Investors update: VC funding drives marketing tech growth in Africa

VC funding drives marketing tech growth in Africa

Highlights

• Twelve marketing tech startups in Africa raised capital last year, up 20% in 2021, and between them, these startups banked $34.7 million, per Disrupt Africa.
• This represented 1% of the total funding secured by African startups and was an increase of 242% in 2021. The sector maintained strong growth in this regard, with 2021 having been up 281.5% in 2020.
• A major benefit of online marketing is cost, meaning startups are more likely to adopt a digital-first approach to marketing. Demand is growing, and though investor interest remains nascent, notable rounds have occurred.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Millions of people around Africa now spend more of their time online, mainly. The penetration rate of smartphones in sub-Saharan Africa is growing the fastest in the world, and it is expected to cover 67% of the population by 2025. This means businesses have to increasingly target consumers on social platforms through the constantly evolving practice of digital marketing. But beyond social media ads, a few startups have emerged offering software solutions that help African businesses optimize digital marketing tasks across online platforms.

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BasiGo and AVA to assemble electric buses in Kenya

Highlights

• BasiGo, the Kenyan-based electric manufacturer has partnered with Associated Vehicle Assemblers Ltd (AVA) to assemble its buses in the country.
• The two companies aim to manufacture over 1,000 electric buses in the next three years, hoping to create over 300 new manufacturing jobs and an additional 300 jobs in the ecosystem of charging, maintenance and financing.
• This partnership will also see the company assemble 33-seater buses as the company seeks to phase out the 25-seater buses used in the pilot project guided by feedback from Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

The acceptance of electric vehicles is gaining momentum. In 2020, there were more than 11 million registered EVs globally, and the number is expected to hit 145 million by 2030. Things are going at a much slower pace in Africa, however. In Kenya, EV adoption is currently at 5% of the total vehicles and for the most part, are private vehicles. But the latest developments suggest that might change soon, with the recent launch of the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network in Nairobi to be traversed only by green vehicles and initiatives by EV startups like BasiGo.

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Uganda’s Agro Supply bags $200k to accelerate growth

Highlights

• Catalyst Fund recently announced a $2 million investment in 10 startups developing solutions to improve the resilience of communities most vulnerable to climate change in Africa, including Agro Supply from Uganda.
• This is the first cohort of startups to receive funding from Catalyst Fund’s new $30M investment fund, backed by the financial sector development agency FSD Africa.
• The fund is aimed at helping early-stage founders develop technologies that will make Africa less susceptible to the impact of climate change.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

Africa sees huge impacts of climate change, despite not being responsible for the current level of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. In Nigeria, for instance, up to 34 out of its 36 states experienced floods last year, affecting households, businesses, farmlands, as well as oil and gas facilities. More than 3 million people were affected and over 1.4 million are displaced per the UN. In light of this, nowhere promises bigger business opportunities than in Africa given the need to reinvent all sectors.