TLcom Capital, the Africa-focused venture capital firm, has confirmed that one of its Partners, Ido Sum, will be departing the firm.

Sum has been with the firm for 14-years where he contributed to early-stage investment activities and supported several portfolio companies, including uLesson, Littlefish and Zone.

Launched in 1999, TLcom has over two decades of experience in investing in technology entrepreneurs and has built one of the most experienced and diverse investment teams for the continent, with 15 professionals across its Nairobi and Lagos offices. During his tenure with the firm, Sum supported the closing TIDE Fund I and TIDE Fund II, the latter being one of the biggest early-stage funds for the continent.

Ido Sum, Partner at TLcom Capital, said: “I am proud of what we have built at TLcom over the last 14 years. It has been a privilege to work alongside such a talented team and to have supported and worked side-by-side with some of Africa’s most audacious entrepreneurs. I am confident that the firm will continue to lead the investment pack, and I look forward to my next chapter.”

Maurizio Caio, Managing Partner at TLcom Capital, commented: “We thank Ido for his commitment and dedication over the past 14 years and for his contribution to build TLcom as the preferred partner for Africa’s most ambitious entrepreneurs, and the wider African tech ecosystem. It has a been a pleasure working with him, and we wish him the very best for his next endeavors”.

Daniel Yu, founder of African B2B e-commerce company Wasoko, has stepped away from a full-time role at the firm, more than a year after its merger with Egyptian peer MaxAB.

Yu launched Wasoko in 2014 with the goal of digitizing informal retail supply chains across Africa. Over 11 years, the company raised more than $140 million in funding from investors including Tiger Global, Avenir, 4DX Ventures, and IFC, reaching a valuation of about $625 million in 2022. At its peak before the merger, Wasoko was operating in six markets — Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal — serving tens of thousands of small shopkeepers.

The merger with MaxAB in 2023 created one of the largest tech-enabled retail distribution platforms in Africa, combining Wasoko’s East and Francophone African footprint with MaxAB’s strength in North Africa. Analysts said the tie-up was a significant consolidation move in Africa’s fragmented e-commerce sector, giving the combined group scale to compete against regional rivals and global platforms.

Yu said he will remain involved in the company’s growth under CEO Belal El-Megharbel, who co-founded MaxAB. “I’m deeply grateful to everyone who has been part of this journey — teammates, partners, and investors,” Yu said in his announcement via LinkedIn.

On a personal note, Yu is relocating to India to join his fiancée, Rachel Abbott, as they prepare for their wedding. He will also step more fully into his role as board chair of Malengo, a nonprofit focused on eliminating extreme poverty through international education pathways.

MazaoHub, Tanzania’agri-tech startup blending artificial intelligence with hands-on agronomy to drive climate-smart farming, has raised $2 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed round  to scale AI-powered Smart Farming across Africa.

The raise includes $1.5M in equity, led by Catalyst Fund with participation from Nordic Impact Fund, Mercy Corps Ventures, elea Foundation, Impacc, and DOB Equity. It also includes $500k in non-dilutive capital from the Livelihood Impact Fund, highlighting growing investor appetite for blended finance in climate adaptation.

According to Geophrey Tenganamba, CEO and Co-Founder of MazaoHub, “Farmers become data-driven decision-makers, buyers gain trusted traceability, and agribusinesses operate as climate-smart franchises. This is where sustainability meets scale.”

The new capital will accelerate production of MazaoHub’s low-cost soil kits and sensors, expand its network of Farmer Excellence Centers, and finance the rollout of CropSupply.com, which began piloting earlier this year. With food systems under increasing pressure from climate shocks, MazaoHub’s bet is clear: combine AI, hardware, and human expertise to make farming not just more productive, but fundamentally more efficient and climate-aligned—and for the first time, connect smallholder farmers to global markets with full farm-level traceability.

Investors see MazaoHub as an example of Africa leapfrogging into a data-driven agricultural future. “MazaoHub is showing that African agriculture can blend data insights with local agronomists to enable sustainable farming at scale,” said Maelis Carraro, Founder and Managing Partner at Catalyst Fund.

