TradeDepot, a Nigeria- and U.S.-based company that connects consumer goods brands to thousands of retailers and helps with distribution, has raised $110 million in new equity and debt funding. TradeDepot operates a B2B marketplace that connects small shops, kiosks, and retailers with wholesalers of global consumer brands that have access to food, beverages, and personal care products. The company owns its warehouses and fleets of drivers to carry out the distribution. It now plans to bring in more retail stores and expand its buy, pay later service across the continent.
MarketForce, a Kenyan B2B retail and financial services distribution startup has expanded into five additional markets across Africa to grow RejaReja — its retailer ‘super app’ that allows informal merchants to order and pay for inventory digitally. The startup has partnered with Cellulant, a pan-African payments company that makes it possible for local and international merchants to accept “locally appropriate and alternative” payment methods from their customers to expand into these new markets. Cellulant has partnerships with 46 mobile-money operators in Africa, 120 banks and serves 35 African countries with a physical
Kenya’s Pariti Raises $2.85M Led By Harlem Capital To Develop Startup Ecosystems In Emerging Markets
A Kenya-based community-led marketplace building the digital infrastructure for startup ecosystems in emerging markets has raised $2.85 million seed. Pariti, founded by co-founder and CEO Yacob Berhane and Wossen Ayele, had its round led by U.S.-based Harlem Capital. It’s the first deal in Africa of the VC’s diversity-focused fund that secured $134 million for its second fund earlier this year. The other investors involved were Better Ventures, Accelerated Ventures, Diverse Angels, AVG Basecamp, and New General Market Partners. According to Berhane, who launched the company in 2019 with Ayele, the company has grown 795% this
Zindi is the first data science competition platform in Africa. It hosts an entire data science ecosystem of scientists, engineers, academics, companies, NGOs, governments, and institutions to solve Africa’s most pressing problems. The company recently raised a $1 million seed round, led by San-Francisco-based VC firm Shakti, with Launch Africa, Founders Factory Africa, and five35. How does the startup work? The firm announces challenges and invites its community of data scientists to take part in solution-finding competitions. Participating data scientists submit their solutions, and the winner gets a cash prize. The competition was
The ‘I Heart My HBCU’ app, which uses technology to make donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities easy, has partnered with the Xavier University of Louisiana for a two-year collaboration. During the two-year partnership, Xavier and I Heart My HBCU jointly aim to have 10,000 people join the XULA donor community. For every new donor sign-up, I Heart My HBCU will donate an additional $1, up to $10,000. When first launched in 2017 by Dominique King – it became the first platform where users could donate spare change to any of
Black Ops Ventures, a Black-owned VC fund, has announced that it has closed its first fund with investments totaling $13 million. In securing investments for this initial close, Black Ops relied upon long-standing relationships with some of the most respected names in the tech industry. From successful founders including Drew Houston, Jacob Gibson, and Morgan DeBaun to top-tier venture investors, including Ben Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Jeff Bussgang, the Black Ops partners galvanized their network of investors and founders to support their unique strategy. Bank of America and Northwestern Mutual led the fundraising round. Founded in 2020, Black Ops
Netflix said it has fulfilled its pledge to the Black community by moving two percent of its cash holdings – around $100m – into Black-led banks and financial institutions in the US. The funding has been shared between six institutions, including $10m deposited with Hope Credit Union in the form of a transformational deposit to fuel economic opportunity in underserved communities in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The move comes after it announced back in June 2020, amid racial-equality protests across America, that it would invest capital in Black banks to
Virtual trucking carrier CloudTrucks has secured a $115 million Series B funding round on a reported $850 million valuation, according to Forbes. The firm, which provides a tech platform that helps small trucking businesses manage their administrative duties, including scheduling, instant payments, expense tracking, was founded by Tobenna Arodiogbu, Jin Shieh, and George Ezenna back in 2019. Tiger Global led its Series B round with Menlo Ventures, Flexport, Michael Ovitz, and Opendoor CEO Eric Wu. The round also includes follow-on investments from Caffeinated Capital, Craft Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Abstract, BTV, and Kindred Ventures. This Series B comes
Gozem, a super app that provides a host of services — including transport, e-commerce, and financial services in Francophone Africa — has raised $5 million in Series A financing. The firm is present across 13 cities, having moved to Gabon and Cameroon with over 800,000 registered users and more than 5 million trips completed. The company, which is based in Togo and Singapore, raised funds from AAIC, Thunes (TransferTo), Momentum Ventures (SMRT), Innoport Ventures (Schulte Group), CMC Ventures (National Express), and Liil Ventures (Mobility ADO). Costamagna, in a statement, said
Greenwood, a mobile banking platform described as doing it for the culture, seeks to support the Black and brown community in their endeavors to generational wealth. Co-founded by former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, rapper-activist Michael “Killer Mike” Render, and Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover, Greenwood is not a bank itself; instead, it features banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank and will eventually provide financial management services. It reinvests in Black and Latino communities through monthly grants and recently launched a podcast group that specializes in financial literacy and investment
