Startups

News updates on startups in Africa. Send tips to info@techtrendske.co.ke.

2 days ago

JAY-Z’s VC Firm invests in 24 Year-old Founder Iddris Sandu on an innovative tech incubator shaping the metaverse

Marcy Venture Partners (MVP), the Venture Capital Firm owned by American rapper, and businessman Jay-Z is investing in 24-year-old technologist…

2 days ago

Nigeria’s auto financing startup Autochek Secures $13.1mn Seed Funding

Autochek, the Nigerian automotive startup which recently expanded to Kenya has secured $13.1mn in seed funding. The new round was…

5 days ago

African fintech startup Payday joins Techstars Toronto Accelerator program

Pan-African fintech startup Payday has joined Techstars Toronto Accelerator program. Techstars is an operational investment company that assists founders and…

6 days ago

MFS Africa signs agreement to acquire Nigerian fintech startup Baxi

Pan-African digital payments hub MFS Africa signed an agreement to acquire Baxi, one of Nigeria’s super-agent networks. The deal, which is…

7 days ago

Nigerian Fintech Startup Brass Secures $1.7M Financing Round

Nigerian fintech startup Brass has secured $1.7mn in funding to address the heavily underserved banking needs of local entrepreneurs, traders and…

1 week ago

Climate-focused startups can now apply for the Africa ClimAccelerator programme

Africa ClimAccelerator has opened applications for its climate change accelerator programme. The Pan-African, cross-sector, climate-first accelerator is seeking fifteen startups…

1 week ago

Wapi Pay founders Eddie and Paul Ndichu step down from their roles

Wapi Pay Board of Directors on Tuesday announced that the company’s founders; Eddie and Paul Ndichu will be stepping down…

1 week ago

Kepple Africa Ventures revokes its investment stake in Kenyan fintech startup Wapi Pay

Japanese VC firm Kepple Africa Ventures has announced that it will be revoking its investment in Kenyan fintech startup Wapi…

1 week ago

Nigeria’s e-commerce startup Sendbox raises $1.8 million

Sendbox has announced the completion of a $1.8 million seed round from investors including 4DX Ventures, Enza Capital, FJLabs, and…

1 week ago

Nigeria’s auto financing firm Autochek officially launches in Kenya

Autochek, the automotive technology company that aims to facilitate auto finance across Africa has officially launched its operations in Kenya. Having…

2 weeks ago

Nigeria’s Home Services App Eden Life Closes $1.4m Seed Round

Nigeria’s home service startup Eden Life has announced that it has completed a $1.4m Seed round, led by UK-based LocalGlobe, along with…

2 weeks ago

African fintech startup Payday raises $1m pre-seed to build Africa’s PayPal

Payday, a Pan-African financial technology company has raised one million dollars to build out what they believe will be the…

2 weeks ago

Ian Lessem: The rise of African tech unicorns

African unicorns have made big news in recent months, with four startups having recently reached a $1 billion valuation or…

2 weeks ago

Google to invest $50M equity-based fund in African startups

Last week, tech giant Google announced that it plans to invest up to $50 million in African early- and growth-stage startups…

3 weeks ago

Sendy acquires a significant stake in West African logistics startup Kamtar

Kenyan tech-logistics startup Sendy has completed a strategic equity investment in West African logistics platform Kamtar. On the heels of…

3 weeks ago

Benkiko Finance – Making Cryptocurrencies Easier To Use

Benkiko is a Kenyan Blockchain startup that is working on a digital bank with the goal of making Cryptocurrencies easier…

3 weeks ago

Nigeria’s B2B payments platform Verto secures $10m Series A round for expansion

Nigeria’s B2B payments platform Verto has announced that it has closed $10 million in Series A funding for expansion. The round was led…

4 weeks ago

Unilever invites startups to partner through Positive Beauty Growth Platform

Unilever has announced the launch of the Positive Beauty Growth Platform, a new initiative that aims to partner with scale-ups…

4 weeks ago

SoftBank Leads a $200M Investment Round in Andela

Andela, the global network for remote engineering talent, has announced $200 million in Series E financing. The financing round which…

4 weeks ago

Africa’s crypto exchange Yellow Card raises $15m Series A funding to fuel expansion across the continent

Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange, Yellow Card, announced a $15 million Series A, the largest ever by an African cryptocurrency exchange, to ramp up hiring…

September 24, 2021

Absa partners with Melanin Kapital to launch unsecured lending for women-focused startups in Kenya

Absa Bank Kenya has partnered with Pan African impact investment platform Melanin Kapital, to launch an investor readiness program for…

