Weekly Roundup: African tech news and startup deals

Techloy -

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

  • 🇪🇬 Cairo-based fintech unicorn Fawry says it plans to raise $50.8 million of growth capital through a rights issue to existing shareholders, to be used to fund its expansions in financial services for both consumers and merchants.
  • 🇰🇪 Kenyan fintech startup Zanifu, which provides short-term stock financing to MSMEs in Kenya, secured $1 million in a seed funding round from Saviu Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, Sayani Investments, and a number of angel investors.
  • 🇸🇳 Senegalese logistics startup PAPS, which boasts over 10 million deliveries across Senegal and Ivory Coast, has raised $4.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round co-led by 4DX Ventures and Orange, to expand into other French-speaking markets in West Africa.
  • 🇲🇦 Morocco-based B2B e-commerce and fintech startup Chari has closed an undisclosed bridge round led by the Saudi-based venture capital fund Khwarizmi Ventures (KV), AirAngels (Airbnb Alumni Investors), and Afri Mobility, at a valuation of $100 million, to pilot its buy now pay later (BNPL) services with grocery stores in Francophone Africa.
  • 🇿🇦 South African mobile game publisher Carry1st has closed a $20 million investment led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Avenir, Google, Chipper Cash, and a host of angel investors participating.
  • 🌍 German development bank KfW is investing $5.7 million into an accelerator program Chapter54 in partnership with Partech Shaker, the innovation division of Paris-based VC firm Partech Partners, to help European scaleups and startups expand into Africa.
  • 🇳🇬 Nigerian developer-tooling startup Frain Technologies has raised $473,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Rally Cap Ventures, to enable it to continue to build its flagship product, Convoy.
  • 🇰🇪 Kenya-based B2C e-commerce company Copia Global has raised $50 million in a Series C equity round led by Goodwell Investments, bringing its total funding to date to $103 million, to expand into other markets.
  • 🇳🇬 Nigeria-based women-led credit-focused fintech startup Pivo, which provides SMEs in the supply chain industry with access to financial services, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from early-stage VC firm Microtraction.
  • 🌍 Fintech platform Finclusion Group, which is building a credit-led neobank in Africa, has raised $20 million in a debt and equity pre-Series A round, to fuel its expansion into Mozambique and Uganda and to grow existing operations across Eswatini, Kenya, South Africa, and Tanzania.
  • 🇰🇪 Kenyan-focused low-cost ISP Poa Internet raised $28 million in a Series C funding round led by Africa50, backed by the Africa Development Bank.
  • 🇳🇬 Nigerian restaurant management platform Orda (formerly StarKitchens) has raised $1.1 million led by LoftyInc Capital to be a cloud-based restaurant operating system for African chefs and food business owners.
  • 🇺🇬 Ugandan asset financing startup Asaak, which offers motorbike financing to operators, has raised $30 million in a pre-Series A equity and debt funding round.
  • 🇪🇬 Egyptian edtech startup Orcas.io, which provides K-12 students with live one-on-one tutoring sessions, has raised $2.1 million in a pre-Series A funding round co-led by CIRA’s NFX Ventures and Access Bridge Ventures, to expand into Pakistan.
  • 🇬🇭 Ghanaian fintech startup Float, which provides credit lines for businesses in Nigeria and Ghana, has raised $17 million in equity and debt funding co-led by Tiger Global and JAM Fund to launch in Kenya and South Africa.
  • 🇪🇬 Egypt-based foodtech startup 3attar has raised an undisclosed seed investment from AUC Angels, UI Investment, and a group of angel investors to continue its growth and expand into other markets.
  • 🇳🇬 Techstars-backed Canadian-based company Periculum, which raised $620,000 in a pre-seed funding round back in October 2021, officially launched today in Nigeria on a mission to build the financial infrastructure that would help in addressing the issue of access to financial services.

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.