Author: Weddy Thuranira

Swvl has announced that its daily and city-to-city rides in Kenya will be halted. SWVL Daly, City-City, and Business-Business are the three services offered by the mass transport and shared mobility provider in the country. SWVL Daly was designed for intra-city rides in Nairobi, while City to City rides were designed for long-distance travel and Swvl Business was designed for business trips. Swvl now says it’s suspending Swvl Daily intra-city and Swvl Travel rides indefinitely. “In light of the global economic downturn, we are pausing our Swvl Daily intra-city rides in Nairobi next Friday the 3rd of June, 2022. And Swvl Travel on Sunday…

Grubtech, a leading tech and cloud kitchens management solutions provider based in the United Arab Emirates, has announced plans to launch operations in Cairo, Egypt, following successful operations in 17 markets around the world. Grubtech, the best food technologies platform award holder in 2021, assigned Osama Harfoush as its country manager who will supervise the company’s expansion plans in Egypt and implement its strategy set for the local market. Founded in 2019 by Mohamed El-Fayed, Mohamed Hamidi and Omar El-Refa’ie, Grubtech is a cloud and dark kitchen solutions platform that enables its clients to digitize operations and management of online food…

The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize, which aims to find Africa’s brightest young agri-food entrepreneurs and will award US$50,000 in cash to each of two winners, is now accepting applications from African agri-tech startups.The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize seeks agribusinesses that bring technology, innovation, and passion to agriculture and food.Successful applicants – one man, one woman – could win one of two US$50,000 cash prizes to help scale their innovations, with the organisers looking for businesses that show originality and innovation, market potential and traction, social and commercial impact, environmental sustainability, and an inspiring and investible team.GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize is a fantastic opportunity…

Shopstar, a local e-commerce platform, has secured third-round funding from Launch Africa Ventures, signaling the start of the next phase of its growth strategy. The Proudly South African, cloud-based, e-commerce platform, helps local entrepreneurs to build an online store and grow their business by providing easy-to-use, professional services that allow them to trade profitably. Shopstar was founded in 2014. Mike Joubert, a seasoned entrepreneur and investor, began a second round of investment and became the company’s majority shareholder in late 2018, after assessing the company’s potential. He began the turnaround strategy and started scaling it for growth. The business has now…

SWVL, an Egypt-born and Dubai-based mobility startup, has announced that it plans to lay off 32 percent of its workers. According to the company’s LinkedIn profile, it employs over 1,330 people. Around 400 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the mobility company laying off nearly 30% of its workforce. Tech companies, both private and public, have had to face a reckoning in recent months, with their stock valuations falling. An economic downturn has impacted company finances, forcing them to make cost-cutting decisions, the most important of which is laying off staff. SWVL has had a very busy…

The Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund (CASF), a micro venture capital fund based in Cairo that invests in early-stage startups in the Middle East and Africa, is delighted to announce its investment in Finclusion Group, a fintech startup. Finclusion Group is an African-focused fintech platform building out a full neo bank offering for its users. Finclusion Group now serves clients in South Africa, Eswatini & Namibia in Southern Africa, and Kenya & Tanzania in East Africa, providing earned-wage access, BNPL, and direct credit. The Finclusion Group is dedicated to developing products that improve the quality of life of its clients by…

Smart Capital, the management company of the ANAVA fund of funds, has announced a subscription of up to 6 million Euros (USD6.4M) to 216 Capital Fund I, the first underlying fund of ANAVA and the first specialized investment fund (SIF) managed by 216 Capital Ventures. 216 Capital Fund I is a generalist fund that aims to invest primarily in pre-seed and seed stage startups with average ticket sizes of 100,000 Euros. Its initial closing is for 9 million Euros. The fund will invest in about 50 Tunisian startups as well as foreign startups with more than half of their workers…

Nigerian fintech startup Grey has announced the expansion of its service to East Africa, beginning with Kenya, in partnership with Cellulant. Kenyan residents can now sign up for Grey’s products, which include foreign bank accounts, instant currency exchange, and international money transfers. Grey has expanded its services into East Africa, starting with Kenya, in partnership with Cellulant, to overcome the challenges of sending and receiving money internationally. Grey, a Y-combinator backed fintech startup, offers a one-of-a-kind international money transfer service that allows users to send and receive international payments swiftly and without limits. Cellulant is the company’s payment processor, processing thousands…

