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:
Rology
- Investment: Undisclosed amount in a growth funding round.
- Investor(s): Philips Foundation (lead), Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, Sanofi’s Global Health Impact Fund, and MIT’s Solution for the Future Innovation initiative.
- Sector/Focus: Healthtech / AI / Teleradiology. An FDA 510(k)-authorized platform providing rapid, AI-powered diagnostic reports across 12 subspecialties to bridge the gap in radiology access.
- Country of Operation: Egypt (headquarters), with operations across the Middle East and Africa (including Saudi Arabia and Kenya).
- Purpose: To enhance AI reporting capabilities, bridge the diagnostic gap in remote and underserved communities, and expand access to high-quality radiology services across the region.
Zazu
- Investment: $1 million in pre-seed funding.
- Investor(s): Plug and Play Ventures, along with founders and investors from Launch Africa Ventures, AUTO24.africa, Paymentology, Chari, Fiat Republic, Qonto, and Solarisbank.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Financial Operating System. A “Mercury-style” digital banking platform for SMEs that rebundles fragmented financial tools (banking, bookkeeping, tax, payroll) into a unified operating system.
- Country of Operation: South Africa and Morocco (with pan-African expansion planned for 2026).
- Purpose: To accelerate its rollout in South Africa and Morocco, address the “missing middle” funding gap for SMEs, and further develop its digital incorporation and financial management tools.
Gigmile
- Investment: Undisclosed Seed round (Total capital raised to date is reported as $21 million in combined debt and equity).
- Investor(s): ENZA Capital (lead), Seedstars International Ventures, and Norrsken Africa Fund.
- Sector/Focus: Mobility Fintech / Asset Financing. A platform enabling gig workers to acquire income-generating vehicles (motorcycles, cars, tricycles) through a lease-to-own model that includes insurance and maintenance.
- Country of Operation: Nigeria and Ghana (operating in 13 cities).
- Purpose: To scale its operations rapidly and deepen its social impact, having already deployed over 10,000 vehicles to gig workers.
Ageiro
- Investment: $3 million.
- Investor(s): Undisclosed (information not specified in the text).
- Sector/Focus: Enterprise AI / Autonomous Software Development. Developed an “agentic AI platform” that converts high-level business goals directly into production-ready software, allowing for autonomous digital execution.
- Country of Operation: South Africa.
- Purpose: To strengthen its decision-intelligence models, compliance and risk frameworks, scale its go-to-market efforts, and expand its connector systems for regulated industries.
BFREE Africa Inc.
- Investment: $250,000.
- Investor(s): Undisclosed (information not specified in the text).
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Debt Collection. A tech-enabled startup focused on automating and introducing ethical debt recovery processes.
- Country of Operation: Nigeria.
- Purpose: Undisclosed (implicit purpose is to accelerate growth and deployment of its ethical debt recovery platform).
Gozem
- Investment: Belife Insurance participated in the Series B fundraising round. (Note: Gozem’s Series B raised $30 million in combined equity and debt).
- Investor(s): Belife Insurance, a pan-African insurance group (following the acquisition of Prudential’s Francophone African operations).
- Sector/Focus: Super App / Tech-Enabled Services. A multi-service platform offering ride-hailing (motorcycle, car), food and grocery delivery, digital ticketing, vehicle financing, and digital financial services.
- Country of Operation: Francophone Africa, specifically operating in Togo, Benin, Gabon, and Cameroon.
- Purpose: The investment is a strategic partnership to enable Belife Insurance to integrate and deploy simple, useful, and accessible insurance solutions through the Gozem super app platform.
Odyssey Energy Solutions
- Investment: $7.5 million Senior Debt Facility.
- Investor(s): Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI), managed by Cygnum Capital.
- Sector/Focus: Clean Energy / Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) Financing. Operates an integrated equipment credit platform to provide high-quality solar equipment on flexible terms for mini-grid and Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar developers.
- Country of Operation: Across Africa, with a focus on projects in Nigeria under the DARES (Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up) programme.
- Purpose: To scale Odyssey’s equipment credit platform, allowing DRE developers to access necessary solar equipment and accelerate project deployment, thereby improving access to reliable, affordable clean energy across frontier markets.
iVoiceUp
- Investment: Undisclosed amount in a new investment round.
