7 Young Startup Founders Who’ve Raised Millions of Dollars in 2023

The success of a startup can be measured by the amount of funding it secures. In 2023, several young startup founders are achieving remarkable success in raising millions of dollars for their ventures.

These startup founders notably share a common passion for innovation and a drive to make a difference in the world. They are also shaping the future of technology and innovation with their vision, dedication, and the support of investors. Let’s take a look at seven of them.

Favor Ori – PayDay

Founder and CEO of Payday, Favour Ori secured $3 million in seed funding from Moniepoint Inc in March. The funding is targeted at securing licenses for Payday’s UK entity and operations and expanding its reach to Canada. It will also boost the company’s plans to increase its talent pool by 40-50 employees, with a focus on strengthening its customer success department.

Ori founded Payday almost two years ago, as a fintech startup issuing global (USD, EUR, and GBP) accounts to Africans. Payday has dual headquarters in Canada and Rwanda. The $3 million seed funding brings the startup’s total funding since inception to $5.1 million.

Joseph Rutakangwa – Rwazi 

Joseph Rutakangwa successfully secured a $4-million seed round from Bonfire Ventures for his U.S.-based market intelligence startup, Rwazi. His startup is leading a paradigm shift in the approach to market intelligence. Rwazi leverages a network of more than 50,000 highly skilled mappers located in over 60 African and South Asian nations to collect data from an expansive 1.4 million outlets. 

Rutakangwa plans to use this funding to extend its broad outreach and solidify its position as a significant player in the market intelligence sector. The $4 million seed round brings Rwazi’s total funding since its inception in 2018 to $7.8 million.

Mounir Nakhia and Ahmed Mohsen – MNT-Halan

CEO, Mounir Nakhia and Cofounder Ahmed Mohsen, of MNT-Halan, raised $400 million in equity and debt financing from local and global investors. The seed rounds include $260 million in equity financing and $140 million through two securitized bond issuances. Reports say about $200 million, was provided by Abu Dhabi–based Chimera Investments.

MNT-Halan is known as Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked and underbanked. It lends to single small business owners or individuals who need lending to manage their businesses. It has a diversified portfolio of services and innovative solutions; including digital payment solutions: mobile wallets and cards. Its digital ecosystem serves more than 5 million customers in Egypt, of which 3.5 million are financial clients and over 2 million are borrowers. 

Eerik Oja – Planet42

Eerik Oja’s Planet42 raised $100 million in equity and debt from a wide range of investors in February. The $100 million was aimed at scaling its business and providing a million cars globally to people excluded from traditional car financing. The South Africa-based car subscription company buys used cars from dealerships and rents them to customers via a subscription model.

Cofounded by CFO Marten Orgna, Planet42 makes transport accessible to people through its car subscription offering. Planet42 has reportedly raised over $150 million in equity and debt from investors such as Naspers, Change Ventures, Startup Wise Guys, Martin Villig (Bolt), Ragnar Sass (Pipedrive) and Andrew Rolfe.   

Alex Thomson and Ernest North – Naked Insurance

Founded by Alex Thomson, Sumarie Greybe and Ernest North, Naked Insurance announced a $17 million Series B round led by the International Financing Corporation (IFC) in February. The startup uses artificial intelligence to create new insurance processes and experiences for its customers. The investment was introduced to enable them to grow their team, boost investment in technology that puts customers in control, and expand into new markets.

Kagure Wanunyu and Miano Njoka – Jumba

Kagure Wamunyu and Miano Njoka Jumba secured $4.5 million in seed funding led by LocalGlobe in February. Jumba stated that it plans to use the raise to acquire more customers in Kenya before it expands into other markets.

The Kenya-based startup simplifies the supply chain process by helping real estate developers access the supplies they need for their projects and enabling construction material retailers to restock and real estate developers to access. Currently covering 60% of Kenya’s 47 counties, Jumba is scaling up its operations to meet the growing demand for its services.

Benjamin Rombaut – Sand to Green

Benjamin Rombaut’s Sand to Green raised a $1 million Seed funding round from Norwegian Katapult and pre-Seed fund Catalyst.in February. The Moroccan startup offers a long-term solution to the problems of desertification, land degradation, and food security. The funds will enable them to speed up Sand to Green’s operational development and prepare for the large-scale deployment of its Moroccan and African projects.

Reports say the firm hopes to deploy its plantation model in an arid climate in Morocco, after three years of research and development.