Last week was a wonderful week for African startups as it rained dollars and equity investments from investors, fund managers and Venture Capitalists.
The investment announcement was led by Flutterwave, an African fintech startup which raised a $35 million Series B funding round co-led by Grey Croft & eVentures.
Skynamo, a South African sales tech provider secured a $30 million Series A funding from Five Elms Capital.
TLcom TIDE Africa Fund, a sub-Saharan African VC fund that supports businesses that leverage technology and innovation has received a $15m investment from CDC Group.
Two African fintechs, MFS Africa and Frontclear received $3.2 million investments from FSD Africa Investments.
Janngo, an African social startup studio, launched an investment vehicle named Janngo Capital Fund, worth €60 million to back female-led African startups leveraging technology to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Catalyst Fund disclosed that it has raised $15 million from UK Aid and JP Morgan to boost investment in early-stage fintech startups in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, India and Mexico.
AURA, a South African SafeTech startup has raised $400,000 follow-on equity investment from HAVAÍC.
VerifyMe Nigeria, an ID verification and KYC technology company, has secured a Series A financing for an undisclosed amount from Consonance Investment Managers.
Acquisition
Paga, a Nigerian fintech startup has acquired Apposit, an Ethiopian fintech startup, for an undisclosed fee. Paga also announced that it has expanded its digital payment solutions to Mexico in South America this year.
Appointment
Alex Okosi, a Nigerian-born, US-educated media executive was appointed by YouTube as the new Managing Director for emerging markets for YouTube in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
`Massimiliano Spalazzi has been appointed as CEO of Jumia Nigeria replacing Juliet Anammah who is now the of chairwoman of Jumia Nigeria and the Head of institutional affairs across Africa.
Startup/competition
10 African drone startups have been selected for the finals of the African Drone Business Challenge with 2 Nigerian startups-Global Air Drone Academy and Upshore Robotics participating.
Plentywaka, a Nigerian vehicle hailing startup, has introduced ‘Scan and Ride’ feature to allow its riders access to its premium services and at the same time added more routes.
Two African startups have been selected to participate in the second cohort of the Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai.
ReelFruit, a Nigerian dry fruit processing company and Ghana’s Complete Farmer have each won $50,000 at the Village Capital Agriculture Africa Accelerator Program.
Other news
Airtel Africa plc has signed a strategic partnership with Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments.
OPera denied a report by short-seller, Hindenburg Research that it offers predatory loans to its customers in Nigeria, Kenya and India.