- Investor(s): 15A (The search results also refer to the investor as A15, an Egyptian venture capital firm).
- Sector/Focus: Enterprise AI / Compliance Tech / Ethics Case Management. An AI-powered platform for managing the reporting of professional misconduct and behavior, covering financial crimes (e.g., corruption) and non-financial offenses (e.g., harassment).
- Country of Operation: Egypt (headquartered), with plans to accelerate expansion into the broader MENA region, specifically Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- Purpose: To accelerate strategic expansion across the MENA region and launch next-generation technological capabilities, most notably the Anonymous Video Interview feature using AI-powered interactive virtual characters.
Gigmile
- Investment: Undisclosed strategic investment. (Yango Ventures operates out of an initial $20 million fund).
- Investor(s): Yango Ventures (the corporate venture arm of Yango Group).
- Sector/Focus: Mobility Fintech / Last-Mile Infrastructure. Provides vehicle financing, software tools, and operational support specifically for gig economy couriers and delivery workers.
- Country of Operation: Ghana (headquarters) and Nigeria, with plans for broader regional expansion.
- Purpose: To fuel product development, strengthen operational capabilities, and accelerate expansion across multiple African markets, leveraging Yango’s global expertise in urban logistics.
KaliSpot
- Investment: $4 million (Mixed Debt and Equity).
- Investor(s): A sub-regional financial investor, historical angel investors, and Sékou Dramé (former CEO of Sonatel Group).
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Financial Infrastructure. The company develops “1Net,” an automated and agnostic financial infrastructure network of kiosks and ATMs designed to be interoperable with banks, mobile money operators, and other fintechs.
- Country of Operation: Senegal(main), Mali, Togo, Benin, Congo-Brazzaville, DRC, and Morocco (with expansion to Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, and Guinea Conakry by Q1 2026).
- Purpose: To accelerate the deployment of the 1Net network, improve access to cash-in and cash-out services, and reinforce financial inclusion in areas underserved by traditional banking.
Purpose: To scale Gozem’s vehicle financing business in the Gabonese market. The capital is dedicated to helping young local entrepreneurs acquire high-quality vehicles (CFAO Mobility brands) to generate sustainable income, driving economic inclusion and professionalizing the local transport sector.
Investment: Over $535,000 (300 million FCFA) in financing capital.
Investor(s): Ecobank Gabon (part of the Ecobank Transnational Incorporated group).
Sector/Focus: Fintech / Vehicle Financing. Specifically supporting the “V+ Voiture” program in partnership with CFAO Mobility.
Country of Operation: Gabon.
Senmixmaster
- Investment: Undisclosed strategic investment.
- Investor(s): Platform Capital Group.
- Sector/Focus: Creative Tech / AI Audio Technology. Africa’s first AI-powered audio mastering and enhancement platform that uses reinforcement learning to provide professional-grade sound tools for creators.
- Country of Operation: Senegal (Dakar-based).
- Purpose: To scale the platform globally and serve the growing demand for professional audio tools in the creator economy. As part of the deal, Platform Capital Chairman Dr. Akintoye Akindele joins Senmixmaster’s Advisory Board as Chairman.
Croptimus
- Investment: Undisclosed (Investment following graduation from the “Hasad” accelerator).
- Investor(s): VentureX and the Hasad Agricultural Accelerator (Jordan).
- Sector/Focus: Agritech / Regenerative Agriculture / Biochar. The company transforms agricultural and food waste into sustainable products like biochar, “bio-pop,” and bio-oils. These solutions reduce water and fertilizer consumption while improving soil health and crop quality.
- Country of Operation: Egypt (with regional expansion plans facilitated by Jordanian partners).
- Purpose: To accelerate product development, expand the company’s reach across the region, and scale the deployment of its technology to help farmers and B2B supply chains reduce emissions and waste.
BioCODE
- Investment: R7 million (approx. $380,000).
- Investor(s): University Technology Fund (UTF) (contributed R5m) and Stellenbosch University (contributed R2m).
- Sector/Focus: Healthtech / Biotech. Developing a rapid inflammation test that detects molecules like Serum Amyloid A (SAA) in blood to screen for risks associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and long COVID.
- Country of Operation: South Africa.
- Purpose: To fund the final development and commercialization of its rapid inflammation testing technology.