Uber’s rival, Bolt, has opened its first African headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The new office will serve as a regional hub for the top managers and staff running operations across the continent. Bolt, which Markus Villig founded in 2013, has more than 100 million customers in over 45 countries. The company operates in seven countries across Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Tunisia. The famous ride-hailing company decided to open its first regional hub in Africa due to rapidly growing demand. The head office will be
Black-led fintech startup, Moove, raises $20 million in investment funding from the British International Investment (BII) program, formerly known as the CDC. The investment reflects the BII’s plans to build a resilient market in Nigeria, providing access to various economic opportunities for upcoming businesses while simultaneously accelerating the country’s limitless entrepreneurial spirit. Moove, co-founded by Jidi Odunsi and Ladi Delano in 2020, is a mobility fintech platform that provides revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs across Africa. The co-founders, both British-born Nigerians with degrees from the London School of Economics
African-based distribution platform, Afrikamart, has raised $850,000 in seed funding. The funding round, led by Bloc Smart Africa and managed by Bamboo Capital Partners, saw a range of investors participate, including Bamboo Capital Partners, Orange Ventures, Launch Africa, and Teranga Capital. Afrikamart, co-founded by Albert Diouf and Mignane Diouf in 2018, is a digital distribution platform that works to provide services to farmers. The brothers launched the tech platform to address farmers’ problems with poor market access and late payment from intermediaries using technology to collect products from thousands of
Black-led communication startup, Simpu, has launched its first-ever omnichannel inbox, allowing businesses to interact with customers through various social channels. The omnichannel inbox will not only enable companies to communicate with their consumers in a range of mediums, but it also allows them to diverge away from the traditional customer support channels, which primarily focus on phone, email, or chat support. Collins Iheagwara co-founded Simpu with Kolawole Balogun and Tioluwani Kolawole in 2020, which was designed to help business owners unify all their communication channels through an automated workflow. The
South African fintech startup Sava has raised $2 million to develop a spend management platform that will help African businesses manage their expenses, helping them reduce the time spent on recordkeeping and reconciliations. Sava CEO Yoeal Haile mentioned that the platform, which is yet to launch, will help African businesses run their financial operating systems. It will also allow them to capture data that will enable them to stay knowledgeable about their financial health business. Sava highlights two specific pain points businesses confront around spend management and reconciliations. One, businesses don’t have
London and Kenyan-based educational entertainment company, Kukua, has raised $6 million in its latest investment round. The funding round was co-led by world-leading technology company Tencent and Italy-based VC Alchimia and included participation from EchoVC, Firstminute Capital, and Auxxo Female Catalyst. Kukua, co-founded by Alexandre Terrien and Lucrezia Bisignani in 2015, uses technology to create magical learning experiences for children centered around a universe of superhero characters. The company is best known for creating the first-ever African animated superhero series, ‘Super Sema,’ and aims to empower the children of the
Here is our latest roundup of tech headlines from across the African continent. Kune, a Kenyan food-tech startup that delivered ready-to-eat meals at affordable prices, has closed its doors, the company’s founder and CEO Robin Reecht announced. In a statement posted to his LinkedIn page, Reecht cited a stifled economy and inflated food prices as circumstances that contributed to Kune’s closure. “With the current economic downturn and investment markets tightening up, we were unable to raise our next round. Coupled with rising food costs deteriorating our margins, we just couldn’t keep going,” he said.
Ghana-based Fintech company, Fido, has raised $30 million in equity investment in a Series A funding round. The funding round, led by the equity fund company, Fortissimo Capital, included venture capital firm Yard Ventures and a series of other private angel investors. Fido, co-founded by Nadav Topolski, Nir Zepkowitz, and Tomer Edry in 2012, provides mobile loans of up to $250 to small businesses and individuals. In addition, the fintech company aims to build a digital bank, which will give hundreds of adults in Africa access to flexible loans and other financial services, which
The online technology platform, Kibo School, known for providing online degrees for students across Africa, has raised $2 million in seed funding. The funding round, which venture capital firm Neo led, included African investment company Future Africa, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, and Transcends Ventures. In addition, a range of different angel investors also participated in the seed funding round. Kibo School, co-founded by Ope Bukola in 2021, aims to provide affordable and high-quality programs for anyone interested in building a career in tech. The curriculum, based on the Human Skills Matrix,
African technology startup, Theeper, known for creating technology for businesses to support fast, direct, and efficient transactions, has raised $2.1M in seed funding. The funding round, which Raba Partnership led, included VC fintech company Rali_cap Ventures, BYLD, and leading African fintech Chipper Cash and Stitch. Theeper, co-founded by Kosisochukwu Chike Ononye and Michael’ Trojan’ Okoh in 2021, is located at the crossroads of data and finance. They work directly with businesses to address the difficulty of transferring money from one fintech wallet to another fintech. According to Theeper, its API
