Funding

VC Trends Watch: May 8-12,2023

Hello Friday!

It’s a good time to announce that the funding tracker has officially hit the $1 b mark! However, it is worthy of note that this represents a decline in funding levels compared to last year.

By the end of Q1 2022, African start-ups had already raised over $1 b in funding, whereas this year, it has taken until Q2 in May to reach the same milestone.

Anyway, here’s what happened in the venture capital space between May 8 & 12, 2023.

Egypt-Based VC, DisrupTech, Raises $5M Investment

Last week, DisrupTech, an early-stage venture capital fund, announced a $5m investment from Proparco to support development in Egypt’s FinTech sector, and help expand access to financial services in the country.

The fund raised $36m from several investors including development finance institutions, funds-of-funds and family offices. With this fund, DisrupTech aims to provide seed capital to about 28 start-ups with a prime focus on financial technology services. Along with capital, DisrupTech will also proffer advice and mentorship to the businesses it supports.

Proparco’s investment in DisrupTech is part of its venture capital program. Since 2020, it has invested over €120m in African early-stage companies and venture capital funds.

FinTech Firm, Shara Inc., Acquires Maisha Microfinance

Shara Inc., a Delaware-based FinTech firm co-founded by Grant Brooke and Peter Njonjo, acquired a 55.8% controlling stake in Maisha Microfinance Bank Limited (Maisha MFB) in Kenya.

The acquisition came after approval from the cabinet secretary for the National Treasury and Planning on April 4, 2023. The CBK statement revealed that the investment by Cactus Cantina will also provide the necessary resources for Maisha MFB to support its business growth and transform its business model in line with CBK’s vision for the microfinance banking sector.

Deal Street Wrap-Up

  • South African e-health start-up, Quro Medical, raised ZAR25 million ($1.3m) in funding from the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC).
  • Egypt-based FinTech, Balad, raised a seven-figure pre-Seed round led by Acasia Ventures. Other investors in the round included Launch Africa, Future Africa, V&R, Magic Fund, First Circle, Sunny Side, and several family offices.
  • South African digital, student accommodation platform, DigsConnect, secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Intaba Capital as part of its ongoing Series A round.
  • Kenyan company, Raise, an end-to-end fundraising platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Carta.

That’s a wrap.

Until Friday next week.

Source: weetracker.com

About GetFundedAfrica

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