Tactful AI, a technology startup based in the UK and Egypt that provides a cutting-edge intelligent customer experience platform, has been acquired by Dstny, the European leader in business communications.Dstny’s product portfolio will be expanded as a result of the acquisition, and firms will be able to improve customer engagement operations across both digital and traditional voice channels.“With Tactful onboard, we are not only strengthening ourselves with next-generation Customer Engagement technology, we are also adding an excellent team to our group,” says Daan De Wever, CEO Dstny Group.As competition increases, businesses have to differentiate on the basis of customer experience.…

Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange Yellow Card has added Ivory Coast to its list of 16 countries where it operates as it continues to expand across Africa, Since its debut in Nigeria in 2018, Yellow Card has made it their mission to bring financial freedom to all by making it simple for anybody, wherever in Africa, to buy cryptocurrency at the best rates using cash, mobile money, cards, and bank transfers. Ivory Coast’s Yellow Card country manager, Sylvio Contayon, is optimistic about the journey ahead, claiming that the country is an untapped market with an increasing number of crypto enthusiasts. Yellow Card, which was founded in 2018 and launched in Nigeria in 2019, allows anyone in Africa to buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT Stablecoin with cash, mobile money, a credit card, or a bank transfer. The company claims to be “building a new financial infrastructure for the African continent”. The startup raised US$15 million in Series A funding last year to expand its hiring and expand throughout the continent, and Ivory Coast is now its 16th market. ‘What excites us is that this is something new and unexplored on the Ivorian market. We have…

Cloud fret, a Moroccan transport and logistics startup that connects loaders and transporters, has raised a funding round of $1 million to expand its operations in European and African markets. Plug and Play, PRC Ventures ICAV, Azur Innovation Fund, AfriMobility, and business angel Khalid Zitouni all participated to the funding, bringing the company’s current valuation to US$20 million. “This fundraising demonstrates the trust placed in the Cloudfret team and the market potential. Cloudfret is seeing three-digit growth: the revenue generated in the first quarter of 2022 is equal to that of the fiscal year 202,” founder Driss Jabar said in a…

Natrify, an Egypt-based biotechnology startup, has raised a six-figure pre-Seed round from Ambo Ventures, a newly launched $50 million VC fund focusing on investing in African startups. The startup aims to reduce plastic waste and assist businesses in achieving a negative green premium. The objective of Natrify is to address the growing ecological damage caused by plastic production and disposal. Abdullah Al-Atrash, Amr Galal, and Ahmed Hassanen launched Natrify in 2020 to provide a sustainable and biodegradable alternative to single-use plastic. It has released Adigide, a bioplastic that is biodegradable in a variety of settings. Adigide is a bioplastic produced…

Gooo Delivery, an on-demand delivery startup based in Egypt, has closed an unknown amount of pre-Seed funding. Gooo intends to use the funds to improve its technical capabilities, expand its offerings, and grow its business. The Middle East and North Africa region is witnessing a growth in the on-demand delivery services applications domain with revenues reaching $9 billion last March. Last year, the Egyptian market grew by 8% to $2.5 billion. The Gooo team sees the rise of on-demand delivery services as a chance to flourish and gain a competitive advantage. Gooo, founded by Yasser Hassan in 2020, provides point-to-point…

AfricInvest, a leading investment platform active in private equity, venture capital, private credit, and listed equities, has announced the final close of its AfricInvest Fund IV, which raised $411 million in total commitments. AfricInvest has raised more than $2 billion to fund nearly 200 firms in various phases of development across three continents over the last 25 years. AfricInvest IV received investment from new and returning institutional investors, development finance institutions, and family offices from all across the world when it was launched two years ago with a hard cap of $400 million. The fund is the largest in AfricInvest’s…

