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    ‘The Future Isn’t Just Grants’: How Salient’s i3 Network Brokered $19M in Deals for African Healthtech Startups

    Backed by the Gates Foundation and run by Salient Advisory, i3 is helping African healthtech startups move beyond donor-funded pilots towards commercial partnerships and sustainable scale. Senior Consultant Somto Chloe Keluo-Udeke discusses the initiative with Launch Base Africa.

    How TLCOM Is Adapting to Africa’s VC Realignment

    Cyril Shonibare, Principal at TLCOM—one of Africa’s largest early-stage VC funds—sits down with Launch Base Africa to discuss the firm’s deployment strategy, and more.

    “Directly Selling Insurance to Farmers Does Not Work”: Pula CEO on Avoiding Agtech’s Deadliest Trap

    From rural Kenya to the Earthshot shortlist: Pula CEO Thomas Njeru reveals to Launch Base Africa how the profitable agtech reached 24 million farmers and why impact and profitability are not mutually exclusive.

    ‘We Aren’t Fighting Rival EVs’: Inside ARC Ride’s $33.3m Bet on Beating Petrol

    "People determine who becomes the winners in this race."
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    South African Fintech Lumepay Raises $6M Pre-Seed to Build Africa’s Institutional Cross-Border Payments Rails

    Cape Town-based start-up, founded by former Ovex executives, secures funding and a $10m liquidity float as it targets B2B corridors across a continent moving away from correspondent banking. But its early growth has coincided with litigation over restraint of trade.

    MNT-Halan Shifts From Risky SME Lending as ‘Super-App’ Strategy Lifts Third-Quarter Profit

    The group has actively curtailed its exposure to higher-risk SME lending, which previously formed a larger share of its disbursements.

    Nine Years After Its Founding, OPay’s IPO Filing Leaves Questions Over Employee Stock Options

    A court judgment proves OPay granted share options in 2020. Its US filing never mentions them, and investors are left to guess whether that’s a gap or a non-issue.

    M-KOPA’s Product Margins Halve as Lending Becomes the Main Event

    The African fintech’s gross profit from device sales fell to $57.9m even as revenue rose 45%, exposing a structural shift in the economics of financing smartphones and e-bikes for the continent’s informal earners.

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    South African Fintech Lumepay Raises $6M Pre-Seed to Build Africa’s Institutional Cross-Border Payments Rails

    Cape Town-based start-up, founded by former Ovex executives, secures funding and a $10m liquidity float as it targets B2B corridors across a continent moving away from correspondent banking. But its early growth has coincided with litigation over restraint of trade.

    MNT-Halan Shifts From Risky SME Lending as ‘Super-App’ Strategy Lifts Third-Quarter Profit

    The group has actively curtailed its exposure to higher-risk SME lending, which previously formed a larger share of its disbursements.

    African Startup Deal Tracker — Newest Deals

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

    SA Fintech Yoco Snags $100m Private Credit Facility to Scale SME Lending

    As traditional banks hesitate, the TPG-backed payments group turns to global private credit to shrink South Africa's ZAR 350bn SME credit deficit.