The Afridigest Week in Review is a must-read weekly recap for Africa-focused founders, executives, and investors.

Welcome back, friends! The most clicked link from last week was early Figma employee Sean Whitney’s write-up of Figma’s early days, 'How patience & discipline fostered a killer product.' And if you missed the Fintech Review sent out just a few hours ago, it’s here.

📌 What a week. FTX collapse, Elon’s erratic Twitter takeover, the American midterm elections, and more. You’ll excuse me for omitting reads of the week in today’s newsletter — there was too much going on. Also, remember to sign-up here for the upcoming Afridigest meetup in Lagos, likely on the last day of the month. And ping me if you know anything about Tingo. With that said, let’s get into it.

If you’re new, welcome 🙌🏽 — you're among thousands of readers who receive this Week in Review on Mondays, the Fintech Review on Sundays, and (for those who've opted in) the French-language Revue de la Semaine on Wednesdays (which is on a short hiatus right now). And from time to time, an original essay/article goes out on Saturdays. For past essays and digests, visit the archive.

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Week 45 2022: November 6-12

📰 Deal of the Week

🇩🇿 Yassir, an Algerian mobility-led super app, raised a $150M Series B led by Mary Meeker’s Bond, with participation from DN Capital, Dorsal Capital, Quiet Capital, Stanford Alumni Ventures, Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund, and others

About Yassir: Founded in 2017, Yassir began life as a provider of ride-hailing services in Algeria. Today, the company is active in over forty cities across six countries, and offers rider-hailing, food & grocery e-commerce and delivery services, and a digital wallet.

Aside from these core offerings, Yassir intends to build out robust payments and fintech services in the near future. The company says its now has ~8M users and ~100,000 service provider partners (drivers, couriers, merchants, suppliers, and wholesalers) on the platform.

Source: How Africa's super app landscape is evolving.

Key personalities:

In the founder’s words: “Our business model from day one was a super app model and getting into payments… We thought we could provide on-demand services that solve immediate needs around where people spent their money. We knew if we executed well, we could have a large user base that subconsciously trusts us, which [is important in] to offering payment services.” — Noureddine Tayebi

In the investor’s words: “We believe technology will foundationally rearchitect consumers’ relationship with daily needs – transportation, food, financial services – not just in developed countries, but in every corner of the world. This investment is an extension of that belief in an underserved but dynamic, rapidly growing region.” — Daegwon Chae

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🔦 Other deals

OTHER FUNDRAISES ACROSS THE CONTINENT

🇰🇪 IXAfrica Data Centre Limited, a Kenyan developer/operator of data centers across East Africa, raised $50M from Helios Investment Partners
🇪🇬 Blnk, an Egyptian B2B2C digital lending & in-store financing platform, announced that it raised $32M: $12.5M across pre-seed and seed equity rounds from Emirates International Investment Company, Sawari Ventures, and others; $11.2M in debt financing; and $8.3M via the issuance of securitized bonds
🇳🇬 OjirehPrime, a Nigerian neobank & digital banking platform, raised $1.24M from UK-based accelerator CPRES203 and others
🇪🇬 Brotinni, an Egyptian food-tech platform for farm-sourced, vacuum-sealed fresh meat and poultry, raised a $600K seed round led by Innlife investments.
🇳🇬 CutStruct, a Nigerian platform digitizing procurement processes in the construction sector, raised a $600K pre-seed co-led by Zedcrest Capital, DFS Lab, and LoftyInc Capital.
🇿🇦 Contro, a South African online delivery and prescription subscription platform focused on sexual health, raised a ~$583K (ZAR10.1M) pre-seed from Plug & Play, iCubed Capital, WZ Capital, and the Jozi Angels Network. The amount raised also includes grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-backed i3 fund.
🇲🇦 WafR, a Moroccan fintech and rewards platform that helps FMCGs execute promotional campaigns in local grocery stores, raised $120K from First Circle Capital.
🇰🇪 Sendy, a Kenyan B2B logistics platform, raised an undisclosed amount from MOL PLUS, the venture capital arm of Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.
🇳🇬 Fanbants, a Nigerian fantasy football (soccer) platform, is participating in the Techstars Minnesota Twins Accelerator program which focuses on startups at the intersection of tech, sports, and entertainment. (Techstars offers $20K in exchange for a 6% equity and an optional $100K convertible note.)
The following startups were selected for the inaugural Katapult Africa accelerator Program backed by the Rwanda Social Security Board, Norfund and SOS Children’s Villages, and focused on food-, climate-, and agri-tech— they’ll each receive a $150K investment in equity and convertible instruments
- 🇬🇭 Legendary Foods, a Ghanaian insect protein foodtech company.
- 🇬🇭 Spark, a Ghanaian social group finance app.
- 🇬🇭 Elucid, a Ghanaian/Madagascan provider of supply chain reporting technology for sustainability & human rights
- 🇰🇪 Aquarech, a Kenyan aquaculture platform digitizing the fish farming value chain.
- 🇰🇪 GrowAgric, a Kenyan agri-fintech platform providing farmers with working capital financing.
- 🇲🇦 Sand to Green, a Moroccan regenerative agtech platform transforming deserts into arable land
- 🇳🇬 Gricd, a Nigerian real-time IoT asset monitoring platform focused on cold chain
- 🇳🇬 Vetsark Cleva, a Nigerian provider of digital bookkeeping solutions and business managent software for farmers and agribusinesses
- 🇸🇳 Afrikamart, a Senegalese B2B agritech marketplace digitizing the fresh food value chain
The following startups are participating in the second batch of Startup Wise Guys’ new African B2B digital SaaS accelerator program — they’ll each receive ~$67K (€65K) in exchange for an up to 12% equity stake and other benefits
- 🇬🇭 Built Financial Technologies, a Ghanaian invoicing, payroll, and payments platform for SMEs
- 🇳🇬 Bunce, a Nigerian B2B revenue management, analytics, and ops automation platform
- 🇳🇬 DT2 Technologies, a Nigerian core banking platform
- 🇳🇬 ShipBubble, a Nigerian cloud shipping platform that connects businesses to logistics providers
- 🇰🇪 Hisa, a Kenyan platform for investing in public equities
- 🇰🇪 Sortika, a Kenyan saving and investing platform
- 🇰🇪 Naivera, a Kenyan financial marketplace
- 🇰🇪 Zemo, a Kenyan B2B expense management platform
- 🇹🇿 Tunzaa Fintech, a Tanzanian BNPL & rewards platform

