February Industry News

01 Feb 2024

 

A collection of news across the African private equity and venture capital industry


Blue Earth Capital & BII partner for impact investment deal 

Blue Earth Capital, the specialist global impact investor, and British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, have announced an agreement for the acquisition of part of BII’s stake in three funds across Africa and Asia. This is the first portfolio secondary transaction by the DFI, which is structured as a pilot to support the development of a more robust secondaries private equity market, and help mobilise more capital into emerging markets.

Source: Africa Private Equity News

Carry1st, SA gaming startup, secures Sony Innovation Fund investment

South African startup Carry1st, Africa’s leading game publisher and digital commerce platform, has secured a strategic investment from the Sony Innovation Fund: Africa, the venture capital arm of Sony Group Corporation, making it the new fund’s first investment.

Source: Disrupt Africa


DXwand secures US$4mn to expand conversational AI for MENA enterprises

DXwand, a Cairo- and Dubai-based startup that leverages conversational AI to help businesses in the Middle East automate customer service and employee assistance, has raised $4 million in Series A funding.

Source: Tech Crunch 


Egyptian fintech startup Zeal secures US$4m funding

Egyptian fintech and customer loyalty app Zeal has closed a US$4 million funding round to help it increase its footprint into the wider MENA market.

Source: Disrupt Africa 


Egyptian logistics startup Roboost raises US$3mn for regional growth

Egyptian delivery management startup Roboost has closed a US$3 million investment round to fuel its next phase of regional expansion.

Source: Disrupt Africa 

 


Evolution III Fund Invests in Equator Energy

STOA and IBL Energy have offered a significant minority stake to Inspired Evolution’s Evolution III Fund in the company holding a majority stake in Equator Energy Limited, a commercial and industrial (C&I) solar provider in East Africa. STOA and IBL Energy had closed the initial transaction in June 2023.

Source: Africa Private Equity News


Giyani Metals Secures US$10mn from ARCH Fund

Giyani Metals Corp., developer of the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana, has finalised a $26 million funding package to progress K.Hill to final investment decision.

Source: Africa Private Equity News

Kenyan agtech Shamba Pride raises US$3.7mn for network growth

Shamba Pride has since 2016 worked to enhance last-mile distribution for farm inputs and tackle price exploitation and quality issues for farmers through its merchant network dubbed digishops.

Source: Tech Crunch 


IFU sells stake to Blackrock

The Danish Climate Investment Fund (DCIF), managed by IFU, has sold its shares in Lake Turkana Wind Power, the largest wind farm in Africa.

Source: Africa Private Equity News 


Ilara Health raises US$4.2mn scale operations in Eastern African

Ilara Health, a Kenya-based health tech enabling private clinics to access diagnostic devices and pharmaceutical products, has secured $4.2 million debt-equity in a pre-Series A round. The funds will be used to scale operations in the East African country, and to deepen healthcare access to the masses through the rollout of a B2B health and occupational service that will enable uninsured workers access to care at its network of partner clinics for a fixed monthly fee.

Source: Tech Crunch 


Logidoo secures $1.55mn seed funding for expansion in West and North Africa

Logidoo, a digital logistics platform with bases in Senegal, Morocco, Côte d'Ivoire, and Tunisia, has announced a significant boost in its seed funding, securing $1.55 million.

Source:  Africa Private Equity News 


Mirova Gigaton Fund nears US$500mn target size

The Mirova Gigaton Fund has announced that it has reached over half its $500 million target size, with $282 million closed to date.

Source:  Africa Private Equity News 


Nigeria's alGROWithm scales Growth Talent Accelerator with funding

Nigerian startup alGROWithm has secured funding to scale its proprietary Growth Talent Accelerator Programme to more people across six African countries.

Source: Disrupt Africa


Omega Sports Holding invests in Ivorian football club RCA

Omega Sports Holding (OSH), founded by Ivorian real estate entrepreneur, Cheick Sanankoua, has announced a minority investment in Racing Club d’Abidjan (RCA), the Ivorian football club and current leader of Ligue 1.

Source: Africa Private Equity News 


OfferZen secures €4mn from AI Capital, Invenfin

OfferZen, a South Africa-based talent marketplace for software engineers, has closed €4 million in pre-Series B funding from Invenfin and AI Capital.

Source: Africa Private Equity News 


Partech Africa II closes at €280mn for tech investments in Africa

Partech, the global technology investment firm, has announced the final closing of its second Africa fund, Partech Africa II, at a hard cap of €280 million.

Source: Africa Private Equity News


Poultry business, Hatch Africa, secures US$9.5mn in funding

Hatch Africa, a poultry business targeting underserved rural households, has secured a combined $9.5 million investment with participation from AgDevCo and IDH Farmfit Fund.

Source: Africa Private Equity News

ProXalys, Senegalese retail-tech startup, raises US$500k

Senegalese startup ProXalys, which specialises in digital transformation in B2B commerce, has raised a US$500,000 funding round to help it scale.

Source: Disrupt Africa


Roam, Kenyan electric vehicle startup, raises US$24mn in funding

Roam, an EV startup based in Kenya, has raised $24 million in a Series A round, including up to $10 million debt commitment from the U.S International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), to scale the production of electric motorcycles and buses.

Source: Tech Crunch


Renew Capital Angels invest in Tappi for African SMEs' digital marketing

 Imagine creating your online identity in under two minutes and immediately accessing your target market through streamlined access to Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and more. Using payments like mobile money, Tappi, a Pan-African startup, allows African SMEs to do just that and continues to enhance its digital offerings following a recent investment by Renew Capital Angels. The company's innovative end-to-end SaaS and enterprise-grade tools are designed to revolutionize how small and medium businesses establish their online presence, offering streamlined tools for website creation, customer engagement and effective online advertising. 

Source: Renew Capital

Renew Capital invests in Bosso Africa

The lack of affordable housing for millions of people in Africa is a pressing issue, but Bosso Africa is seeking to change that. The Zambia-based company provides an all-in-one user-friendly online marketplace that streamlines the sourcing of building materials for hardware stores, construction companies and individual builders. 

Source: Renew Capital

Stanlib Infrastructure II fund backs new energy platform

STANLIB Infrastructure Investments, through the STANLIB Infrastructure Fund II, has partnered with Scatec, a global renewable energy provider, and Standard Bank, the largest funder of infrastructure in Africa, to create a new renewable energy platform, Lyra Energy.

Source: Africa Private Equity News

 

Techstars-backed Nigerian ed-tech Klas raises US$1mn for global platform

Nigerian online teaching platform Klas has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding led by Ingressive Capital, with participation from Techstars, HoaQ, and several angel investors. Founded in 2022 by Nathan Nwachuku and Lekan Adejumo, Klas enables users to create and sell e-books, courses, and live classes.

Source: Tech Crunch

 

WIC CAPITAL Fund invests in Senegalese food processor ACASEN

WIC Gestion, the manager of the WIC CAPITAL Fund, has announced its investment in Arachides et Cajou du Sénégal (ACASEN), a growing Senegalese food processing company based in Dakar.

Source: Africa Private Equity News