MazaoHub operates through a hybrid “Tech and Touch” model that combines soil sensors, portable soil kits, and AI-powered farm management software with on-the-ground support from agronomists and access to markets. Its offline-first platform equips farmers with crop dashboards, cost analysis tools, and daily checklists, built for environments with limited connectivity. At the same time, rural agribusinesses are upgraded into Farmer Excellence Centers—described as “agricultural clinics”—where professional agronomists provide in-person guidance informed by digital insights.

At the end of the cycle, MazaoHub connects farmers directly to buyers through CropSupply.com, a sourcing platform that ensures full traceability from soil data to shipment, tackling one of agribusiness’s toughest challenges: supply chain transparency.

The company’s model is designed to deliver both productivity gains and climate benefits. By reducing fertilizer use by up to 30%, boosting organic manure adoption fivefold, and optimizing irrigation, farmers grow more food with fewer inputs while lowering emissions, saving water, and cutting energy use.

“Our investment is driven by its profound climate impact. MazaoHub is cutting emissions, building resilience, and ensuring millions of smallholders are included in the digital transition,” said Lisbeth Stausholm Zacho, Managing Director at Nordic Impact Funds.

The round also brought in local banking partners. CRDB Bank Foundation has signed on to embed inclusive finance into the ecosystem, ensuring that productivity gains translate into improved livelihoods. “By linking financial products to MazaoHub’s soil intelligence and sourcing systems, we can ensure that the benefits farmers achieve with data actually reduce lending risks and drive systemic change,” said Tullyesther Mwambapa the Managing director of CRDB Foundation.

Four entrepreneurs have been selected as finalists for the 2025 Africa Prize, the continent’s largest prize dedicated to fostering engineering innovation, with a mission to stimulate, celebrate, and reward innovation and entrepreneurship across sub-Saharan Africa.

This year’s finalist innovations include a life-saving neonatal device helping at-risk babies to reach health facilities safely from remote areas and a groundbreaking AI tool to support greater inclusivity for the deaf and hard-of-hearing people.

In addition, a smart device that is transforming fish farming by monitoring water quality in local fisheries in real-time to help smallholder farmers produce sustainably and profitably, and solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging and battery-swapping stations that enhance rural mobility and provide electricity to local communities, will also compete to win this year’s Africa Prize.

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is run by the Royal Academy of Engineering and part funded by the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The finalists were chosen from a shortlist of 16 who each received a comprehensive support package designed to help commercialise their innovations.

Meet the 2025 finalists: 

Vivian Arinaitwe, a Ugandan biomedical engineer, developed Neo Nest, a portable, low-cost, neonatal warming and monitoring device designed to prevent neonatal hypothermia during ambulance transfers from rural health facilities to referral hospitals.  Acting as a compact, makeshift incubator, Neo Nest generates and regulates heat through an electric circuit while continuously monitoring vital indicators. LEDs on the device display green for normal operation, orange for a warning, and red for danger, with alarms alerting caregivers to malfunctions or failures.

Built for both warmth and security, the device features an adjustable ring and Velcro straps to keep the baby securely in place. A smart temperature control system, integrated through a microcontroller, maintains optimum temperatures through a feedback loop that adjusts to environmental changes. Heat-conducting fluid evenly distributes warmth, ensuring that even the most vulnerable infants remain stable and comfortable during transfer

Since beginning the Africa Prize programme, Vivian has also been recognised at the African Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum Awards 2025 in the Tech Entrepreneur Award category and secured agreements with health facilities in Uganda to deploy the Neo Nest device. 

Elly Savatia, a Kenyan entrepreneur, created Terp 360, a groundbreaking app designed to support people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Using AI and 3D avatars, it translates speech into sign language with lifelike fluidity, setting it apart from other tools on the market.

To enhance the experience, Elly’s team at Signvrse incorporated motion capture technologies and collaborated with deaf and hard-of-hearing Kenyans to record over 2,300 signs, including common phrases and words. This ensures the app’s avatar feels human-like, relatable and culturally relevant. By addressing the interpreter shortage and improving accessibility, Terp 360 has the potential to transform learning environments and create more inclusive spaces.

