The Jobtech Alliance has expanded its investment portfolio in Africa with new investments in Kenyan startups Fuzu Ltd and Kyosk, doubling down on businesses positioned at the intersection of digital employment, artificial intelligence and informal commerce.
Financial terms of the investments were not disclosed.
The investments underscore the alliance’s evolving strategy from ecosystem building and technical support to direct capital deployment in startups addressing structural challenges in Africa’s labour markets and informal economy.
Led by Mercy Corps and BFA Global, the Jobtech Alliance has increasingly backed technology companies creating jobs, improving productivity and expanding economic opportunity. Previous investments have included Nigerian commerce platform Bumpa, logistics startup Flowcart and social commerce company Twiva.
Fuzu pivots deeper into AI-enabled digital work
Fuzu, founded more than a decade ago as an online career development and recruitment platform, has increasingly repositioned itself around digital work infrastructure as demand for AI-related services accelerates globally.
Rather than operating solely as a traditional employment marketplace, the company now manages distributed teams providing AI data operations, model evaluation and quality assurance services for international clients.
The investment comes shortly after the Jobtech Alliance released its Digital Work Sector Scan, which examined the growing role artificial intelligence is expected to play in reshaping digital employment opportunities across Africa.
Over the next six months, the alliance said it will support Fuzu’s international customer acquisition efforts, strengthen the market positioning of its Fuzu Atlas platform and help the company expand into higher-value AI services.
The move reflects growing investor interest in African companies that can supply skilled digital labour to global AI developers, particularly in areas such as data annotation, model testing and human-in-the-loop evaluation.
Kyosk strengthens informal retail ecosystem
The alliance also invested in Kyosk, one of East Africa’s largest business-to-business commerce platforms serving informal retailers.
Kyosk currently works with more than 200,000 retailers across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria, enabling shopkeepers to source inventory digitally while accessing logistics, payments and other business services.
The investment aligns with the Jobtech Alliance’s microenterprise strategy, which focuses on businesses helping informal merchants improve efficiency and profitability.
According to the alliance, Kyosk’s transition toward leaner warehouse operations and improved route-level economics demonstrates increasing operational discipline as the company continues scaling its distribution network.
By addressing persistent challenges such as inventory availability, reliable deliveries and repeat purchasing, the platform aims to improve the resilience of Africa’s vast informal retail sector.
Expanding investment mandate
The latest investments highlight the Jobtech Alliance’s broader ambition to catalyse businesses capable of creating sustainable employment while improving productivity across key sectors of African economies.
As artificial intelligence transforms global work and digital platforms reshape informal commerce, the alliance appears to be positioning its portfolio around companies with scalable models that connect African workers and entrepreneurs to larger economic opportunities.
For Fuzu, that means expanding Africa’s role in the global AI value chain. For Kyosk, it means strengthening the supply chains that underpin millions of small retailers across the continent.