Hi and welcome to African VC/ Startup news, a weekly newsletter where I highlight transactions in the African startup ecosystem over the past week (or two). Since 1 February 2021, I noticed 11 deals come across my screen.
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Since 2 February 2021 I noticed the following deals:
Investments (9 deals)
1: SPARK Schools | Undisclosed amount | Series C | Creadev and others | Education
Investee:
SPARK Schools – a South African network of affordable private schools implementing blended learning model for primary school students, utilising traditional classroom teaching and individualised technology instruction in their Learning Lab.
Investor(s):
Creadev - an evergreen investment company operating worldwide, supporting companies able to scale-up and become global best players in their sector (~$1.9bn invested).
Imaginable Futures - global philanthropic investment firm investing in the education space.
FinnFund - a Finnish development financier that invests in responsible and profitable businesses in developing countries.
Detail: South African private school brand Sparks Schools has raised Series C round funding of an undisclosed amount from various investors lead by Creadev, Imaginable Futures and FinnFund. The funds will be used to increase the school portfolio of primary and secondary schools to more than 35 000 scholars across the continent in the next decade.
2: Sakneen | $1.1m | Seed | Algebra Ventures and others | Proptech
Investee:
Sakneen – An Egyptian proptech company that offers users an online portal for browsing different options in order to buy or sell homes.
Investor(s):
Algebra Ventures – a $50-million Cairo-based venture capital fund that invests in early-stage technology companies in Egypt and the MENA region.
Sarwa Capital -a provider of finance solutions, including auto credit, insurance and consumer finance. The company is the largest player in Egypt’s nascent debt capital markets, helping structure, arrange and underwriting debt transactions for companies that need to access debt capital markets.
Hem+Spire - a US based real estate private equity firm.
Foundation Ventures - an early-stage venture capital fund focused on Egypt and the MENA region
Detail: Egyptian prop-tech company Sakneen has raised $1.1m in seed funding from various investors. The company will use the capital for new hires, product and platform development.
3: Mortgage Market | $687k | Series A | IDF Capital | Fintech
Investee:
Mortgage Market – a South African independent mortgage broker that operates a digital platform for easy application of home loans.
Investor(s):
IDF Capital – a South African fund management and advisory services firm.
Detail: The South African digital home loan application platform Mortgage Market has raised $687k in Series A funding from IDF Capital. The funds will be utilised for brand expansion and marketing.
4: Xend Finance | $500k | Undisclosed round | NGC Ventures and Hashkey | Fintech
Investee:
Xend Finance – a Nigerian decentralised finance platform that allows credit unions and cooperatives to disintermediate major investment and savings institutions by gaining direct access to global money markets.
Investor(s):
NGC Ventures – a Venture Capital firm based in Singapore and focused on investments in blockchain technology.
Hashkey - a leader in digital asset management and blockchain solutions, based in Hong Kong and providing a complete ecosystem across the entire digital asset landscape, ranging from capital, to custody, to technologies, trading, and exchange.
Detail: Decentralised finance Nigerian digital platform Xend Finance has topped up a previous round of funding ($1.5m) with an investment of $500k from NGC Ventures and Haskey. The funds were raised as part of the launch of the platform.
5: Stars From All Nations | $250k | Pre-Seed | King Solomon’s Capital | Edtech, Education
Investee:
Stars From All Nations – a Nigerian education company that prepares graduates for work readiness through a career accelerator program called “Ready for Work”.
Investor(s):
King Solomon’s Capital – Ghana based funder.
Detail: The career acceleration education company from Nigeria, Stars From All Nations, has raised $250k in Pre-seed funding from Ghanaian funder King Solomon’s Capital. The funds will be utilised to scale the company’s operations and develop further the ReadyforWork platform.
