Weekly Roundup: African tech news and startup deals

Here are the technology news, startup, and VC deals we tracked across the African region this week.

• Kenyan consumer credit platform Lipa Later raised $12 million in a pre-Series A equity and debt funding round led by Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers VC, and GreenHouse Capital, to expand into new markets in Africa.
• Nigerian-based Human Resources (HR) and payroll technology company, SeamlessHR says it raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by TLcom Capital.
• U.S-based, Africa-focused VC firm Ajim Capital founded by Eunice Ajim launched a $10 million fund to invest between $25,000 and $150,000 in early-stage African tech startups from pre-seed to seed across the continent.
• Nigerian loyalty and rewards platform ThankUCash raised $5.3 million in seed funding co-led by 500 Global and Unicorn Growth Capital, to expand in its home market, Nigeria, and into Ghana and Kenya.
• Côte d'Ivoire-based e-commerce startup Anka (formerly Afrikrea), a marketplace for Africa-inspired fashion and accessories, raised $6.2 million in a pre-Series A round led by an Africa-focused impact firm Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P).
• Nigerian delivery startup Kwik Delivery, a digital platform connecting delivery partners and corporate customers in Africa, says that its gross merchandise value and revenue grew by over 400% year-on-year in 2021, while also reaching 100,000 business-to-business users.
• Africa-focused crypto platform Yellowcard, available in 14 countries, has relaunched in Nigeria where it has almost 100K users, a year after it withdrew following a Central Bank directive prohibiting crypto activities in the country; plans to achieve 500K by Q1 2022.
• Nigerian credit management startup Bfree raised $1.7 million in a pre-Series A round, to expand into emerging markets in Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa.
• U.S.-based startup accelerator YCombinator says it has increased its investment sum in startups from $125,000 to $500,000, while still investing $125,000 for a 7% equity stake and an additional $375,000 on an uncapped SAFE with Most Favored Nation (MFN) terms.

The Draft provides a weekly roundup of the most important tech news across key emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Follow the rest of our coverage @techloy on Twitter.