While the spotlight often shines on headline-grabbing mega-rounds, the bedrock of Africa’s rapidly growing startup ecosystem lies in the consistent flow of smaller (or missed bigger rounds), yet equally vital, investments. This week’s edition of the African Startup Deal Tracker delves into these under-the-radar transactions, encompassing pre-seed funding, angel investments, and strategic acquisitions that collectively paint a picture of sustained growth and investor confidence across the continent. These deals, spanning diverse sectors from agri-tech to legal tech, highlight the ingenuity of African startup founders and the breadth of opportunities being seized.

Here’s a closer look at the notable under-the-radar investment activity we’re tracking this week:

Fusepay

• Investment: $350,000 in pre-seed funding.
• Investor(s): Hustle Fund (lead), Everywhere Ventures, First Check Ventures, Startup Istanbul, and angel investor Ryan Nesbitt.
• Sector/Focus: Fintech / B2B Payments. The company provides modern finance solutions, such as secure digital post-dated payments (FuseCheq) and invoice management, for businesses in the Indian Ocean islands.
• Country of Operation: Seychelles.
• Purpose: To support the company’s journey to become a licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP) in Seychelles and to launch its invoice payment platform.

Filmmakers Mart (FMM)

• Investment: An undisclosed investment amount.
• Investor(s): IFC (International Finance Corporation) and Sony Innovation Fund Africa.
• Sector/Focus: Creative Tech / Entertainment. An integrated digital platform that connects creatives in Africa’s film industry to essential production services, including location scouting, logistics, and permits.
• Country of Operation: Pan-African (currently in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco, and South Africa).
• Purpose: To expand into new markets, develop new platform features like subscription models and post-production tools, and strengthen Africa’s creative economy.

Niteon

• Investment: An undisclosed pre-seed round.
• Investor(s): Tomi Davies and Seedstars (lead investors), with backing from Zenith Bank, the Development Bank of Nigeria, Nubia Capital, and others.
• Sector/Focus: Tradetech / Fintech / AI. An end-to-end platform providing “AI infrastructure for global African trade,” which includes a marketplace, embedded finance, logistics tools, and FDA-compliant export pathways.
• Country of Operation: US-based with a primary focus on Africa (specifically Nigeria).
• Purpose: To scale its export infrastructure, expand its engineering teams, and onboard more manufacturers from underserved markets for global trade.

Ariya Finergy Limited

• Investment: €500,000 from CEI Africa, as part of a larger €3.3 million loan package with crowdinvesting platform bettervest.
• Investor(s): CEI Africa (funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW) and bettervest’s crowd investors. 
• Sector/Focus: Clean energy / B2B solar and battery storage systems for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The company’s solutions provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable power, addressing issues of expensive grid connections and diesel generators. 
• Country of Operation: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. 
  Purpose: To finance and install approximately 4.75 MWp of photovoltaic capacity and 2 MWh of battery storage systems. This will provide clean energy to SMEs, reduce CO₂ emissions, and create over 150 local jobs.

Regxta

• Investment: An undisclosed investment amount.
• Investor(s): Nubia Capital.
• Sector/Focus: Fintech. A financial services platform providing credit and other financial services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and individuals who are excluded from formal banking systems.
• Country of Operation: Nigeria.
• Purpose: To support its mission of deepening financial inclusion by scaling its lending and financial service operations for underserved communities.