September 22, 2021

Lami Technologies and Sendy launch per-trip insurance policy for transporters in Kenya

Kenyan insurance startup Lami Technologies and Sendy have today announced a new per-trip insurance policy for transporter in Kenya. The…

September 20, 2021

Chinese ride-hailing firm DiDi Chuxing expands to Egypt

After launching in South Africa in March this year, Chinese ride-hailing firm DiDi Chuxing has now launched its operations in Egypt. …

September 20, 2021

Nigeria’s healthtech startup 54gene secures $25 million in a Series B round

Nigeria’s healthtech startup 54gene, has raised $25M in a Series B round funding to expand its capabilities to contribute to…

September 17, 2021

Pangea Trust opens applications for its Startup Connect Programme

Pangea Trust has opened applications for its Startup Connect Programme. The programme was launched yesterday at an online event moderated by security…

September 16, 2021

Nigeria’s Agritech startup Releaf secures $4.2m seed funding to drive industrialisation of food processing in Africa

Nigeria’s agritech startup Releaf, which develops proprietary hardware and software solutions to industrialize food processing has raised $2.7 million seed…

September 6, 2021

Nigeria’s auto financing firm Autochek acquires Cheki Kenya and Uganda

Autochek has on Monday announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire ROAM Africa’s automotive marketplaces Cheki Kenya and…

September 6, 2021

Endeavor Nigeria unveils inaugural cohort for its ScaleUp program

Endeavor Nigeria has unveiled the inaugural cohort of entrepreneurs for its new 10-week Endeavor ScaleUp Program that aims to support Nigeria’s…

September 4, 2021

LG Unveils Ksh 2 Billion Global Startup Innovation Contest

LG Electronics has launched Mission for the Future, a global contest for startups to unlock innovative technologies and business ideas…

September 3, 2021

SWVL completes $35.5m pre-funding to accelerate growth strategy

Dubai-based provider of mass transit and shared mobility solutions Swvl has completed a $35.5m pre-funding of the aggregate PIPE subscription.…

September 1, 2021

South African fintech startup SOL rebrands to SOLmate

South African fintech startup SOL has announced that it’s rebranding to SOLmate. The online payment platform that offers clients a digital…

August 26, 2021

African-focused Payments Firm pawaPay Raises $9M Seed Funding

African-focused payments firm pawaPay has raised a $9m Seed funding led by UK-based investment fund 88mph. Vunani Capital, Kepple Ventures,…

August 24, 2021

Arab Bank launches its fintech accelerator program for startups in Egypt

Arab Bank has launched its fintech-focused corporate accelerator program “AB Accelerator” in Egypt, following its successful launch in Jordan back…

August 24, 2021

Nigerian mobility startup Plentywaka raises $1.2m seed funding, acquires Ghana’s Stabus

Nigerian mobility startup Plentywaka has raised a $1.2 million seed funding round, after successfully ending the Techstars Toronto Accelerator Program…

August 24, 2021

Zepz, Formerly WorldRemit, Raises $292M Series E Financing, Achieves $5B Valuation

Digital cross-border payments platform Zepz, formerly WorldRemit, has raised $292 million in new primary financing, achieving a valuation of $5…

August 23, 2021

Andela Learning Community Surpasses 100,000 Learners

Tech talent company Andela has announced that its developer learning community. Andela Learning Community (ALC) has now surpassed 100,000 learners.…

August 19, 2021

East Africa’s Startup ecosystem players in Nairobi to design the future of Africa Tech

Leading startup ecosystem players in Africa have today kicked off a two-day workshop to design solutions for challenges that the…

August 19, 2021

African Fintech startup Pngme raises $15m Series A funding

African fintech startup Pngme has raised $15 million in Series A funding as the company sets out to grow its…

August 10, 2021

Ecobank Opens Applications for its 2021 fintech challenge for African startups

Ecobank Group has opened applications for its 4th edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge. The challenge, the bank says is…

August 5, 2021

Naspers Foundry leads $8.3m Series A investment in South African insurtech startup Naked

Naspers, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry, invested $8.3 million (R120 million) in Naked, the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven insurtech startup that…

August 4, 2021

Kenyan fintech startup Wapi Pay raises $2.2m funding to digitise Africa-Asia trade payments

Kenyan fintech startup Wapi Pay has raised $2.2 Million in pre-seed funding to scale up global payments and remittances between…

August 3, 2021

Bolt raises KES. 78 billion to expand its on-demand transportation network in Africa and Europe

Ride-hailing startup Bolt has raised KES. 78 billion in a Series E funding round led by Sequoia Capital. This fund…

