Week in review
💸 Moove banks $20m as it invests in tech + Products,🏦TLcomm backs FirstCheck Africa & Future of mobile money agents under scrutiny📉
The Week in Review is designed to inform curious minds interested in the latest activity in the African innovation ecosystem.
Funding Rounds 🚀
MNT-Halan closes $150m | Fintech | Egypt - startup’s proprietary fintech ecosystem connects customers, vendors and micro-enterprises through its consumer facing app, merchant app, distributed lending and payment processing software, and payment solutions, as well as offering services such as ride-hailing and logistics.
Moove raises $20m | Logistics | Nigeria - Nigerian based mobility fintech that provides vehicle financing to drivers of ride-hailing platforms like Uber and other gig networks. The new round of funding which is $65m of equity and $40m debt will allow the company to expand into new regions as well as work on an EV solution for its gig drivers.
Kukua raises $6m | Edtech | Kenya - African focussed educational entertainment company.
Sava raises $2m | Fintech | Kenya - Spend management platform for African businesses.
Afrikamart raises $850k | Ecommerce | Senegal - a startup that is using digital technology to revolutionise the value chain of fresh agricultural produce.
OKO raises $500k | Insuretech | Mali - develops affordable mobile-based crop insurance products to provide smallholder farmers with the financial security they need.
🔦 Startup Spotlight: Moove
What❓: Moove is a mobility/fintech startup which provides revenue based financing for mobility entrepreneurs across Africa.
Traction📈 : Financed vehicles which have completed over 3 million rides.
Market opportunity 🌍 : Over 1 billion Africans have limited or no access to vehicle financing. In 2019 fewer than 1 million cars where sold across the whole continent in comparison to the USA which sold 17 million, this presents a great opportunity to disrupt an untapped market. In particular, gig workers in Africa who use vehicles as their primary source of income find it difficult to purchase cars even though they have steady income.
Competition⚡️:
Flex Club - South African company which is an online marketplace that connects customers looking for flexible access to long-term cars with its partners, offering car subscriptions.
Metro Africa Express - Nigerian mobility tech startup which provides logistics as well as vehicle financing credit to drivers.
Asaak - Ugandan asset finance startup which provides motorbike financing to operators, who are often overlooked by formal banking institutions.
Investors: Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital, AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude, and Kreos Capital.
News
New $7m i3 programme launched to back African e-health startups - Sponsored by the Gates Foundation, the pan-African “Investing in Innovation” programme will provide 30 African e-health startups per year with access to a systematic grant of US$50,000.
TLcom Capital commits $2M fund to FirstCheck Africa - TLcom Capital, a prominent Africa-focused seed to series B venture capital firm, has committed $2 million to FirstCheck Africa and appointed Eloho Omame as a partner. FirstCheck Africa is an early-stage VC fund investing in technology-driven startups in Africa with at least one female founder or co-founder.
Africa’s mobile money agents face an uncertain future - A breakdown on the future facing Africa’s network of mobile money agents.
📢 Tell a friend to tell a friend 📩
The Week in Review is designed to inform curious minds interested in the latest activity in the African innovation ecosystem.