The Latest from Tage Kene-Okafor
Rabbit, a 20-minute convenience delivery startup in Egypt, comes out of stealth with $11M pre-seed
The rapid on-demand grocery and convenience delivery craze that has taken over Europe and the U.S. this past year is gradually making its way into Africa and the Middle East. Today, the spotlight is o
Fidelity, Visa and Kingsway back South African fintech JUMO in $120M round
JUMO, a South Africa- and London-based company that offers financial services to entrepreneurs and businesses in emerging markets, has raised $120 million in a new round of funding led by Fidelity Man
Egypt’s Breadfast wants to build ‘Gopuff for Africa and Middle East’, gets $26M backing
The market for food and grocery delivery across Africa and the Middle East is worth nearly $1 trillion. And Egypt, buoyed by a young and growing population, is a big market across both regions. Invest
Bypa-ss raises $1M pre-seed to expand health tech product across Egypt
Digital healthcare continues to thrive globally following the effects of the pandemic last year, but venture capital inflows differ regionally with Africa lagging behind the rest of the world. However
Egyptian on-demand grocery delivery startup Appetito bags $2M pre-Series A
Egyptian grocery delivery startup Appetito has raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today. The round, which comes after the company’s $450,000 seed round in
Chipper Cash gets $2B valuation with $150M extension round led by FTX
Chipper Cash, an African cross-border payments company, has raised $150 million in a Series C extension round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX. The investment comes ba
Kenya’s Twiga raises $50M to scale food solutions across Africa
Years ago, Americans spent most of their disposable income on food, but consistent investment in retail infrastructure has changed that. Now, they only spend 6% of their household income on food and b
ShipBlu bags $2.4M for its e-commerce and fulfillment service in Egypt
African e-commerce fulfillment startups backed by Y Combinator seem to be piquing investors’ interest this year for their niche e-commerce play. Summer batch graduate ShipBlu is the latest on that l
Didi expands, inDriver monetizes to rival Uber, Bolt in Africa
The on-demand transport space in Africa has evolved since San Francisco-based ride-hailing firm Uber first set up operations in South Africa in 2013, setting the stage for its foray across the contine
Stitch gets a $2M seed extension, hires Benjamin Dada to lead Nigerian expansion
Two months into 2021, South African fintech Stitch came out of stealth and raised $4 million in seed funding, allowing it to begin to make inroads into Nigeria some months ago. Today, Stitch formally
South Africa’s RecoMed raises $1.5M to scale its online healthcare marketplace
South African online healthcare marketplace RecoMed has raised a $1.5 million financing round, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The round was led by South Africa-focused venture capital firm Vunan
Tiger Global leads $3M round in Zambia’s Union54 for its card-issuing API
Union54, the first Zambian startup backed by Y Combinator, has gotten another major venture capital firm on its term sheet: Tiger Global. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the VC juggernaut led
TLcom and 4DX drive $13.1M seed round to scale Autochek’s platform across Africa
African automotive company Autochek has secured a $13.1 million seed round almost a year after raising $3.4 million pre-seed in November 2020. The company, led by CEO Etop Ikpe, has seen astonishing g
Nigeria follows China’s footsteps in piloting digital currency
Central banks control the circulation and supply of money globally, but the phenomenal rise of cryptocurrency poses a threat to their authority, control and power. So central banks around the world ar
Vendease gets $3.2M to help hotels and restaurants buy food supplies in Africa
Vendease, an online marketplace that allows restaurants and other food businesses to buy supplies straight from manufacturers and farms, has raised a seed round of $3.2 million, the company confirmed
What do people want in a co-founder? YC has some answers
If I went to Stanford and worked with some YC-backed startups, chances are that I’ll find it relatively easy to find one or two co-founders, get millions in funding and build a billion-dollar compan
Ventures Platform, Hustle Fund back Nigerian fintech Brass in $1.7M round
Small and medium enterprises make up more than 95% of all businesses in Nigeria. But despite their sheer size and importance, a majority of them are underserved by financial institutions and lack the
Egypt’s ILLA raises $2M to diversify its offerings to FMCG value chain
Most FMCG brands rely on a combination of owned and outsourced assets to carry out delivery operations. The variety of both models brings about a fragmented logistics cycle and FMCGs can lose signific
More African startups get into Techstars Toronto
In March, two Nigerian startups, Treepz (formerly Plentywaka) and TalentQL got into the Techstars Toronto accelerator program alongside eight other companies. The program, held virtually, provided th
Nigeria’s Sendbox raises $1.8M to provide e-commerce fulfilment for small merchants
There is a lot of activity going on with social commerce in Nigeria. From Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp holding the keys to the marketplace-facing side of things to fintech companies li