ADJACENT

Pyypl, an Emirati blockchain-based payments & fintech platform targeting financially underserved smartphone users across the Middle East & Africa, raised a $20M Series B round from Global Ventures and others. The company’s initial African markets include Kenya, Mozambique, and Nigeria.
Sistema.bio, a Mexican agtech biodigester technology provider that transforms animal manure into biogas & fertilizer, raised $10M from Native to run a three-year biogas program in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. The company’s global hubs are in Mexico, Colombia, India, and Kenya.
Yaga, an Estonian marketplace for second-hand fashion items, raised ~$2.3M (€2.2M) led by Startup Wise Guys, with participation from Trind Ventures, Specialist VC, Rubylight, and others. Yaga operates in South Africa, Kenya, and India and is said to be one of South Africa’s most popular online fashion platforms, with over 5 million visits per month.

INVESTOR ACTIVITY

Quona Capital, a VC firm focused on fintech and fintech-adjacent companies in emerging markets, announced the final close of Fund III at $332M, well above the initial $250M target. Quona’s Africa portfolio includes Yoco, Wasoko, Khazna, and Cowrywise.

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🕵️‍♀️ In case you missed it

NEWS

Jumia’s Co-Founders & Co-CEOs Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec ‘stepped down’ from the firm.
- The timing of this move — right before the Q3 2022 earnings release on the 17th — is a bit curious.
- But JMIA’s stock price, long in decline, dropped below $5 — a level not seen since May 2020 — perhaps warranting immediate action
- Jumia which raised well above $1B now has a sub-$500M market cap.
- The company also announced a search for a new CEO, and a renewed drive to “scale the business towards profitability” with a focus on “leaders and decision centers closer to consumers and sellers in Africa.”

ESSAYS, REPORTS, & LISTS

Jumanne Mtambalike, Co-Founder of Tanzania’s Sahara Ventures, writes ‘The African startup manifesto — systems or tech, what comes first?’
Maro Elias, strategist and marketer at SystemSpecs writes ‘Thoughts on partnership strategy and scaling for tech businesses’
Yasmin Kumi, Founder and CEO of Africa Foresight Group, writes ‘Unearthing Africa’s hidden business champions, the heartbeat of our continent’s global future’

OTHER ARTICLES

Africa's youths can help solve the global tech talent shortage (Brookings)
Africa is a tech hub on the rise (Forbes)
Inside Nigeria’s used iPhones market (TechCabal)

PROFILES/INTERVIEWS

Janngo Capital’s Fatoumata Ba
Future Africa’s Iyin Aboyeji

💬 Quote of the Week

“If you can please don’t fundraise in this market environment. This is not the time to raise capital. There is literally zero upside to you as a founder if you are trying to fundraise in this market environment. Capital is scarce and will only get more expensive as the full weight of the last two years of capital exuberance exact their full toll on Venture Capital. Even if you manage to raise capital you will be under a lot of pressure if you raise from typical investors (not us) who only care about making a financial return. This is exactly the moment when Venture Capital transforms to vulture capital.” — Future Africa Founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

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🐤 Tweet of the Week

Larry Madowo @LarryMadowo

SCOOP - CNN has obtained the termination notice sent to staff at Twitter's only office in Africa - in Accra 🇬🇭 It was sent to their personal emails but didn't mention any of them by name. Unlike in the US, it doesn't offer next steps or severance

🗣️ Community Corner and Opportunities (feel free to send yours in)

African startups are invited to apply for the January 2023 cohort of the Techbridge accelerator which offers equity investments of up to $200K
Startups operating in Francophone African countries are invited to apply to Digital Africa’s Fuzé program and receive up to ~$49K (€50K) in equity funding.

FIN

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