Here’s a round-up of the top stories that have happened across the African technology startup ecosystem including Yoco raising $16M Series B, Paga closing a $10M round, and so much more.
1. South Africa’s Yoco raises $16M Series B led by Partech
Yoco, a South African based point-of-sale payments solution provider, has announced that it recently closed $16 million in Series B funding. This was confirmed by Forbes.
According to Katlego Maphai, CEO for Yoco, the “round represents a vote of confidence in technology ventures operating in this market, servicing the untapped potential of small businesses.” Full story on Digest Africa.
2. Cairo-based FreshSource raises seed funding for its food supply platform
Egyptian agtech startup FreshSource has raised seed funding from HIMangel, the Cairo-based angel fund has told MENAbytes. The size of the deal was not disclosed.
Founded earlier this year by a brother and sister duo, Farah Emara and Omar Emara, FreshSource is an up and coming tech-based B2B platform that aims to serve as a connection between farmers and urban retailers/vendors. Full story on MENAbytes.
3. Nigeria’s Paga closes a $10M Series B(2)
Paga, a Nigeria based mobile payment company, has announced a $10 million Series B2. The announcement was made by Tayo Oviosu, the company’s founder and CEO, to TechCrunch at the Disrupt San Francisco event that he is currently attending.
The company is looking to channel the funding towards global expansion with Ethiopia, Mexico, and the Philippines is on top of the radar. Additionally, they are looking to continue with product development. Full story on Digest Africa.
4. 9 female-run startups selected for Nigeria’s GreenHouse Lab
Nine women-run startups have been chosen for the GreenHouse Lab accelerator in Nigeria, which has also announced it has teamed up with Google to assist its cohorts. The programme aims to equip female entrepreneurs with the skills, resources and support needed to rapidly grow and scale their companies in emerging African markets. Full story on Disrupt Africa.
5. Kampala Angel Investors Network deal day is, finally, set for October
Kampala Angel Investors Network – KAIN – has announced that its deal day is slated for October 4, 2018. The event will see 10 startups pitch to an audience of angel investors in a closed room. These were shortlisted from a pool of 50 applications that were submitted earlier in the year. Full story on Digest Africa.
6. Nine Senegalese Start-ups to Pitch at Seedstars Dakar
A total of 9 Senegalese start-ups have been announced by Seedstars World, a leading start-up competition for emerging markets for this year’s Seedstars Dakar pitch event.
The event, which holds on September 7 will have the start-ups compete to represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland and the winning start-up will be in the running for $1-million in equity investments. Full story on Tech Gist.
7. Four top fintechs selected for AlphaCode’s scale-up programme
Fintech accelerator AlphaCode has announced the names of four companies selected to join its recently launched R2.5-million accelerator programme AlphaCode Accelerate. The four companies are Entersekt, Livestock Wealth, Click2Sure and Invoice Worx.
The two-year long AlphaCode Accelerate programme, which AlphaCode has partnered on with scale-up accelerator 10X-e, will offer the four companies with mentorship, expert guidance, and support services. Full story on Venture Burn.
8. Awamo now serves 70,000 clients in 60 micro-finance institutions in Uganda
"According to awamo, more than 40,000 transactions were being processed in the month of July, which moved more than EUR 1,000,000 through awamo’s platform which is the real money of real MFI and SACCO clients as Kampala’s Nakasero Market." Full story on enStartup.
9. How Ugandan startups could be failing themselves
"In 2015, one of the most fascinating reports in the recent past was released, naming Uganda the world’s most entrepreneurial country. Since then, several other surveys have been conducted, painting a rosy picture for the Pearl of Africa in the entrepreneurship sector." Full story on Sauti Tech.
10. Uber launches taxi-hailing app in Japan’s Nagoya
Uber said it would launch a taxi-hailing app for taxis operating in Nagoya, as the firm tries to expand its foothold in a country where it has been blocked from offering its own ride-sharing service. The company said it was working with Fuji Taxi Group, which has been operating for more than 60 years in the Nagoya area. Full story on Deal Street Asia.
That’s it for today. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get The Daily Brief in your inbox.
– Douglas