African startups are invited to apply for the Last Mile Money Accelerator initiative, which provides funding and support to startups providing digital financial services and cash-in/cash-out innovations to last-mile communities. IDEO Last Mile Money is looking for promising early-stage startups that are connecting underserved communities in emerging markets to digital financial services after a successful initial accelerator program in 2021. This year’s edition focuses on solutions that “accelerate financial innovation at the last mile such that it outpaces the first mile,” with startups at the intersection of last-mile users and financial empowerment being targeted. Accepted startups will obtain a variety…

Equity has launched Equity Virtual Assistant (EVA), the bank’s chat banking tool that transforms financial services into virtual conversations on social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram. EVA chatbot extends digital banking and customer support services to existing and new customers and can simulate a conversation (or a chat) with a user. The experience is as easy and natural as having a conversation with a friend. Customers can now manage their accounts on EVA and engage with the virtual assistant to make transactions like buying airtime, sending money, buying goods and services, paying bills, viewing account balances,…

JABU, a Namibian B2B e-commerce retail platform, has secured $15 million in Series A funding led Tiger Global. Tiger Global is making its second investment in the B2B e-commerce industry after backing Wasoko in its mega Series B round. It’s also worth noting that this deal took place before Tiger Global’s $17 billion loss during this year’s tech sell-off. Box Group, Knollwood, and D Global Ventures are among the other investors in this growth round. Afore Capital, Oldslip, and FJ Labs were among the seed round backers who doubled down. For many years, small to medium-sized kiosk and store owners across…

Kenyan ride-hailing company Little has announced that it will enter the logistics business, according to CEO Kamal Budhabhatti. The move comes after a successful run in corporate cab hailing, which the company launched a few years ago. “We learned and mastered the art of Corporate Ride-Hailing – and became a dominant player. Now it’s time to learn again. Launching Little Logistics. City, Intercity, and Cross border. Little App. Super excited. I can’t stop thinking about how great our team is,” Kamal said. The company is already piloting the service with two corporate customers as it prepares to launch it commercially in…

FoondaMate, a South African edTech startup, has secured $2 million in a seed funding round led by LocalGlobe, a UK-based venture capital firm, to expand its Whatsapp and Facebook-based learning chatbot globally. Other investors included Emerge Education, Odunayo Eweniyi via FirstCheckAfrica, Iyin Aboyeji of Future Africa, and LoftyInc, as well as angel investors Marcus Swanepoel of Luno and Isaac Oates of Justworks. The firm is focusing on localizing its learning resources in order to accommodate learners in new countries and expand its platform to over 50 million people. Its current funding round provides the necessary resources for this speedy growth. Foondamate assists…

Uber has achieved a significant milestone, having clocked a billion rides across all of its African markets. According to the company, this achievement equates to a distance covered of nearly 10 billion kilometres. This milestone comes nearly a decade after Uber launched its first office on the continent in Johannesburg, South Africa. Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Ivory Coast are among the countries where it now has a presence. “Since entering the market in 2013, we have created over 6 million economic opportunities in over 50 cities across SSA that we are present in,” said Lorraine Onduru,…

Sylndr, Egypt’s online used-car retailer, has secured $12.6 million in a pre-seed round led by RAED Ventures and including Algebra Ventures, Nuwa Capital, 1984 Ventures, Worldwide Founders Capital, and a number of famous regional and global angel investors. Sylndr intends to build trust in the used-car industry by offering customers a simple and reliable way to buy, sell, and finance their vehicles. Sylndr, which was founded by Omar El Defrawy and Amr Mazen, prides itself on its “driving engine”; a strong team of 40+ highly experienced individuals keen on making a positive impact on the lives of many. The company…

Crypto Valley Venture Capital, which also calls itself CV VC, is launching an Africa-focused fund to support blockchain startups on the continent, the investor announced at the Blockchain Hub adjacent to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The fund is to invest in 100 startups in the African continent over the next four years, CV VC said in a press release. CV VC has invested in 12 startups, according to the release, where “blockchain use cases go far beyond cryptocurrencies to drive Africa’s future to date.”  The investor aims to raise between $10 and $50 million through the fund.…