Since beginning the Africa Prize programme, Elly and his team have secured a Google.org grant to support sign language dataset expansion and scaling. Additionally, they have set up a presence in Rwanda at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering and further plan to pilot classroom and public-service deployments. 

Frank Owusu, a Ghanaian ‘aquapreneur’, developed Aquamet, a smart water quality monitoring device that is helping smallholder farmers to reduce fish mortality and boost yields, enabling them to farm both sustainably and profitably. Farmers using the device report yield increases of 10–15%, a significant improvement when they would usually expect to lose up to 45% of their fish.

The device features three critical sensors that track pH, dissolved oxygen, and water temperature, all of which are key factors for fish health. When water quality deteriorates, it sends real-time notifications and actionable recommendations directly to the farmer’s mobile phone. The platform also offers record-keeping tools, access to extension services, and a marketplace linking farmers with buyers.

Since being shortlisted for the 2025 Africa Prize, Frank has achieved two major business-to-business distribution partnerships across West Africa. In addition, the visibility and support provided by the Africa Prize have helped Frank secure partnerships with the British High Commission and the Centre for Environmental Fisheries, Aquaculture Science, to support an Animal Health System Strengthening Project as the implementing partner, and with the Fish for Development Project in Ghana, an initiative to build fish farmers’ capacity.

 Carol Ofafa, a Kenyan engineer, founded E-Safiri, a battery-swapping service, providing a convenient and accessible solution for EV users. Operating across four locations in Kisumu, Kenya, the service addresses a major barrier to EV adoption: the lack of home charging infrastructure, particularly in rural areas where many households lack electricity. By providing charging and swapping cabinets for electric bicycle and motorbike batteries, E-Safiri eliminates the need for personal charging setups.

Each hub runs on solar energy and uses IoT-enabled batteries that deliver real-time updates, allowing for proactive maintenance. A central dashboard tracks energy use across sites, optimising efficiency and cutting costs. Beyond mobility, E-Safiri ensures surplus energy supports local communities: charging hubs double as power centres for households without electricity.

Since being shortlisted for the 2025 Africa Prize, Carol has been named one of Business Daily’s Top 40 under 40 Women and been recognised by Sustainable Energy as one of Africa’s Energy Heroes 2025. She has also secured funding through the Carbon Trust and signed E-Safiri’s first contract with Renewable World.

The Africa Prize Live Final event, supported by the British Embassy in Dakar, will be hosted by TV presenter Merry Beye on 16 October at Noom Hotel Dakar Sea Plaza, Dakar, Senegal, and feature a keynote by Claudia Senghor, founder of Agrobabe. The 2025 finalists will pitch their innovations to a live, in-person and online audience and a panel of judges.

Launched in 2014 by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Africa Prize has supported 165 businesses from 22 countries with invaluable training, mentoring, and communication resources. Collectively, these alumni have secured $34 million in grants and equity funding.

Applications for the 2026 Africa Prize opened in July and will close on 23 September 2025. Interested candidates must apply within this window to be considered for the 2026 shortlist. Visit the website to ‘Apply.

Oncount, a Dubai-based accounting tech startup, has secured $1.5M in seed funding to accelerate the development and launch of Oncount’s proprietary AI-driven accounting platform.

The investment, led by tech entrepreneur Sergey Panov, will  help Oncount transform how SMBs manage their finances across the UAE and broader region.

According to Sergey Panov, founder and CEO of Oncount, “Oncount’s platform is designed with a special focus on data integrity and operational speed, allowing the company to offer premium features that make SMBs feel valued. These include voice-activated document creation with accountant verification, same-day transaction processing, guaranteed 20-minute response time for accounting questions, and professional liability insurance included in all service plans.” 

SMBs form the backbone of the UAE and MENA economies, representing 90% of all businesses and contributing up to 50% of national GDP. In Dubai alone, SMEs account for 42% of the workforce and contribute approximately 40% of the city’s economic value. Businesses now face significant cost pressures, including a new 9% corporate tax on profits exceeding AED 375,000, a 15% increase in accountant salaries (now averaging AED 130,400 annually for mid-level professionals), and potential penalties of up to AED 50,000 for tax non-compliance. These challenges are precisely what Oncount aims to address with its AI-powered accounting platform, offering an accurate and efficient solution for businesses.

