12 Growth Stage Startups Selected for 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa

 

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12 Growth Stage Startups Selected for 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa

This annual flagship program brings together the best and brightest startups from across the continent, giving them the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors and industry experts

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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, August 14, 2023/ -- VC4A (https://www.VC4A.com), the leading startup platform in emerging markets, is proud to announce the 12 African startups that have been selected to participate in the 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa. This annual flagship program brings together the best and brightest startups from across the continent, giving them the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors and industry experts with the objective of raising their Seed or Series A fuding rounds. The 12 startups selected for the 2023 Venture Showcase Africa are: Three ventures from Egypt, which are Rology (https://apo-opa.info/455sUUU), an AI-assisted tele-radiology platform that helps deliver accurate radiology reports on time; FreshSource (https://apo-opa.info/451X5fw), a B2B agri-supply chain platform that uses data and technology to connect producers to businesses, guarantee fair prices, and minimize food loss; and Pharmacy Marts (https://apo-opa.info/47H09zA), a B2B marketplace for pharmacies that provides a one-stop shop for products, financing, and logistics. Four startups from Nigeria namely; Vendy (https://apo-opa.info/3YvNpaP), which helps businesses accept payments from customers without internet access; Treepz (https://apo-opa.info/3OCiBQS), a car-sharing platform for Africa that aims to reduce CO2 emissions; Winich Farms (https://apo-opa.info/3qCT7ee), an application that connects food producers to informal food processors and retailers in Africa; and OmniRetail (https://apo-opa.info/3OAwu21), a B2B e-commerce platform offering supplier & retail software, to connect the informal retail ecosystem across Africa. Three startups from Kenya; Duhqa (https://apo-opa.info/3OBqdDi), a digital supply chain platform that uses AI and automation to help SMEs and manufacturers grow their businesses; MPost (https://apo-opa.info/3KDJtPu) which is a digital platform that turns mobile phone numbers into formal postal addresses, and SympliFi (https://apo-opa.info/3OTghFF), a blockchain-powered credit-as-a-service platform that provides affordable credit to MSMEs in Africa. To close the top 12 list, one startup each from Uganda and Senegal; Emata (https://apo-opa.info/3OW2PC7) is a digital lending platform on a mission to provide loans to millions of farmers in East Africa and Maad (https://apo-opa.info/3KCIizP), is an e-commerce marketplace connecting manufacturers and retailers in Francophone Africa. These high-growth ventures were chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants, and represent a diverse range of industries and sectors in the Seed and Series A tracks. Each startup will receive mentorship, technical assistance and will have the opportunity to showcase their companies to an audience of investors and industry leaders in the VC4A Deal Room. "We are thrilled to unveil these exceptional startups for our upcoming VC4A Venture Showcase Africa 2023 program. Each is a beacon of innovation and entrepreneurship. These visionary teams have demonstrated remarkable potential and we eagerly anticipate the transformative journey ahead as we accelerate their growth and shape the future together," said an excited Abu Cassim, Lead of the Acceleration Team at VC4A. We thank our 2023 Africa sponsors, the African European Digital Innovation Bridge Network AEDIB|NET and Work in Progress! Alliance, for their commitment to strengthening Africa's startup ecosystem. Their support was essential to the success of this cohort selection process. For more information about the final cohort of the 2023 VC4A Venture Showcase Africa, please visit VentureShowcase.VC4A.com. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of VC4A.   Media Contact: Boyewa Abiodun-Adepoju boyewa@vc4a.com About VC4A: VC4A is an ecosystem builder that leverages its infrastructure, network, and expertise for the programs that contribute to the startup movement in emerging markets. Since 2008, the organization has designed, structured, and implemented successful entrepreneurship programs on the continent. VC4A runs an online platform featuring the world’s largest database of startups in Africa and Latin America, connecting entrepreneurs to resources, networks, and funding. Visit https://VC4A.com/ for more information. About Work in Progress! Alliance: The Work in Progress! Alliance, funded by the Dutch government, aims to enable young people from diverse backgrounds to generate sustainable living wages and create optimism about their future. As a member of the Alliance, VC4A works with partners on the acceleration of start-ups and the offering of business development services (BDS) to impact-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so they can employ more young people. About AEDIB|NET: The African European Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB|NET) is an EU/Horizon2020 project that aims to strengthen a common African European digital innovation ecosystem by supporting local digital innovation and startup Ecosystems in Africa, thereby facilitating the collaboration between European and African innovation hubs. The project has a specific focus on Climate Smart Agriculture, Smart Cities, Digital Trade and Cleantech. SOURCE VC4A

Partech Africa Report: Resilient African Tech Ecosystem Still Growing with $6.5 Billion Raised in 2022

PRESS RELEASE

Presenting the 2022 Partech Africa Report: Resilient African Tech Ecosystem Still Growing with $6.5 Billion Raised in 2022

Partech Africa, the VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa, has issued its annual report on Africa Tech Venture Capital

DAKAR, Senegal, January 24, 2023/ -- Amid the drastic pullback in global VC funding, the African tech ecosystem stands out with +8% growth from 2021. Debt funding doubled in volume to $1.5B, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total funding. Fintech, still leading, attracted 39% of the total equity volume; Nigeria retained the top spot with 23%

Partech Africa, the VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa, has issued its annual report on Africa Tech Venture Capital. The report, which aims to provide a practical picture of the state of the ecosystem, revealed that despite the global VC downturn, the African tech ecosystem grew faster than all other markets globally. 

