Rounding up the 2nd Quarter and first half of 2021, we continue to concede the positive increase of funding and recoup of revenue streams for startups. A total of $104.7M across 35 rounds has been raised, a $78.2M growth compared to June 2020. $78M of the month’s total funding value was ascribed to venture deals with the largest deal of $30M awarded to Egypt-based logistics company Trella. The Transport and Logistics industry attracted the most venture capital worth $49M making up 62% of the total funding. By country the highest value of the venture deals came in from Egyptian-based startups with a total of $37M across seven (7) deals. By funding stage, the largest amount in total was raised in six (6) Series A rounds but by deal count, Grants were in the lead with a deal count of 13 valuing $3.8M
Here is, in detail, the 10 top deals of the month:
Digital freight marketplace Trella made two of the largest raises of the month in a $30M Series A led by the venture arm of global multinational A.P. Moller - Maersk, Maersk Growth with participation from Raed Ventures, Algebra Ventures, Vision Ventures, Next Billion Ventures, Venture Souq, Foundation Ventures and an additional debt facility to the tune of $12M from Lendable and other local financial institutions. To date the company has raised a total of 43M across 4 rounds. The fresh funds will be used to invest in tech capacity and product development to fuel growth.
South Africa’s WhereIsMyTransport received $14.5M extension of a Series A round co-led by Naspers through their investment arm Naspers Foundry and Pan-African venture fund Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund powered by Cathay Innovation with participation from SBI Investment. To date the startup has raised a total of $28M across 6 deals and built its public transport system to more than 100,000 users delivering over 750,000 real-time network alerts. WhereIsMyTransport launched its first consumer product Rumbo and plans to launch in Lima, Peru later this year.
EthioChicken was established in 2010 as a leading supplier of improved chicken breeds, inputs, and management methods to a network of entrepreneurial farmers whom they develop into successful, profitable links to rural farmers throughout the country. The company made its second disclosed fundraise in a $5M Private Equity round from Finland based emerging markets impact fund OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I. The purpose of these funds will be to scale their operations in terms of generating jobs, improving food security and alleviating poverty in Ethiopia. To date EthioChicken has raised a disclosed total of $15M across 2 funding rounds and supported social diversity and progress by employing roughly 587 women out of 1600. Through its network of 8000 entrepreneurs, the company has also employed approximately 16000 to 24000 young Ethiopians.
Another company, Financial Service ZeePay, also made a hefty split raise in $4.6M in Series A from investors Investisseurs Et Partenaires, ARK Holdings and Goodsoil VC as well as $3.3M Debt facility from Absa Bank Ghana and First National Bank Ghana. The startup had previously raised $940K in Seed and now has its total disclosed funding standing at $9M across 3 rounds. The company's strategy remains to drive their remittance to digital assets agenda across Africa and the Caribbean and we are excited by the rate of expansion with a number already lined up.
German-backed SANAD Fund for MSME, Aavishkaar, Uncovered Fund and KSK Angel Fund all invested in a $4M Series A round for e-commerce and retail platform Sky.Garden to fuel growth. Sky.Garden takes into account a user's possibly elementary understanding of e-commerce via safe and secure payment and shipping. The company was launched in 2015 and has a disclosed record of $5.7M across 5 different rounds and helped thousands of stores in Kenya open webshops through its platform with purchases made delivered within 24 hours and money paid into the vendor’s account once items are accepted by the customer.
Celebrity video-platform Minly received $3.6M Seed investment co-led by 4DX Ventures, B&Y Venture Partners, and Global Ventures with participation from a number of Angel investors. This is the company’s first disclosed round of funding to build its solution that enables fans across the Middle East & North Africa, to buy personalized video messages and shoutouts from leading celebrities of the region including cinema and TV stars, athletes, musicians, and social media influencers. The startup claims to have over 50,000 registered users and intends to build a full-stack digital interaction platform that could change the way digital content is created and consumed in the region.
Headquartered in Cape Town, HyperionDev is one of the largest online and on-site 1-on-1 coding bootcamps that accelerate your entry into a fulfilling tech career. The company website records 3000+ on-demand code reviews every month, 500+ unique mentor sessions, an average week-on-week Net Promoter Score of 45 and a 70% student progression rent. HyperionDev raised $3.5M in a Series A round to expand into new markets including the US and UK. The money came in after the company’s public investment crowdfund on crowd investment platform CrowdCube picked public interest and what started off as a R15-million ($1M) in 31 days goal was surpassed with R37.3-million ($2.5M) raised in 14 days.
JetStream Africa received $3M to build their digital infrastructure from a group of local and international investors including: Alitheia Capital, Golden Palm Investments, 4DX Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Asia Pacific Land, Breyer Labs and MSA Capital. The company’s mission is to leverage technology to enable African businesses to see, and ultimately control, their own cross-border supply chains. Prior to this round, Jetstream received a $110K Grant in January this year from emerging markets accelerator, Catalyst Fund and now has a total funding of $3.1M in disclosed funding.
Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform Fatura raised a $3M Pre-Series A from investors Sawari Ventures, Arzan Venture Capital, Egypt Ventures, EFG-EV, Cairo Angels and Khwarizmi Ventures. According to the startup’s co-founder Hossman Ali, the company’s initial strategy was to do a quick land grab of wholesalers and retailers across Egypt (horizontally across governorates) but now are focusing vertically on getting the most value out of the regions they cover in terms of active customers. Currently, Fatura has over 500 sellers on their marketplace including wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers who have served 25,000 retailers through their platform in 20 governorates across Egypt.
MDaas Global launched a new product SentinelX, a membership-based health practice that emphasizes preventive, personalized, and continuous care and also announced that they had closed their $2.3M Seed round led by Newtown Partners, who invested through its arm Imperial Venture Fund, CRI Foundation, return investors FINCA Ventures, Techstars and Future Africa. The funds will be used to scale the company’s services across Nigeria. So far, MDaas has raised a total of $3.6M across 4 funding rounds since it was founded in 2016.
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