region.
This is Peach Payments’ third strategic acquisition since it completed a $30 million Series A funding round in late 2023. The company had previously acquired Exipay and Operativa shortly after the funding round.
PayDunya has been operational since 2015. According to the founder of Peach Payments, the acquisition reinforces the company’s mission of building a truly pan-African payment ecosystem. By integrating PayDunya, Peach Payments is unlocking opportunities across 12 countries and gaining access to over 450 million potential customers.
HearX, a South African health tech company that develops advanced hearing aids and ear care solutions, has announced its merger with Eargo, a U.S.-based hearing solutions provider. The merged entity will now operate under the name LXE Hearing.
The merger, backed by a $100 million investment from Patient Square Capital, is one of the largest in South African health tech history. It brings together HearX’s pioneering technology and Eargo’s direct-to-consumer business model.
Founded in 2015, HearX initially introduced a mobile-based hearing screening solution and later developed Lexie Hearing—the first over-the-counter hearing aid designed to improve accessibility for patients.
This strategic merger positions LXE Hearing as a leading provider of affordable, high-quality hearing solutions. The company will continue to operate Eargo and Lexie Hearing as its core products while working to develop even more innovative solutions.
Nigeria’s fintech giant, Paystack, has launched a new payment and money transfer solution called Zap. Since its inception in 2015, Paystack has primarily operated as a B2B company, offering both online and offline payment solutions for businesses, becoming one of the biggest names in global fintech.
Now, the company is shifting focus with the launch of Zap—a product aimed at individual users, allowing them to easily transfer funds, pay bills, and complete other transactions quickly and seamlessly.
However, the launch has stirred controversy. Zap Africa, a crypto-focused company offering decentralized finance (DeFi) services since 2022, has accused Paystack of trademark infringement. Zap Africa claims it has operated under the name “Zap” since its inception and that Paystack’s use of the name violates its trademark rights. As tensions rise, the big question is: Will Paystack’s Zap survive legal scrutiny, or will a rebrand be inevitable?
