Africa’s tech ecosystem has experienced tremendous growth in recent years, with 2021 seeing a record number of investments. The year 2021 was a great one for startups globally and Africa in particular. The continent saw total venture funding exceed two and a half times what it was in 2020. This figure amounted to an impressive $4.77 billion. As far as distribution is concerned, 30 African nations raised at least $100,000 in funding across the year. The ‘Big Four’ countries, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya, received 81% of the investments. Five of the eight
Black-owned investment firm Fearless Fund partnered with Louisiana-based foundation ProSeed to renovate and rebuild schools in Ivory Coast, West Africa. The partnership aims to transform the educational system in West Africa, giving students the tools needed to succeed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Fearless Fund, co-founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur and angel investor Arian Simone, and American actress Keshia Knight Pulliam, works to invest in women of color-led businesses seeking pre-seed and seed level investment funding. The VC firm, built by women of color for women of
Award-winning African spirits group, Spearhead, has raised $3 million in investment from venture capital firm Pendulum to help deliver their products to the world’s bars. Spearhead, co-founded by UK-based entrepreneurs Chris Federick and Damola Timeyin in 2021, is a multi-award-winning business with an extensive portfolio working with premium brands. The company launched to challenge the cultural basis and the lack of African representation in the spirits industry. Their award-winning Premium African Spirits, Vusa Vodka and Bayab Gin, are made solely from African products and capture Africa’s premium craft and creativity.
Kinly has announced a new partnership with data aggregation platform MX, a financial data aggregation tool, to help the company build and enhance its custom-built financial tools. The Atlanta-based financial tech company, Kinly, is dedicated to helping Black Americans build generational wealth. The platform offers members a range of benefits, including a Visa debit card and early wage access. In addition, it gives members access to financial education to help them improve their economic outcomes. The partnership with MX will see the platform introduce a range of embeddable user interfaces
Black-owned money movement, Zazuu, has raised $2 million in investment funding in a new venture round. The startup, which works to build a more robust remittance for residents in the diaspora, has quickly evolved to become the world’s first cross-border payment marketplace. Zazuu, co-founded in 2018 by Kay Akinwunmi, Korede Fanilola, Tola Alade, and Tosin Ekolie, is on a mission to ease the difficulty of sending money back home, which is currently expensive, slow, and unfair to millions of migrant customers. The platform has helped empower customers by building an
Flutterwave, a Nigerian tech giant under immense heat due to several allegations by former staff, will cease its offering of virtual dollar card services. It comes a week after a Kenyan court froze more than $40 million in accounts belonging to fintech firm Flutterwave under the country’s anti-money laundering laws. And while the latest announcement may be unrelated to the freezing of assets – the startup is struggling to stay out of the headlines as of late. Other fintech startups, including crypto exchange Busha, Rwanda-headquartered Payday, and Ugandan Eversend also
Connection. That’s all we need to thrive as a community, and Plain Sight’s recent partnership with the City of Miami is a prime example of that. Black-owned networking startup Plain Sight recently announced the launch of their inaugural Black Founders Demo Day. The networking event will take place on December 1 as a featured event at this year’s Art Basel. The annual event will allow attendees to connect with prominent angel investors and venture capital groups worldwide to showcase, inspire, and invest in Black and Brown wealth. This year’s event
Black Ambition, owned by world-renowned singer and producer Pharrell Williams, recently announced its $3 million investment in content curator platform Trend. The pre-seed funding round was led by venture capital firm Flybridge and included a range of investors, including Techstars Ventures, live-streaming service Twitch, famous anime brand Crunchyroll, and reviewer platform Rotten Tomatoes. The investment firm, Black Ambition, which was founded by Pharrell in 2020, is dedicated to supporting Black and Latinx business owners. The non-profit organization aims to bridge the gap to success for entrepreneurs of color working in
How do you allow — and make it easier for — anyone to start a company? That’s the question driving Pulley, the cap table and equity management platform that has just raised $40 million in Series B investment funding. The new investment brings Pulley’s total funding to $50 million to date. The funding round was led by Keith Rabois at Founders Fund, including investors Stripe and Elad Gil. The latest investment fund comes a year after the company’s rapid growth, supporting over 1,600 companies across 80 countries. The serial investor
Black-owned investment accelerator, 1863, has unveiled its investment strategy for “New Majority” entrepreneurs, a term that they use to describe Black and Brown business owners who have been historically marginalized. The investment funding will go towards helping early-stage entrepreneurs develop their businesses to achieve generational wealth and hit their target goals. 1863, founded by Melissa Bradley in 2020, is a business development program designed to bridge the gap between entrepreneurship and equity. The platform works with marginalized entrepreneurs to help accelerate them from high potential to high growth. The firm
