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Investor Updates: Nigeria's Topship raises $2.5m seed round

3 min Read May 16, 2022 at 8:44 PM UTC

Daba finance invest in Africa

Nigeria’s Topship raises $2.5m seed round

Topship
Image from Techcruch

Highlights

  • Topship, a Nigerian tech startup building a shipping platform to help Nigerian merchants ship locally and internationally, has announced a $2.5 million seed round months after concluding the recent Y Combinator winter batch.
  • Flexport led the round, which includes participation from other backers Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Starling Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, Capital X, True Capital and individual investors.
  • This new funding will help the company expand operations to more African countries, improve its asset-light technology and build out a proprietary global shipping infrastructure to make imports and exports significantly faster and easier.

Source: TechCrunch


Our Takeaway

Africa contributes an increasingly significant amount to global maritime trade, with a reported 12% of the 811 million containers handled at ports worldwide. Its clearing and forwarding market is thus growing, with the market size estimated at $4.2 billion, and expected to grow 12.5% as new services emerge. However, several challenges—including congestion at ports and complex payment systems—could hinder the realization of this potential. Therein lies the opportunity for Topship, and several other startups that are digitizing Africa’s freight forwarding space.


Amazon acquires 4% of Egypt’s valU for $10m

Amazon acquires 4 per cent of valU for $10 million
Image from Wamda

Highlights

  • Amazon has agreed to acquire $10 million in EFG Hermes global depositary receipts (GDRs), with the option to replace it with future investment in valU. 
  • That translates to a stake of 4.255% of valU’s issued share capital, based on a current post-money valuation of $235 million.
  • The transaction represents about 1% of EFG’s GDRs, which have a current market cap of $976 million. Upon the deal, valU will be listed as a payment method for Amazon.eg customers.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

Amazon runs a widespread local logistics and operations network across Egypt, operating in the country since 2017 through Souq.com. Last July, it launched a dedicated platform called amazon.eg in the Arab world’s most populous country. With more than 3,500 points of sale, valU offers customisable financing plans and access to a wide network of retail and e-commerce providers across diverse sectors. Through the agreement, eligible customers who shop on Egypt’s Amazon domain will now have the option to buy now and pay later through a new consumer financing payment method offered by valU. 


Nigerian fintech startup Bridgecard raises $440k pre-seed funding

Image from Disruot Africa

Highlights

  • Nigerian fintech startup Bridgecard has raised a $440,000 pre-seed funding round to expand its user base and build out its platform.
  • Bridgecard merges a user’s cards, bank accounts and fintech wallets into one card and an app, allowing users to perform online transactions, pay bills, and withdraw from any linked account.
  • The startup will use the funding to increase the number of bank accounts that can be linked to it, expand to support crypto wallets in supported countries, get the product in the hands of more people, and solve online and card payment issues better. 

Source: Disrupt Africa


Our Takeaway

Across Africa, innovation in the fintech space is at an all-time high as consumers increasingly rely on mobile financial services, tech startups roll out newer solutions, and venture investors incrementally back founders in this landscape. Bridgecard’s “one debit card for all bank accounts” solution is one interesting fintech use-case and early traction suggests it could be appealing to Africans who aren’t keen on shuffling multiple cards. A private beta saw the solution launched to 120 users and processed over $70,000 transaction volume within two months.

This material has been presented for informational and educational purposes only. The views expressed in the articles above are generalized and may not be appropriate for all investors. The information contained in this article should not be construed as, and may not be used in connection with, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or hold, an interest in any security or investment product. There is no guarantee that past performance will recur or result in a positive outcome. Carefully consider your financial situation, including investment objective, time horizon, risk tolerance, and fees prior to making any investment decisions. No level of diversification or asset allocation can ensure profits or guarantee against losses. Articles do not reflect the views of DABA ADVISORS LLC and do not provide investment advice to Daba’s clients. Daba is not engaged in rendering tax, legal or accounting advice. Please consult a qualified professional for this type of service.

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