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:
Khazna (Egypt & Saudi Arabia)
- Funding: $16 million
- Funding Round: Pre-Series B
- Investors: Tibas Ventures (Added), Speedinvest, SANAD Fund for MSME, anb capital, AlJazira Capital Jl, Khwarizmi Ventures, Nclude, ICU Ventures, Quona Capital, and DisrupTech Ventures.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Financial inclusion and digital transformation through a financial super app offering services like accessible credit (payroll-backed, pension-based, earned wage access), buy now, pay later (BNPL), and bill payments.
- Countries of Operation: Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Tendo (Ghana)
- Investment: Received investment from Renew Capital. The specific amount was not disclosed.
- Investor: Renew Capital.
- Sector/Focus: E-commerce / Empowering individuals to launch e-commerce businesses through social media with no upfront inventory investment by connecting wholesalers to independent resellers.
- Country of Operation: Ghana, with a mission to empower individuals across Africa.
- Investment: Received investment from Resilience17. The specific amount was not disclosed.
- Investor: Resilience17.
- Sector/Focus: Fintech / Simplifying software payments for African businesses by enabling them to pay for Cloud, Ad, and SaaS tools in local currency from one platform.
- Country of Operation: Across the continent of Africa.
Mariseth Farms (Ghana)
- Funding: Secured a $560,000 working capital loan.
- Investor: Sahel Capital, through its Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA).
- Sector/Focus: Agritech / Crop aggregation and providing fair market access for smallholder farmers.
- Country of Operation: Ghana.
- Impact: Supports over 8,000 smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, by sourcing crops like soybeans, maize, rice, and palm fruit and supplying them to FMCG companies.
- Funding: Raised a six-figure USD amount.
- Funding Round: Pre-seed.
- Investor: Led by venture capital firm DEN VC.
- Sector/Focus: Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Delivering AI-powered cybersecurity and analytics solutions.
- Country of Operation: Egypt, with plans to expand operations within and outside Egypt and enter new markets in the Middle East and Africa.
- Purpose: To support operational expansion, accelerate development of advanced security products and technology, and market entry into new regions.
Impulse Biomedical (South Africa)
- Funding: Secured an undisclosed amount of funding.
- Investors: E Squared Investments and ANZA Capital. The startup had previously secured funding from Futuregrowth in 2021.
- Sector/Focus: Med-tech / Biomedical engineering, developing breakthrough devices for emergency care.
- Country of Operation: South Africa (Cape Town-based).
- Products: Easy Squeezy (affordable asthma inhaler) and ZiBiPen (reloadable epinephrine auto-injector).
- Purpose: To commercialize its products, navigate regulatory pathways, and expand internationally in preparation for a Series A funding round.
Amaya Ag (Algeria)
- Investment: Received investment from Fuze by Digital Africa. The specific amount was not disclosed.
- Investor: Fuze by Digital Africa.
- Sector/Focus: Agritech / Helping smallholder farmers increase productivity and profitability through smart digital tools, including AI-powered insights, digitized operations, and product traceability.
- Country of Operation: Algeria.