Venture capital (VC) investment in African startups has seen a 33% increase compared to this time last year, according to gathered by The Big Deal. This follows similar reports of funding for African startups hitting new records in the first half of 2022. So far this year, more than 800 investors have contributed to at least one $100K+ startup deals on the continent. Investors have also been far more active than in previous years. For example, 250 firms made at least two investments (45% more than in 2021), and 60 partook
Serena Williams is making big moves in the venture capital world. After announcing earlier this year, that she would be stepping away from tennis, Williams has embodied the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is, by investing over $100 million in early-stage startups. Ugandan-based fintech, Numida, is the latest business to benefit from investment from Serena Ventures. The fintech recently raised $12.3M in a pre-series A funding round led by Serena Ventures. Participation included the Pan-African VC fund, Launch Africa, Breega, Soma Capital, Y Combinator, and MFS Africa. What is
Nigerian startup Stears has announced a $3.3 million seed round led by MaC Venture Capital which included Serena Ventures. What started as a written media publication by a group of Nigerian graduates is now a growing data insights company with its sights set on rivalling the likes of Bloomberg. Backed by Serena Ventures Serena Williams was playing in the US Open when the seed round for Stears came together. Nevertheless, according to Serena Ventures’ founding general partner, they were keen to invest and fought “tooth and nail” to get in.
Amazon has announced the launch of Amazon Catalytic Capital, a $150 million commitment focused on investing in Black, Latinx, Indigenous, women, and LGBTQIA+ builders in tech. Amazon Catalytic Capital The initiative will provide capital to funds, venture studios, accelerators, or incubators committed to backing startups led by underrepresented founders. Recipients will also receive 1:1 mentorship from Amazon executives and unique business opportunities for partnerships, technical support, and scaling resources. Amazon Catalytic Capital aims to support at least 10 funds and 200 companies through the next year. So far, recipients include Collide
The Lip Bar Inc., the holding company for the beauty brands The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty, has closed a new funding round. The $6.7 million round, led by Pendulum, will focus on expanding The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty’s distribution as well as incubating a third beauty brand. Endeavor and The Fearless Fund also contributed to the fund. Melissa Butler, the business’ founder and Chief Executive Officer, said the round came after years of consistent growth unencumbered by the pandemic. “Our lip sales were crazy during the pandemic—we sold
When TikTok soared in popularity in 2020, the hard seltzer drinks market saw sales double to $4.1 billion. While the stars were aligning, Nectar Hard Seltzer was a new company attempting to take on established brands such as White Claw and Truly. A unique marketing strategy involving our favorite new social media app and SMS texting would be the secret to their success. When Jeremy Kim received a phone call from his future co-founder, John Dalsey, he couldn’t have predicted the journey they would go on. Asian-Inspired Hard Seltzer “Hard seltzer is killing
Funding for African startups has hit a new record between January and June. According to reports, the African market is the first to see more than a single digit of growth which was extremely unpredictable considering the slowdown globally. Venture capital deals within the African region reached a striking $3.5 billion in six months, with no other continent coming marginally as close to Africa’s startup funding growth. Of the 300 companies that benefitted from this funding, 27% were led by female founders or had at least one female founder. This is
Black couple DeMario and Dawn Nicole McIlawin are the creators behind Skilldora. This Black-owned edtech startup is one of the first e-learning platforms to embrace “digitally created humans,” also known as AI instructors. Skilldora has partnered with Israel-based company, D-ID, to accelerate academic learning for the next generation. According to Yahoo Finance, edtech startups have helped boost the educational sector. Online education is now one of the most effective and fastest ways for modern learners to learn seamlessly. Skilldora is on a mission to revolutionize the education system by becoming
Black-owned health startup Ubenwa uses artificial intelligence to detect early diseases in babies and their cries. The startup’s learning system analyzes the amplitude of a baby’s cry and uses cutting-edge AI to diagnose infants up to six months old. By analyzing the frequency patterns of a baby’s cry, the AI-powered software picks up on brain and lung conditions in young infants. Communicating with babies Ubenwa was co-founded in 2017 by Charles Onu, Samantha Latremouille, and Innocent Udeogu. The startup combines AI techniques with medical expertise to detect breathing conditions and
No one is in their bag like Keke Palmer. From becoming the host of Meta’s new metaverse series to starring in Jordan Peele’s first NOPE VR experience – Keke has entered a league of her own. Palmer’s latest venture is KeyTV Network, a digital space which will “spotlight the next generation of creators.” Palmer announced the launch while reflecting on the many hats she has worn throughout her time in the entertainment industry. “I want to share everything I learned with you because this is my greatest dream of all,” Keke explained.
