Uncategorized - March 11, 2022

20 African Startups With Biggest Funding Deals So Far This Year

Wale Ameen March 11, 2022

9 min read

African startups have raised more than $1 billion in total funding.

Despite the numerous challenges, African startups have received some of their biggest funding yet. The majority of the drawbacks on the continent are caused by the ruling political elites. Nonetheless, the tech sector continues to draw positive global attention.

Young, innovative Africans continue to record major milestones, securing record deals and attracting multiple foreign direct investments to power innovative solutions being built to solve problems.

Just two months into the year, African startups have raised more than $1 billion in funding, more than half the amount raised all through 2021. Highlighted below are the top 20 African start-ups with the biggest funding raised so far:

Flutterwave (Nigeria)

Fintech startup Flutterwave leads the pack of start-ups with the biggest funding round secured so far this year.

The start-up in February secured $250 million in a Series D round with a valuation of $3 billion. The funding round was led by B Capital Group with participation from Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, and Lux Capital, among others.

It intends to use the funds to accelerate customer acquisition in existing markets, to grow through M&A, and to develop complementary products while encouraging innovation in product and service development.

The company has emerged as one of Africa’s most valued start-ups since it began operation six years ago.

Clickatell (South Africa)

Clickatell, a South African-based E-commerce platform, comes second on the list with its Series C funding round, where it raised $91 million.

The company says the funds are to be used for scaling its chat commerce platform as well as IS expansion.

Global chat commerce is estimated to be worth $80 billion and is predicted to be the third wave of digital commerce.

MarketForce (Kenya)

MarketForce, an African B2B commerce platform, ranks third on the list with a $40 million Series A funding round. It intends to use the funding to grow its platform for retail distribution of consumer goods and digital financial services in Africa.

Health Plus (Nigeria)

Nigerian health tech startup, Reliance Health, is fourth with its $40 million Series B funding round, the largest African HealthTech industry raise to date.

Swvl (Egypt)

The Egyptian mobility startup announced in February that it had raised an additional $21.5 million in a PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) investment deal. Swvl enables riders heading in the same direction to share a ride in a van or bus.

Stitch (South Africa)

Stitch, a South African-based API fintech startup comes sixth on this list with a raise of US $21 million in Series A funding, with which it plans to expand its team, launch new product offerings, and enter new markets across Africa.

The funding round was led by The Spruce House Partnership, with participation from PayPal Ventures, TrueLayer, Firstminute Capital, The Raba Partnership, CRE Venture Capital, Village Global, Zinal Growth, and others, including the founders of Chipper Cash, Quovo, and Unit.

Paix (Ghana)

Ghanian-based PAIX Data Centres makes it to the seventh position with a US $20 million equity investment secured from institutional investor Africa50. This is part of a Series B financing to fund the company’s expansion plans.

PAIX is a cloud-and carrier-neutral colocation data centre service provider that was founded in 2016. It currently operates two data centre facilities: one in Accra, Ghana, and another in Nairobi, Kenya.

Thindr (Egypt)

Cairo-based digital investment platform Thndr announced in February that it had raised $20 million in a Series A round, which will help it expand across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.

This funding round was led by Tiger Global, BECO Capital, and Prosus Ventures It also received participation from Base Capital, firstminute and existing investors Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Raba Partnerships, and JIMCO.

Thndr helps users invest in the Egyptian stock market and mutual funds.

Jambo (Congo)

Jambo, a Web 3 super app, raised $7.5 million in seed funding to make it to number 9 on this list.

The “superapp” aims to lower the barrier for entry to money-making opportunities in the play-to-earn gaming sector for young people in Africa.

The startup raised the funds from a list of prominent backers in the crypto industry, including Delphi Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Three Arrows Capital.

Nestcoin (Nigeria)

Nestcoin is a Nigerian startup focused on creating and investing in Web3 and crypto-focused products. On February 1, 2022, just three months after launch, it announced that it had secured a pre-seed investment of $6.45m from Pan African venture capital firm 4DX Ventures, with Serena Ventures participating.

The investment, it said, will be used to accelerate its mission of driving adoption and helping Africans create wealth through crypto.

Founded by Yele Bademosi (CEO) and Taiwo Orilogbon (CTO), Nestcoin is their current venture, shortly after exiting crypto and cash payments startup, Bundle, in July 2022.

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