Total funding invested into tech startups on the continent reached $6.5B, an increase of 8% vs 2021, spread across 764 deals - compared to 724 rounds in 2021. The report, consisting of disclosed and confidential deals, saw debt funding more than double in volume, reaching $1.55 billion through 71 deals [65% YoY growth]. In comparison, equity rounds showed a slight decline, as 653 African tech startups raised $4.9B [-6%] in 693 equity rounds [2% YoY growth].

Focusing on the equity funding, the report revealed the ecosystem was still accelerating during Q1 and Q2 of 2022 compared to 2021, with the YoY comparison showing Q1 and Q2 at +127% YoY and +83% YoY, respectively. However, the global VC slowdown stifled growth in activity in Q3 [-65% YoY] and Q4 [-35% YoY]. In 2022, fundraising activities remained flat across all stages. At $1.4M, Seed+ ticket sizes averaged higher in 2022 [+12% YoY], while Series A remained the same at $8.5M. Later stages reverted to 2019 levels, as Series B and Growth round sizes dropped by -23% and -50% YoY, respectively. In addition, 2022 witnessed a significant reduction in the number of megadeals [over 100M], with only seven deals compared to 14 in 2021.

Speaking on the launch of the annual report, Tidjane Deme, General Partner at Partech, said: "2022 was a particularly challenging year for the venture ecosystem worldwide, as venture and growth investors scaled back their investment by a third. However, by comparison, our report revealed the African tech ecosystem showed great resilience, as more investors have doubled their commitment to the continent by investing in local teams and funds dedicated to the market, which is proving to be the best way forward.”

Overall, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya remain the top investment destinations in Africa, with a share of total volume staying relatively steady at 72%. Nigeria retained the top rank, bringing in  $1.2B in capital, despite a decline of 36% from 2021; South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya each attracted over $0.7B in funding, with Ghana completing the top 5 with just over $0.2B. Overall, 28 countries attracted equity funding in 2022, 13 of them in Francophone Africa..

In light of the market downturn, the report’s findings also revealed that Fintech, which has historically attracted sizable investments, was the most impacted by the slowdown in the number of large rounds. However, fintech remains the most funded sector in Africa, and this across all sources of capital, with 39% of the total equity volume [$1.9B] and 45% of the total debt volume [$691M]. Other sectors have experienced substantial growth and gained a meaningful share of the equity funding activity this year, most notably Cleantech, which made a big comeback with 18% of total equity funding at $863M [+347% YoY] but also 39% of the total debt funding at $605M. 

The report's findings also show:

Female-founded startups raised 22% of all equity rounds in 2022, up 2 percentage points from 20% in 2021. They also contributed $644 Million or 13% of the total equity funding, down 3 percentage points from 16% in 2021.

Outside of the top 4 countries, Ghana ($202 million), Algeria ($150 million), Tunisia ($117 million) and Senegal ($105 million) were the only other countries that broke the $100M funding mark.

Despite a slowdown in the growth rate of equity investors, Africa’s tech ecosystem attracted 1,149 unique investors for the first time [+29% YoY in 2021]. African tech has seen more investors committed, with 89 participating in 5 or more deals (compared to 65 investors in 2021).

The number of debt investors active on the continent is growing 2.5x YoY, with a good mix of local debt institutions, international lenders with emerging market vehicles and Development Finance Institutions.

Cyril Collon, General Partner at Partech, added: “Much of our methodology has remained the same over the years, and we, therefore, can provide a snapshot of how the African continent has evolved over the years. Nigerian and the fintech vertical have remained at the top spot; however, in an environment where equity funding is more challenging, debt has proved to be a solid alternative source of African tech startups in 2022, which signals a maturity within each sector.”

Headquartered in Dakar, Partech Africa is the largest VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa. With a focus on Late Seed, Series A and B equity rounds in startups which are changing the way technology is used across multiple sectors, including education, mobility, finance and healthcare, the VC has, to date, invested in 17 African startups, such as Wave (http://bit.ly/3J9lGqy) and TradeDepot (http://bit.ly/3R2IgD9). Using the same methodology as previous years, the seventh Partech Africa annual report on African tech start-ups only includes equity rounds where the total amount is higher than US$200K.

To download the full ‘2022 Africa Tech Venture Capital’ report, click here (https://bit.ly/3R5mChF).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Partech Partners.

For media inquiries:

Isabelle Tresson: +33 7 86 08 85 85

itresson@partechpartners.com

About Partech Africa:

Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, Partech Africa is the largest VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa. Partech Africa focuses on series A and B equity rounds in startups which are changing the way technology is used in education, mobility, finance, healthcare, delivery, energy, etc.

About Partech:

Born in San Francisco 40 years ago and now headquartered in Paris, Partech is one of the most active tech investors in the world, bringing together capital, operational experience, and strategic support for entrepreneurs at seed, venture and growth stages. The company manages more than €2.5B and its current portfolio includes 210 companies in 40 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the US.

www.PartechPartners.com

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Partech Partners

More Unicorns Are Coming in Africa

I declared that 2020 will be the Year of the Unicorns and it came to pass with the total number of unicorns reaching 563 in 2020 and increased to 957 in 2021 when I declared that Our Unicorns Are Coming, Nigeria and the rest of Africa contributed to make up the 1, 000 unicorns so far in the world. And more unicorns are coming in Africa in 2023.  

The unicorns in Africa include the following:

Chippers Cash (over $2 billion) 

Andela – ($1.5 billion) 

OPay (over $2 billion) 

Wave ($1.7 billion) 

Flutterwave – ($1 billion) 

Paystack – ($1 billion) 

Interswitch ($1 billion) 

Jumia ($1 billion)

Fawry ($1 billion)

PiggyVest ($1 billion)

New unicorns will emerge from EdTech startups, decentralized transactions startups, ride sharing startups and sports betting startups.