africa

Madica, a program by Flourish Ventures, steps up pre-seed investing in Africa

Madica, an investment program launched by U.S.-based investor Flourish Ventures to back pre-seed startups in Africa, plans to invest in up to 10 ventures by the end of the year, ramping up its funding

TLcom Capital closes second fund at $154M to back early-stage startups across Africa

Venture capital activity in Africa has shown resilience over the past six months, with major firms on the continent closing their funds despite the ongoing funding winter. In the latest development, T

MarketForce winds down its B2B e-commerce arm

Kenyan B2B e-commerce company MarketForce is winding down its B2B e-commerce business that served informal merchants (mom-and-pop stores) after a turbulent two-year period that saw it scale down opera

B2B marketplace The Folklore bags $3.4M seed to get brands into global stores

Amira Rasool founded The Folklore in 2018 to help fashion brands from emerging markets like Africa, Asia and The Caribbean tap into the international market. In 2022, the startup introduced The Folklo

Inside LemFi’s play to be fintech to the Global South diaspora

The African tech ecosystem, buffeted by huge potential but also lots of economic, political and social instabilities, is no stranger to major drama affecting even its most promising-looking startups.

Pula raises $20M Series B to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and LatAm

Since 2015, Pula, an insurtech based in Kenya, has been keen on enhancing the access to agricultural insurance by small-holder farmers across emerging markets, shielding them against losses from pests

Pan-African VC Verod-Kepple closes its first fund at $60M

Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV) plans to back up to 21 growth-stage companies across the continent after closing its first fund at $60 million. The pan-African VC hit the milestone following fresh

Climate tech VC Satgana closes first fund that targets early-stage startups in Africa, Europe

Climate tech VC Satgana has reached a final close of its first fund, which aims to back up to 30 early-stage startups in Africa and Europe. The VC firm reached a final close of €8 million ($8.6 mill

African B2B e-commerce giant Wasoko marked down to $260M after VC halves stake

VNV Global, a Swedish investment firm that backs startups in mobility, health and marketplaces, slashed the value of its holding in Wasoko, an African B2B e-commerce startup, by 48%, according to its

Non-sexy industries can appeal to investors too

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at some hot fintech startups in Africa, how Mint’s closure has been Copilot’s gain and why VCs have dou

Farm to Feed is cutting food loss and creating data platform to improve farming outcomes

Globally, a third of the food produced is lost or wasted, and in Kenya, that figure stands between 20% and 40%. For Kenya, unlike the developed world, food loss, not waste, is the greater problem, wit

Nala set out to offer remittance services, it’s building a B2B payment platform too

Payments company Nala pivoted to offer remittance service in 2021, tapping the growing money transfer market in Africa, and demand for reliable and affordable services. Nala founder Benjamin Fernandes

Uber leads $100M investment in African mobility fintech Moove as valuation hits $750M

Moove, an African mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers, has raised $100 million in a funding round as it plots expansion into new markets. Moove did

Nigerian fintech Zone raises $8.5M seed to scale its decentralized payment infrastructure

African financial institutions typically scale their solutions using a mix of local and foreign tech. Appzone is one of the standout local fintech software providers for banks and fintechs, providing

What African B2B e-commerce startups can learn from OmniRetail’s profitable run

Save for fintech and clean tech, B2B e-commerce and retail was the leading destination for venture capital dollars over the last five years. The premise of digitizing the continent’s mom-and-pop con

Nigeria’s Youverify raises $2.5M to enhance anti-money laundering compliance

Youverify, a Nigerian provider of identity verification and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions for banks and startups, secured a $2.5 million investment from Elm, which specializes in offering read

Nigeria demands Binance disclose top users, executives remain detained

Nigeria is actively seeking information from Binance regarding its top 100 users in the country and all transaction history spanning the past six months, according to a Financial Times report. This ne

MDaaS raises $3M to improve healthcare access and expand network across Nigeria

MDaaS Global, a Nigerian health tech company that operates a network of tech-enabled diagnostic centers across the country, has secured $3 million in pre-Series A funding. The round was led by Aruwa C

BRKZ, a construction tech startup eyeing MENA, emerges from stealth with $8M

Saudi Arabia is poised to become one of the largest global construction hubs, owing to its trillion-dollar infrastructure and the real estate projects that are underway in the country. Yet even as the

Binance to halt naira services amid ongoing regulatory probe in Nigeria

Binance will discontinue its naira (NGN) services in response to heightened regulatory scrutiny in Nigeria, it said in a blog post today. The cryptocurrency exchange will begin delisting any existing
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