In response to the mounting financial pressures on SMBs, driven by new tax regulations and rising accountant salaries, Oncount is here to provide a much-needed relief. The platform aims to streamline accounting processes for Middle Eastern businesses facing increasing compliance costs. The founding team combines decades of expertise in IT, SaaS, and digital accounting. Sergey Panov, former CEO of Action, leads the team alongside Nicol Kuznetsova, a serial B2B entrepreneur, and Ivan Anohin, previously a product leader at OSOME, a global accounting startup based in Singapore and the UK. Their collective experience spans product development, automation, and business scaling.

The platform distinguishes itself by utilising artificial intelligence and automation to streamline bookkeeping and tax workflows, thereby reducing costs while enhancing accuracy and efficiency. Unique features include AI-powered document processing for invoices, receipts, and contracts; automated bank transaction reconciliation; client-specific task management with personalised tax calendars; and accountant-managed quality control. These features set Oncount apart from other accounting solutions, offering an accurate and efficient business solution.

Oncount’s subscription model offers plans ranging from 508 AED to 4,212 AED monthly, scaled to business size and complexity. Each subscription includes tax registration and filing (CT and VAT), full-service accounting, a dedicated team (senior accountant, bookkeeper, assistant accountant, and tax lawyer), comprehensive compliance support and financial reporting. The tiered pricing structure ensures that businesses of all sizes and needs can benefit from Oncount’s services, making it an attractive option for SMBs.

After its UAE launch, Oncount is set to embark on an exciting journey of expansion throughout the MENA region and Central Asia. The company will focus on markets with underserved SMB segments and increasing regulatory complexity. The company is exploring opportunities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

“SMBs across MENA and Central Asia face mounting pressures: more taxes, higher wages, and growing compliance risks. We see a tremendous opportunity to bring our tech-first model to these markets and give business owners the peace of mind to focus on growth,” said Sergey Panov, Founder of Oncount.

Oncount’s launch coincides with the rapid transformation of the accounting sector in the UAE and beyond, driven by digitalisation, automation, and AI, which enables businesses to adapt to new regulatory and operational realities.

Odoo, a provider of business management solutions, is preparing to unveil Version 19 of their all-in-one business application software, at the flagship Odoo Experience in Belgium later this year.

The release promises updates across core applications, with a focus on user experience, automation and accessibility. The update will mean faster, smarter tools that will enable users to stay ahead of the curve.

The update aligns with the company’s ongoing localization efforts that have seen them register with Kenya’s Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, to ensure its systems comply fully with the Data Protection Act.

With the usage of digital payment systems increasing rapidly over the last five years, Odoo has also partnered with DPO Pay by Network, to enable African businesses to seamlessly accept digital payments.

This integration, now available as a standard feature, allows businesses to receive and process payments without leaving the Odoo environment.

As the government has been pushing for adoption of the electronic Tax Invoice Management System to enhance tax collection and management, Odoo has also integrated the eTIMS feature, which can be found within the customer database for free starting from version 17.0.

Users can generate eTIMS compliant invoices and have them automatically sent to KRA. The firm has also integrated a Payroll application that has all the statutory updates ready to use for Kenya.

In order to boost coverage, Odoo has not only been focusing on building the software, but also on building a community, through the free Odoo Academy workshops, held every week at the Nairobi office to enlighten both new and existing users on how digitisation can empower their businesses.

So far, more than 1000 individuals have attended these full-day, hands-on training sessions, gaining practical skills in essential applications like Accounting, Inventory, HR and E-commerce.

“These workshops are about more than training; they’re about building a community of empowered users who can leverage Odoo to grow their businesses,” said Patrick Lukusa, Managing Director of Odoo.

The company, which has a workforce of more than 140 staff, has so far organized business shows in more than 30 African countries, to reveal Odoo’s new features to the firm’s community across Africa.

Recognizing the importance of a strong community, the company has also been prioritizing partnerships with key stakeholders, including independent companies that resell and implement its software in the region.

Previously, Odoo has conducted most of its partner recruitment activities in Belgium, but recently, the company launched a dedicated partner management department in Kenya.