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 month’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 month:
Sabika
- Investment: A six-figure US dollar strategic investment.
- Investor(s): M-Empire Angels (lead investor).
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Wealthtech. A Sharia-compliant digital platform that enables individuals and businesses to securely invest in gold and silver.
- Country of Operation: Egypt.
- Purpose: To fund platform enhancements, develop AI-driven features, and support expansion into Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region.
OKO Finance
- Investment: A six-digit funding round.
- Investor(s): Catalyst Fund (lead investor) and existing investors.
- Sector/Focus: Agritech / Insurtech / Climate-tech. The company leverages satellite data and mobile technology to provide affordable climate and crop insurance to smallholder farmers.
- Country of Operation: Pan-African (currently active in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Uganda, Mozambique, and Angola).
- Purpose: To fuel expansion by embedding its climate insurance products directly into agricultural value chains through partnerships with banks, agritechs, and agro-industries.
REasy
- Investment: $1.8 million in a Pre-Seed funding round.
- Investor(s): Launch Africa Ventures (lead), 54 Collective, Ingressive Capital, Digital Africa, Cameroon Angels Network, Dakar Network Angels (DNA), Techmind, and international business angels.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / B2B Payments. A platform that enables African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to make international payments by connecting local payment systems (like Mobile Money) to global methods (like Alipay and WeChat Pay).
- Country of Operation: Cameroon but Pan-African, with a strong focus on Francophone Africa.
- Purpose: To scale its platform and continue its mission of simplifying cross-border payments, making it easier and safer for African SMEs to trade globally.
Startbutton Africa
- Investment: An undisclosed investment amount.
- Investor(s): Equitable Ventures.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Payments Infrastructure. A Merchant of Record (MoR) platform that offers a single, compliant API for digital businesses to operate and sell across multiple African markets, handling payments, compliance, and taxes.
- Country of Operation: Pan-African.
- Purpose: To support its mission of simplifying cross-border expansion for digital businesses operating in Africa.
PAYDAY Takaful
- Investment: An undisclosed Pre-Seed financing round, resulting in a 9 million Tunisian Dinar ($3 million USD) valuation.
- Investor(s): UGFS North Africa (United Gulf Financial Services) (lead investor), with participation from TALYS Group and BioProtection S.A.
- Sector/Focus: FinTech / InsurTech. Combines payroll-backed financing and micro-Takaful protection to promote financial well-being and inclusion.
- Country of Operation: Tunisia.
- Purpose: To develop services, ensure the scalability of the solution, and evolve into a regional financial and insurance aggregator serving businesses, employees, and individuals.
Kilimo Fresh Foods Africa LTD
- Investment: Investment through the #Fuzé portfolio (Specific amount undisclosed).
- Investor(s): Digital Africa (via its #Fuzé program).
- Sector/Focus: AgriTech / Logistics. A technology and logistics platform that efficiently aggregates produce from smallholder farmers and distributes it to B2B clients and informal retailers.
- Country of Operation: Tanzania (Africa).
- Purpose: To refine the growth strategy, scale tech-enabled fresh produce distribution, create more jobs, and unlock new market access for thousands of smallholder farmers across Tanzania.
Olive Finance
- Investment: An EGP 30 million ($629,000) credit facility.
- Investor(s): Suez Canal Bank.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech. The company is a licensed digital factoring service provider that offers fully digital invoice financing to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
- Country of Operation: Egypt.
- Purpose: To bridge the SME financing gap by enabling Olive to provide more small and medium-sized businesses with access to its digital factoring and invoice financing solutions.
Planet Solar
- Investment: €390,000 in additional financing.
- Investor(s): Proparco (utilizing resources from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs).
- Sector/Focus: Renewable Energy / Infrastructure. The company develops and operates grid-connected solar power plants to expand Sierra Leone’s energy infrastructure.
- Country of Operation: Sierra Leone.
- Purpose: To support the grid connection for the local community of Makoth, enabling facilities like schools and public offices to receive grid-connected power for the first time.
Anavid
- Investment: US$200,000 in pre-seed funding.
- Investor(s): Madica.
- Sector/Focus: Retail Tech / AI. The company’s platform integrates with existing retail cameras to reduce shoplifting losses and enhance customer experience using artificial intelligence.
- Country of Operation: Tunisia.
- Purpose: To support its growth, gain mentorship, and access global investor networks through Madica’s 18-month program.
Nanovate
- Investment: $2 million in a Pre-Seed funding round.
- Investor(s): Led by a group of Angel Investors.
- Sector/Focus: Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Integrated Arabic AI Solutions. Specializes in developing advanced Voice & Chat AI Agents, intelligent automation systems, and customized solutions that support 22 different Arabic dialects for businesses in the MENA region.
- Country of Operation: Egypt.
- Purpose: To expand into Saudi Arabia and the UAE, broaden its AI ecosystem into new industries, develop deeper integrations with CRM, ERP, and business tools, invest in AI R&D, and expand its workforce.
Jahazii
- Investment: $400,000 in Pre-Seed funding (a mix of equity, debt, and grants).
- Investor(s): Antler East Africa, DEG Impulse, Jozi Angels, Innovest Afrika, and strategic angel investors.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Workforce Operating System. Building a platform that unifies HR management, payroll, and embedded financial services (like earned wage access, savings, and insurance) for operations-heavy employers in manufacturing and agribusiness.
- Country of Operation: Kenya (with a focus on Africa’s informal workforce).