6: DilenyTech | $160k | Grant | IT Industry Development Agency | Healthtech
Investee:
DilenyTech – Egyptian healthtech start-up that develops AI and medical imaging solutions to improve the quality of healthcare. DilenyTech provides a set of online and offline solutions for breast workflow that were built for breast health professionals to improve and complement their diagnostic decisions and enhance screening and diagnostic workflow.
Investor(s):
Information Technology Industry Development Agency – Egyptian business partner primarily concerned with building the capacities of the local IT companies, attracting and servicing multi-national IT companies, and growing a qualified, sustainable, and deployable talent pool.
Detail: Health-tech company from Egypt DilenyTech has raised $160k in grant funding from ITIDA which it will use on product development for its AI enabled platform and breast cancer detection technology.
7: Synatic | Undisclosed amount | Seed | Umkhathi Wethu Ventures | Software, Analytics
Investee:
Synatic – a South African modern data automation platform that combines iPaaS, ESB, ETL and API Management into a simple yet powerful tool.
Investor(s):
Umkhathi Wethu Ventures – a South African multi-stage investor that provides growth and replacement capital across the equity-cycle, with activities that span from high-growth venture to mid-market private equity.
Detail: South African data automation start-up has raised an undisclosed sum of seed funding from Umkhathi Wethu Ventures, which funds will be used for the company’s expansion into the US market.
8: Charis UAS | Undisclosed amount | Undisclosed round | XM2 Pursuit | Aviation
Investee:
Charis UAS – the first licensed drone company in Rwanda specializing in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) consulting, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and building system integration, pilot and safety training, and maintenance of UAVs.
Investor(s):
XM2 Pursuit – the world's leading global aerial cinematography and custom remote solutions provider for film, TV and VFX.
Detail: Charis UAS, the Rwandan drone start-up has raised an undisclosed amount in an undisclosed financing round from UK based XM2 Pursuit in order to expand its market across the African continent.
9: Skudu | Undisclosed amount | Undisclosed round | AgVentures | Agtech
Investee:
Skudu – a South African online marketplace for agricultural inputs and produce in Africa. Skudu’s innovative platform shortens the agricultural value chain and increases user choice by connecting buyers and sellers directly. The Skudu platform also helps farmers and their advisors to improve their input planning and accuracy.
Investor(s):
AgVentures – a South African agtech investor actively pursuing agrifood technologies to alter the status quo while addressing customer needs. AgVentures is supported by its anchor investor, Acorn Agri & Food, a leading South African agrifood business.
Detail: An undisclosed amount of funding was invested in an undisclosed funding round. The capital will be likely be used to expand the products available on their platform to include other inputs besides fertilisers and ameliorants.
Fund raises (2 deals)
1: Knife Capital | $10m | Knife Fund III | Mineworkers Investment Company
Investor: Knife Capital – a South African venture capital and growth equity investment firm that currently manages Section 12J Venture Capital Funds: KNF Ventures I and II as well as select family office investments.
Capital raised: $10m from Mineworkers Investment Company.
Sector / Stage focus: African Series B expansion fund with the aim to invest behind the aggressive expansion of African innovation-driven companies and fill a critical follow-on funding gap.
Portfolio / fund size: targeting $50m.
Cheque size: undisclosed.
2: Bamboo Capital Partners | $12m | BLOC Smart Africa Fund | Ivory Coast and Luxembourg Governments
Investor: Bamboo Capital Partners – an impact investing platform which provides innovative financing solutions to catalyse lasting impact and bridge the gap between seed and growth-stage funding through a full suite of finance options – from debt to equity.
Capital raised: $12m from the Ivory Coast and Luxembourg Governments.
Sector / Stage focus: the fund will focus on high-growth potential startups (technology bias) to scale up across the continent and is part of the Smart Africa Alliance, a pan-African initiative to accelerate sustainable socioeconomic development by investing in underserved African communities.
Portfolio / fund size: targeting $120m.
Cheque size: undisclosed.
Screenshot of the deals since 1 February 2021:
Have a great week!
Daryn
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