African VC deals since 27 December 2020

Hi and welcome to African VC/ Startup news, a weekly newsletter where I highlight transactions in the African startup ecosystem over the past week (or two). Since 27 December 2020, I noticed 6 deals come across my screen.

In addition to sending the weekly newsletter, I maintain a database of deals, investors and portfolio companies in the African startup ecosystem, it is available: here

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Since 27 December 2020 I’ve come across the following deals:

Investments (4 deals):

1.    Akhdar | Undisclosed amount | Undisclosed funding round | EdVentures

Investee: Akhdar – an Egyptian edtech startup that was born as a book summary app showcasing video summaries of printed and audio books in 16 different genres.

Investor/s: EdVentures – a corporate venture capital firm based in Egypt that specializes in the fields of Education, Culture, and Innovative Learning Solutions.

Detail: Undisclosed amount invested in an Undisclosed funding round; Sector: Edtech

2.    Cassbana | $1m | Pre-seed | Disruptech Ventures

Investee: Cassbana – an Egyptian startup that is building financial identities for different types of users who don’t use conventional banking services. Cassbana offers short-term, instant loans, collects their users’ behavioural data, and uses machine learning to build financial identities for their users.

Investor/s: Disruptech Ventures – a $25m fund focussed on early-stage fintech startups in Egypt. It was founded by Mohamed Okasha the co-founder and former managing director of Fawry.

Detail: $1m invested in a Pre-seed funding round; Sector: Fintech

3.    Nawah Scientific | $1m | Pre-Series A | Egypt Ventures, Cairo Angels, Alex Angels, Alexandria Fund, Hult Alumni Angels

Investee: Nawah Scientific – an Egyptian research lab specialized in natural and medical sciences that offers its services online. Nawah's online platform receives experiment requests, which are performed by Nawah's scientists with, the results returned online. They serve industries that need product development and analysis (pharmaceuticals, petro/oil, chemicals, agriculture etc.) and universities in life sciences (biology, chem, pharma etc.). 

Investor/s: Egypt Ventures – an investment firm seeded by the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation with a mandate of supporting and investing in startups from a diverse range of sectors across Egypt. 

Cairo Angels – Egypt’s first formal angel investment network (established in 2012); investing in and supporting early-stage startups in Egypt and across the MENA region. 

Alex Angels – established in 2016 as the second angel network in in Egypt, helping their members invest in seed stage companies inside and outside of Egypt. 

Alexandria Fund, Hult Alumni Angels

Detail: $1m invested in a Pre-Series A funding round; Sector: Biotechnology, Platform, Research

4.    Ecopharm | Undisclosed amount | Undisclosed funding round | XSML Capital

Investee: Ecopharm – Uganda’s fastest growing Pharmacy chain currently with 13 branches in Kampala and Wakiso, selling high quality branded and generic medicines. 

Investor/s: XSML Capital – a fund manager focused on frontier markets in Central and East Africa, which aims to grow businesses by providing capital and know-how.

Detail: Undisclosed amount invested in an Undisclosed funding round; Sector: Healthcare

Fundraising (2 deals):

1.    Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) | $250m | Development Finance Corporation (DFC)

Investor: Africa Finance Corporation – established in 2007 as an investment-grade multilateral finance institution with an equity capital base of US$1 billion to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa.

Capital raised: $250m secured tier-2 capital loan from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Sector/ stage focus: Infrastructure

Cheque size: Undisclosed

2.    Ascent Capital Africa | $20m | IFC, FMO

Investor: Ascent Capital Africa (Ascent Rift Valley Fund II) – a private equity fund manager focusing on SMEs in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Currently looking to raise $120m for the Ascent Rift Valley Fund II.

Capital raised: $10m from IFC and $10m from FMO

Sector/ stage focus: Small and mediumcompanies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda

Cheque size: Undisclosed

Screenshot of deals since 15 December:

Have a great week!

Daryn