- Purpose: To scale its software suite and build a “workforce operating system for Africa” to formalise and finance the continent’s largely informal workforce.
Sikili
- Investment: Investment through the #Fuzé portfolio (Specific amount undisclosed).
- Investor(s): Digital Africa (via its #Fuzé program).
- Sector/Focus: Circular Economy / E-commerce. Structures the market for certified refurbished electronics (smartphones) to provide affordable, high-quality devices and drive sustainability.
- Country of Operation: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivorian startup, focused on West Africa).
- Purpose: To strengthen its mission to transform the electronics industry through certified refurbishment, build trust, and enable a circular and sustainable future in Africa.
Grid Africa
- Investment: USD 14 million (Specific financiers undisclosed).
- Investor(s): Undisclosed.
- Sector/Focus: Renewable Energy / Distributed Energy. Focuses on deploying solar-plus-battery hybrid systems to provide energy security and cut costs for corporate clients, telecom partners, and virtual-grid operators.
- Country of Operation: South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
- Purpose: To accelerate the roll-out of 20 MW of hybrid solar + battery capacity through greenfield deployments and the acquisition/upgrading of existing solar installations across Southern Africa.
Djamo
- Investment: USD 3.5 million in a debt investment.
- Investor(s): Symbiotics.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech. The company provides financial solutions (virtual accounts, bank cards, savings products) to underserved and unbanked populations, dismantling traditional banking barriers like high fees and minimum deposits.
- Country of Operation: Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.
- Purpose: To support the company’s expansion and enhance its service offerings, particularly in its main market of Côte d’Ivoire.
Enzi Mobility
- Investment: $3.5 million commitment, comprising $2 million in equity financing and a $1.5 million blockchain technology stack.
- Investor(s): Kula PCC (a Blockchain-enabled impact investment company).
- Sector/Focus: Electric Mobility / Clean Tech / Blockchain. A company focused on providing clean, affordable, and scalable electric motorcycle transport solutions for riders.
- Country of Operation: Kenya.
- Purpose: To accelerate its mission by securing capital and integrating Kula’s blockchain governance rails. The funding will also support the integration of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) monitoring and the introduction of two digital tokens to enhance customer experience.
Docline
- Investment: €4.5 million ($5.2 million).
- Investor(s): Arcano Partners, CDG Invest (via its 212Founders program), and EmergingTech Ventures.
- Sector/Focus: Healthtech / Telemedicine. A B2B virtual care platform that provides secure remote healthcare services (video consultations, electronic prescriptions, patient monitoring) to insurers and corporations.
- Country of Operation: Morocco (also operates in Spain).
- Purpose: To accelerate expansion in Morocco (a key market) and to strengthen its international reach, particularly in French-speaking Africa.
Kotani Pay
- Investment: A strategic investment of an undisclosed amount.
- Investor(s): Tether.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Web3 / Payments Infrastructure. An on-ramp/off-ramp infrastructure that connects Web3 users to local payment channels, enabling digital asset access and cross-border payments.
- Country of Operation: Pan-African.
- Purpose: To empower people and businesses in Africa by providing easier access to digital assets, reducing friction in cross-border transactions, and bridging the gap between local payment channels and the global digital economy.
Certus AI
- Investment: Multimillion-rand (undisclosed exact amount) early-stage funding.
- Investor(s): Y Combinator (Silicon Valley accelerator) and other undisclosed investors.
- Sector/Focus: AI / Restaurant Technology (Voice AI). Develops advanced, voice-based AI tools to automate restaurant bookings, food orders, and deliveries, integrating with POS systems and delivery platforms like Uber Eats.
- Country of Operation: Founded in South Africa (Cape Town); Registered in the UK and US (where investors and customers are based).
- Purpose: To scale the technology and operations, which aims to replace traditional restaurant phone lines, maximise sales through upselling, and ensure high order accuracy.
Locstat
- Investment: EUR 2.5 million (US$2.3 million) in a pre-Series A round.
- Investor(s): Portugal Gateway Fund (PGF) and ANZA Capital.
- Sector/Focus: AI / Big Data / Fintech. A graph-powered AI and event processing solution that analyzes real-time and static data to provide insights for fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML), and customer journey mapping.
- Country of Operation: South Africa.
- Purpose: To fund its go-to-market expansion into the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), expand its team, and deepen its partner ecosystem, while continuing to grow in Africa.
Velents
- Investment: US$1.5 million.
- Investor(s): Prominent angel investors, including senior executives from Google, BCG, and other global firms.
- Sector/Focus: Enterprise AI / Software. The company specializes in AI-driven digital solutions and has launched “Agent.sa,” the first fully integrated, autonomous AI employee fluent in Arabic and its regional dialects, designed for customer service, sales, and operational tasks.
- Country of Operation: Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
- Purpose: To support its growth, fund platform advancements, and scale the rollout of its AI-powered agents across the Middle East.
Blademy
- Investment: An undisclosed amount of backing through an equity program.
- Investor(s): FasterCapital (via its EquityPilot program).
- Sector/Focus: Healthtech. A connected-health solution that bundles low-cost, Bluetooth-enabled medical devices with an offline-capable mobile app to help manage chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.
- Country of Operation: West Africa.
- Purpose: To accelerate device procurement, finalize the development of its mobile platform, and deploy pilot programs.
You can submit any deals we may have missed to support@launchbaseafrica.com and we’ll get in touch for further details.