Egypt’s Islamic Fintech, Agel has closed a pre-seed round for an undisclosed seven-digit figures. The investment round was led by leading MENA-focused venture capital firms, Plus Venture Capital (+VC), Seedstars International Ventures, Flat6labs, with participation from SEEDRA Ventures, Banque Misr, and prominent angel investors. Agel which is Egypt’s first and…
Author: Oluwasegun Olukotun
The Baobab Network, Africa’s leading tech accelerator, has announced its most recent cohort. With this, The Baobab Network broadens its portfolio to include five new start-ups from Kenya, Togo, Nigeria, Guinea, and Morocco, each backed with a $50,000 capital injection. Introducing the ventures shaping the Q1 2023 cohort: Afrigility (Kenya)…
African insuretech, Turaco distributing affordable insurance has announced it has surpassed 1,000,000 lives insured. Turaco raised a $10m Series A in September 2022, and is using that investment to grow rapidly. Operating in Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda, Turaco provides access to a much-needed safety net against financial shocks to mass…
Orange and Digital Africa have entered into a partnership to promote and strengthen the growth of African start-ups by leveraging the expertise and resources of the Orange Digital Centres and Digital Africa. The partnership was sealed by both Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa and Isadora Bigourdan, CEO…
Eze, a wholesale marketplace for used and new electronics, has secured $3.7 million in seed funding to develop its technology infrastructure, broaden its product offering and expand into new markets in Africa, Europe and South America. The funding round was led by Right Side Capital Management, with participation from C2…
Bboxx has launched its new range of four Solar Home Systems designed to seize the opportunity of new advances in technology to deliver universal energy access in Africa. The new GPS and IoT-enabled range of products are designed to bolster Bboxx’s mission to transform lives and unlock potential by bringing…
International health technology provider, Vantage Health Technologies has teamed up with Nigeria’s Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), a public health and development non-profit organisation committed to delivering high-impact public health interventions across Africa. Vantage’s AI-powered solutions specifically help health organisations achieve cost and operational efficiencies, improved organisational performance…
Egypt’s Acasia Ventures (formerly Cairo Angels), the venture capital investment arm of Acasia Group has opened a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, in a bid to extend its reach across the African continent and connect with founders and stakeholders on the ground. “We have our heritage in Egypt, but we…
Global financial technology company, Nasdaq has acquired Adenza, a provider of mission-critical risk management and regulatory software to the financial services industry, from Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, for $10.5 billion in cash and shares of common stock. The acquisition accelerates Nasdaq’s strategic vision to become the trusted…
The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) of the African Development Bank has sealed a $650,000 grant agreement with the Government of Chad to provide innovative digital financial and non-financial services to women and youth. The grant will boost the Microfinance Development Support Project for Women and Youth Entrepreneurship, which…
Nigeria’s Access Bank has rolled the first American Express cards to be issued in the country and West Africa. The two new consumer credit cards: the Access Bank American Express Gold Card and the Metal Platinum Card will improve Access Bank’s overall offering to its retail and private bank customers,…
Google has launched its cleantech accelerator programme, Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change to back startups focused on sustainable technology climate solutions, cleantech and green energy across the Middle East and Africa. The 10-week equity-free hybrid programme for Seed to Series A startups designed by Google in partnership with Google…
Nigeria’s digital bank focused on driving growth for SMEs and farmers, Trade Lenda has been nominated for the 2023 Go Global Awards, hosted by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. This nomination places Trade Lenda amongst the top business leaders in the world, highlighting its innovation, growth, and global impact. Trade…
FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) has invested £1 million in Africa Climate Ventures (ACV), a pioneering venture builder working to build a $45 million portfolio. ACV will catalyse the carbon asset class in Africa by building innovative businesses focused on solving its generation’s greatest challenge and at the same time capturing…
Africa’s payment technology company, Flutterwave has partnered with Token.io, Europe’s leading account-to-account (A2A) payment infrastructure provider, to power Pay By Bank transfer capabilities for Flutterwave’s platform. A2A payments (often called ‘Pay By Bank’) are a fast and secure way to move money between bank accounts. Open banking powered A2A payments…
Early-stage venture fund, E3 Low Carbon Economy Fund for Africa (E3LCEF) has secured its first close at $48.1 million to invest in next-generation low-carbon entrepreneurs in Africa scaling new technologies and business models enabled by the low carbon economy. The fund will invest in early-stage companies and hold significant capital…
Universal Music Group has entered into a strategic relationship with Endel, an AI sound wellness company to enable artists and labels to create soundscapes for daily activities like sleep, relaxation, and focus by harnessing the power of AI. As part of the agreement, both entities will use Endel’s proprietary AI…
Opera has launched its new browser AI, Aria enabling users to have access to a leading generative AI service for free. Natively built into the browser, Aria marks the beginning of a new kind of browsing experience. Aria allows users to enhance their creativity and productivity by harnessing the power…
Financial infrastructure, Stripe has partnered with Airbnb to power bank payments for Airbnb guests. This deal will allow Airbnb guests to use Stripe Financial Connections to securely and instantly add their bank account as a payment method. Once those details are saved, guests can use Link, Stripe’s native one-click checkout,…
Mastercard has teamed up with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Netplus to launch a contactless payment solution that enables consumers, merchants, and financial institutions to process payments seamlessly using Tap on Phone. This eliminates physical contact with a device at the point of sale, thereby enabling consumers to make…