August 2, 2021

These Are The 25 African Female Founded Tech Startups Joining The CMM PR mentorship program

Twenty-five African female-founded tech startups have been selected for the second edition of The Future is Female Mentorship Program. This…

July 30, 2021

5 Kenyan startups showcase their products at Japanese-led NINJA Accelerator program

5 Kenyan startups showcased their solutions during the 1st Demo Day of the NINJA Accelerator in the country, concluding the…

July 30, 2021

Nigerian Healthtech Startup Field Intelligence Expands into Eleven New Cities Across East and West Africa

Nigerian healthtech startup Field Intelligence has expanded into Rivers, Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Delta and Kwara States in Nigeria, and…

July 28, 2021

West African solar startup MyJouleBox secures €3m Series A round to boost growth in core markets

MyJouleBox, a solar distributor startup has completed a €3 million Series A. The round is aimed at strengthening its position…

July 27, 2021

UN announces winners of “Good Food for All” competition in Africa

Thirteen small- and medium-sized businesses from Africa and the Middle East have been announced as winners of the “Good Food…

July 26, 2021

Top African regions set to become leading startup and investment hubs

On the back of Cape Town being recognised as the tech capital of Africa, topping international rankings for foreign direct investment strategy,…

July 22, 2021

KES 5.3 million accelerator programme launched to drive innovation in Kenya’s insurance sector

FSD Africa, the Insurance Regulatory Authority, and Tellistic Technology Services have launched BimaLab, a KES 5.3 million accelerator programme designed…

July 19, 2021

Glovo Expands Reach To Thika And Kiambu Towns

On-demand delivery startup Glovo has expanded its operations to Thika and Kiambu towns. The expansion comes from the back of…

July 19, 2021

Egypt’s social e-commerce startup Taager raises US$6.4 million seed round

Taager, an Egyptian social e-commerce startup, has raised a US$6.4 million seed funding round to help it scale its platform…

July 15, 2021

Nigerian fintech startup Lidya raises $8.3m pre-Series B funding round

Nigerian fintech and lending startup Lidya has announced the completion of its $8.3 million pre-Series B funding round. Alitheia Capital…

July 15, 2021

South African secure data collaboration startup Omnisient raises $1.4m for global expansion

Omnisient, a South African secure data collaboration platform, has achieved its second raise this year totalling USD1.4 million. The investments…

July 13, 2021

Banque Misr partners with Microsoft to support fintech startups in Egypt

Banque Misr has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Microsoft Egypt to launch the first open innovation program in…

July 13, 2021

Kenyan startup MarketForce raises $2m pre-Series A to scale its B2B retail marketplace, RejaReja

MarketForce, the Kenyan-based B2B platform for retail distribution of consumer goods and digital financial services in Africa has raised a…

July 12, 2021

M-KOPA Expands to Nigeria, Appoints former SafeBoda Country Director its New GM

Connected asset financing platform M-KOPA, has expanded its operations to Nigeria. The move into the Nigerian market the company says…

July 6, 2021

Nigerian fintech startup TeamApt secures Series B funding

Nigerian fintech startup TeamApt has closed its Series B fundraising round, as it looks to expand its financial services beyond Nigeria. The…

July 2, 2021

Mobile commerce platform Copia expands into Uganda

Copia Global, a mobile commerce platform built to serve middle to low-income African consumers, has expanded its operations to Uganda.…

July 1, 2021

Ghanaian Fintech startup Zeepay raises $7.9 million Series A funding

Ghanaian Fintech startup Zeepay, has announced the completion of a USD7.9 million Series A.0 funding. The funding is a hybrid of both…

June 28, 2021

Catalyst Fund announces Circle of Corporate Innovators to accelerate startup-corporate partnerships

Global inclusive tech accelerator Catalyst Fund has announced pioneer members of its Circle of Corporate Innovators to accelerate startup-corporate partnerships.…

June 21, 2021

Three local InsurTech receive Ksh 1.25 million each from IRA, Prudential innovation hub

Three local startups have each received Ksh 1.25 million in cash awards from the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) innovation hub…

June 21, 2021

CMM PR launches 2nd edition of mentorship programme for African female tech founders

C. Moore Media International Public Relations (CMM), a New York-headquartered PR agency focusing on the US, UK, and African markets,…

June 18, 2021

Kenyan startup MarketForce acquires Digiduka to consolidate distribution of consumer goods with digital financial services in Africa

MarketForce, the Kenyan end-to-end retail distribution startup for consumer brands in Africa, announces the strategic acquisition of Digiduka, a startup…

June 16, 2021