Investor Updates: April 1 2022 - Egyptian mobility startup SWVL debuts on Nasdaq

Egyptian mobility startup SWVL debuts on Nasdaq

Highlights

• Egypt founded and UAE-based mobility startup SWVL, on Thursday launched its initial public offering price on Nasdaq at $10 per share.
• The company listed 20-30% of its shares, for trading at an expected value of $200-300 million, through a merger with the American company Queens Gambit Growth Capital with the purpose of acquisition.
• SWVL currently operates in 16 countries and has acquired three startups to date. It plans to use the proceeds of the offering by fully injecting them within 18 months into the expected expansions.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

Swvl’s listing is a landmark moment for Egyptian and Middle Eastern tech ecosystems. It is the first company launched from Africa and the second Middle Eastern company to list on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger. Abu Dhabi-based music streaming platform Anghami did so in February, listing with Vistas Media Acquisition at a $220 million valuation. all eyes are on Swvl’s performance as it officially starts trading today.

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Robo-advisory startup Xpovi raises $300,000 pre-seed round

Highlights

• Egypt-based Robo-advisory startup Xpovi has launched after raising a $300,000 pre-seed round led by a group of angel investors.
• Founded by Mostafa Hisham, Mohamed Marei, and Taher Seif, Xpovi offers automated and real-time business and financial planning services to startups.
• The pre-Seed round has enabled the startup to grow its team and expedite the rollout of its website and app, where startups build their financial and business models after completing a simple questionnaire.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Most tech startups in Africa are focused on solving problems for end consumers although quite a few have emerged building enterprise solutions. Xpovi’s platform revolutionizes financial and business advisory, to enable planning, monitoring, and decision-making supported by data-driven recommendations. As Africa’s tech ecosystem matures, we expect to see startups building for such infrastructure pull more funding.

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Rwanda launches Africa’s first 4IR Center

Highlights

• The Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation of Rwanda, in partnership with the World Economic Forum, launched the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in Rwanda.
• These centers shape new policies and technology governance strategies to enable agility through a fast-growing network. Rwanda’s C4IR will be focused on data governance, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
• C4IR Rwanda is the first center in Africa and joins a network of 15 centers that spans four continents.

Source: The New Times

Our Takeaway

In Africa, Rwanda continues to be one of the fastest-growing countries when it comes to ICT development and there are several avenues for growth for the ICT sector – from e-commerce and e-services, and mobile technologies, to applications development and automation. In addition to the new C4IR, Paul Kagame’s government has over the years taken several initiatives to drive the country’s digital ambitions, including a recent partnership with Google.