Taxonomy

Africa

Fintech in Africa

[Fintech Africa] Fintech Has Taken Off In Africa – Here’s Why It’s Not A Bubble

Originally posted on Fintech Africa Some of the most innovative models in fintech we’ve seen have come out of our Africa portfolio, such as the way Pula advanced embedded finance by bundling crop insurance with the seed bought by small farmers. This year, it seems the rest of the world...

Business Daily Africa - Efayomi Carr

[Business Daily Africa] Why embedded finance can build Africa's real estate

Originally posted on Business Daily Africa Africa's urban population has seen a boom over the last 35 years, with an increase in the number as well as the size of towns and cities, playing a key role in fostering rural-urban migration for millions of citizens who seek better fortunes and...

Efayomi TechTrendsKE

[TechTrendsKE] Africa's youth hold the key to the expansion of agritech across the continent

Originally posted on TechTrendsKE The Covid pandemic has focused global attention on the drastic need for food systems to change and become more efficient, cost-effective, and far-reaching. Longer term solutions such as land reform and policy change have come to the forefront but many are looking to agricultural technology (agritech)...

Two mobile phones

[The Standard] Plumbing: The heartbeat of embedded finance

Originally posted on The Standard When one thinks about embedded finance, the first image that comes to mind might be a mobile payments tool in WeChat, or maybe a bank account for Uber workers. What they might not know is just how much work goes on behind the scenes to...

Flourish Focus: Apollo (Nairobi)

[Flourish Focus] A One-on-One with Apollo Agriculture Co-Founders

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, fintech companies in Africa saw a surge in venture capital last year and today the region stands out among its emerging-market peers. Africa’s growing population of 1.2B people, its rising mobile adoption and digitization as well as the drop in Internet costs are among key factors...

MaxAB

[TechCrunch] MaxAB gets an extra $15M, acquires YC-backed Moroccan startup WaystoCap

Originally posted on TechCrunch By Tage Kene-Okafor Last month, MaxAB, the Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform that serves food and grocery retailers, raised one of the largest Series A on the continent, to the tune of $40 million. Today, it has raised a $15 million extension from existing investors — RMBV,...

Drone

[Business Daily Africa] Agritech is the next frontier in growing Africa food security

Originally posted on Business Daily Africa SUMMARY Over the past five years, funding in agritech start-ups across the African continent has been rising consistently, according to data from Disrupt Africa, with hot spots emerging in Kenya and South Africa. Many tech start-ups have developed solutions targeting various aspects of agriculture,...

Efayomi Carr

[The Standard] Adopting Open Data for Finance Could Boost Economic Growth in Ten Years

Originally posted on The Standard As we emerge from the pandemic, we are seeing several mutually reinforcing shifts in how the financial system functions. First, the basic digital infrastructure for finance, accounts, payments and identity is getting an upgrade. Second, this evolving financial technology stack, driven by APIs, is getting...

Lidya

[FinExtra] Digital lender Lidya raises $8.3m

Originally posted on FinExtra International alternative SME finance lender, Lidya, has successfully raised US$8.3 million in a pre-series B funding round. The funding will support Lidya as the business looks to grow its lending operations for SMEs across its African and European markets. The funding round was led by Alitheia...

Lidya

[TechCrunch] A year after expanding to Europe, Nigerian fintech Lidya raises $8.3M to scale lending operations

Originally posted on TechCrunch By Tage Kene-Okafor Nigerian fintech and lending startup Lidya today announced that it has completed its $8.3 million pre-Series B funding round. Alitheia Capital led the investment via its uMunthu Fund. Other investors that participated include Bamboo Capital Partners, Accion Venture Lab and Flourish Ventures. In...

Apps on a Mobile Phone

[Bloomberg] Ecommerce Fixer for Egypt Mom and Pop Stores Gets Funds

Originally posted on Bloomberg By Mirette Magdy An Egyptian e-commerce business linking traditional retailers with suppliers of products such as food and groceries plans to expand in North Africa and the Gulf after an early-stage funding round. Cairo-based MaxAB raised $40 million from RMBV and seven others including the International Finance Corp. and Flourish Ventures,...

MaxAB

[TechCrunch] MaxAB, the Egyptian B2B food and grocery delivery startup, raises $40M for expansion

Originaly posted on TechCrunch By Tage Kene-Okafor Globally, food and grocery delivery startups have been raising mega-rounds of late, especially those in Europe as the pandemic has given rise to more people ordering online more than ever. This growth has translated to an increase in volume across e-commerce platforms all...