Daily Digest Friday, 1 May 2020
Funding in Africa Investor Partech Raises $100M For Its Third Global Seed Fund To Invest In A Post-Covid Future Venture Capital firm and previous investor in African startups such as Kudi, Terrapay, Gebeya, etc. Partech has announced the final closing of its latest Seed Fund, Partech Entrepreneur III, at $100M, investing in post-COVID trends in health, work, commerce, finance, mobility and computing. Read more...
Daily Digest Thursday, 30 April 2020
Funding in Africa Alitheia IDF Fund For Women-Led African Startups Closes Second Round Of Funding At $75m Alitheia IDF, an SME investment fund for businesses with high-growth in Africa, has reached its second close at US$75 million and will announce its first investments soon. Read more Funding in Southern Africa Money Transfer Startup Founded By Zimbabwean Secures US$5 Million Digital company, Senditoo is fast becoming one of the dominant fintech start-ups in Africa, after securing a US$5 million line of credit from an international conglomerate. Read more Call for applications Gogettaz Agripreneur Prize 2020 Opens Application To African Agribusiness Startups The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize aims to find Africa’s brightest young agrifood entrepreneurs. We are searching for agribusinesses...
CDG Invest Pours About $1.7 Million Into Seven Moroccan Startups In The First Edition Of 212 Founders
It’s definitely a breath of fresh air. In this period of health crisis where startups are struggling to survive, CDG Invest, the investment branch of Groupe Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG), has decided to grant seven financing agreements to date for the benefit of seven startups in the first edition of the 212 Founders program. Launched in September 2019,CDG Invest’s 212 Founders is a support and financing program aimed at developing world-class startups from Morocco. About twenty startups out of nearly a thousand applicants were selected to participate in the program, after a demanding application process, with funding ranging from of 1 to 3 million dirhams...
Oriente raises $50 million to continue building its infrastructure for digital financial services
Oriente, a Hong Kong-based startup that develops tech infrastructure for digital credit and other online financial services, has raised $50 million for its ongoing Series B round. The funding was led by Peter Lee, co-chairman of Henderson Land, one of Hong Kong’s largest property developers, with participation from investors including website development platform Wix.com. Launched in 2017 by Geoff Prentice (one of Skype’s co-founders), Hubert Tai and Lawrence Chu, Oriente focuses on markets that are underserved by traditional financial institutions. The new funding will be used for growth in Oriente’s existing markets, the Philippines and Indonesia, and expansion into new countries, including Vietnam. It will also be used to...
Investors, startup founders in India pool $13M to fund projects that fight coronavirus
More than 150 investors and entrepreneurs in India are funding dozens of projects in a bid to help millions better combat the COVID-19 epidemic and help the nation’s booming startup ecosystem withstand the economic devastation the pandemic has caused. The investors said they have contributed 1 billion Indian rupees — or $13 million — of their own money to the ACT Grants initiative, which was unveiled late last month. The group — which includes several prominent industry figures, including Nandan Nilekani, Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Flipkart’s Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Oyo’s Ritesh Agarwal, Udaan’s Sujeet Kumar, Freshworks’ Girish Mathrubootham, CRED’s Kunal Shah and Times Internet’s Miten Sampat — has funded 32 projects...
Money Transfer Startup Founded By Zimbabwean Secures US$5 Million
Digital company, Senditoo is fast becoming one of the dominant fintech start-ups in Africa, after securing a US$5 million line of credit from an international conglomerate. It comes after the financial enterprise, which is headquartered in London, announced it had been in talks to increase customers sending amounts from US$500 to now allowing them to send or receive up to US$6,000 per single transaction. The facility means that the company, started by Zimbabwean born techpreneur, Takwana Tyaranini and his business partner Ibrahima Soumano from Guinea, will allow them to pre-fund their digital money transfers to Zimbabwe and 50 other countries soon. Last year, Senditoo secured a partnership with...
GOGETTAZ AGRIPRENEUR PRIZE 2020 OPENS APPLICATION TO AFRICAN AGRIBUSINESS STARTUPS
The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize aims to find Africa’s brightest young agrifood entrepreneurs. We are searching for agribusinesses that bring technology, innovation, and passion to the agriculture and food industries. YOU could win one of two US$50,000 cash prizes that will help you change your world and transform the agri-food business in Africa. We need strong agriculture and food businesses to get us through the pandemic and grow our communities and economies when it’s over. We want to support YOUR businesses to become profitable and scale, so you can lead the way. THE OPPORTUNITY Two entrepreneurs, one woman, and one man will each win 50,000 US Dollars for the most innovative and scalable...
ALITHEIA IDF FUND FOR WOMEN-LED AFRICAN STARTUPS CLOSES SECOND ROUND OF FUNDING AT $75M
Alitheia IDF, an SME investment fund for businesses with high-growth in Africa, has reached its second close at US$75 million and will announce its first investments soon. Alitheia invests in businesses that are majority-owned, majority-run, or mainly created to serve women. “Through these three main criteria, we apply a gender lens to invest in businesses across western and southern Africa,” said Temilade Denton, Impact and ESG manager at Alitheia Capital said. Alitheia IDF is a joint venture fund established in 2014 between Alitheia Capital, private equity investment and advisory firm in Nigeria, and IDF Capital in South Africa. Alitheia Capital was founded by Olajumoke Akinwunmi and Tokunboh Ishmael. The latter chairs the board of the Africa Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (AVCA). IDF Capital was...
Daily Digest Wednesday, 29 April 2020
Funding in North Africa Egypt raises $1.13bln to acquire 1,300 railcars The Board Chairman of Egyptian National Railways (ENR) has received an official loan authorization from the Hungarian ambassador to Egypt, Railway News reports. This is the final step in the approval process for the $1.13 billion financing for the purchase of 1,300 new railcars. Read more Egypt Tops North Africa And The Middle East In Number Of Startup Funding Deals For Second Consecutive Year More startups in Egypt have raised funds from investors than in any other country in the whole of North Africa and the Middle East (MENA) in the first quarter of 2020 (January-March) Read more...
Egypt raises $1.13bln to acquire 1,300 railcars
The Board Chairman of Egyptian National Railways (ENR) has received an official loan authorization from the Hungarian ambassador to Egypt, Railway News reports. This is the final step in the approval process for the $1.13 billion financing for the purchase of 1,300 new railcars. Under the agreement signed in December 2019, the financing is backed by a joint loan from the Export-Import Banks (Eximbank) of Hungary and Russia, while the national import-export agencies of the two countries (MEHIB and EXIAR) will provide insurance coverage. See other related articles: Egyptian last-mile delivery startup Bosta raises seven-figure Series A Transmashholding (TMH), Russia's leading manufacturer of railway equipment, is responsible for manufacturing and export....