Blink Pharma, the leading platform for managing transactions between healthcare professionals, has closed its first round of funding with the Azur Innovation Fund Investment Fund, which will be used to expand the company’s operations, including the launch of new healthcare products. With a digital solution to streamline transactions between healthcare professionals (laboratories, wholesalers and pharmacists) to avoid bottlenecks, late deliveries or simply degraded service quality, startup Blink Pharma has raised funds for the first time with the Azur Innovation Fund. The startup launched its marketplace in 2020, which not only allows pharmacists to send orders to laboratories and wholesalers, but…

AfriLabs has successfully launched the AfriLabs Academy, an initiative designed to equip African Hub managers and staff, Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs), and other startup support structures with the training and management skills needed to improve their ability and capacity to support the growing number of startups and MSMEs in their communities, with major stakeholders and key players in the African Innovation Ecosystem present. The Academy is part of the AfriLabs Capacity Building Programme (which is supported by AFD through the Digital Africa Seed Fund). Strathmore University co-created and certified the content on the platform. While launching the Academy in a virtual press…

Jumia has announced plans to launch a technology hub in Nairobi, which will employ more than 100 people. This is according to the e-commerce company’s first sustainability report, which states that the tech hub, like its Cairo counterpart, will focus on cultivating tech talent from Africa. In 2019, Jumia opened a similar tech hub in Cairo which currently employs 122 people focused on developing Tech talent in Africa. According to Jumia’s first-ever sustainability report, plans are well advanced to open a third tech hub in Nairobi. This is part of the company’s effort to expand its IT department. Currently, the…

Victory Farms, a tilapia fish aquaculture startup with hatcheries, nursery ponds, and deep-water cages, has raised $5 million in new capital. Ed Brakeman, a senior managing director at Bain Capital, and Hans den Bieman, the founder and former CEO of Mowi, one of the world’s largest salmon companies, led the investment. Following seven internal angel rounds from the same collection of equity–and debt investors (it received $40 million in debt last year), this is the startup’s first institutional investment. The funding will help the Kenyan enterprise expand into Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. Victory Farms was founded in…

Nile, a South African agri-tech startup that uses its marketplace to allow buyers to buy directly from Africa’s leading food producers, has raised $5.1 million in an equity funding round led by Naspers Foundry. Nile’s new equity round was led by Naspers Foundry, which contributed $2.5 million, alongside Platform Investment Partners, Raba Capital and Base Capital. This is the 10th transaction for Naspers Foundry, which also includes SweepSouth, Aerobotics, Food Supply Network, The Student Hub, WhereIsMyTransport, Ctrl, Naked Insurance, and Floatpays. “We are delighted to have Naspers Foundry support our mission to make fresh produce more accessible to people across…

RapidDeploy, an industry-leading technology-led emergency response platform, has secured an equity investment from Nedbank. The bank is the first South African company to invest in RapidDeploy, which was founded in South Africa after its founders Steven Raucher and Brett Meyerowitz experienced the antiquated, legacy technology that was available within the country’s public safety sector. Raucher’s brother drowned at sea, prompting him to serve for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) of South Africa. This is when he realized that the emergency instruments at his disposal couldn’t do what was required to respond to people and, ultimately, save lives in a…

The NVIDIA Inception programme has selected Hisa App, a Kenyan mobile investment platform that allows anyone in Kenya to participate in U.S. stocks and ETFs using mobile money. The NVIDIA Inception programme is designed to support startups that are using artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to revolutionize sectors. The programme is designed to help startups grow quicker by providing them with access to cutting-edge technology and NVIDIA experts, as well as connections with venture capitalists and co-marketing support to increase their visibility. It has over 10,000 members from over 110 countries. Every NVIDIA Inception member gets a custom set of ongoing…

Kris Senanu, Safaricom’s  Chief Enterprise Business Officer, has left.  According to a statement from the telco, Kris’ last working day is 31st May 2022 as he leaves to” pursue other interests outside Safaricom”. Details about his next work station have not been revealed. Kris joined Safaricom in June 2021 after serving as the Managing Director of Telkom Kenya’s Digital Service Delivery Unit. ”Kris was instrumental in implementing Enterprise Business Unit’s first Mission, and development of the division’s second Mission,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said in a statement. “During his time, he has re-established and enhanced Safaricom as a leader in the…