Investor Update: July 14 2022 - Africa Leadership Group acquires coding school Holberton

Africa Leadership Group acquires coding school Holberton

Highlights

• Coding school Holberton today announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by African Leadership Group (ALG).
• The seven-year-old company, with physical schools across the globe in addition to its core online platform, will split in two. 
• Holberton’s technology platform will become part of ALG’s existing ALX online learning platform and the existing 34 physical locations will get spun out to become a stand-alone business under current Holberton COO Florian Bucher.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, nearly all face-to-face interactions in different fields, from learning and grocery shopping to events and work, have moved online. Almost 60% of Africa’s population are under the age of 25 while the continent has an average literacy rate of 70%, lagging behind other parts of the world. These conditions indicate the region is ripe for disruptions in education, and with the current increasing global demand for tech talent, ALG, further strengthened by its acquisition of Holberton, is well positioned to capture the opportunity.

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Tunisia’s Smart Capital invests $5.2m in Silicon Badia’s BIF2

Highlights

• Tunisia-based Smart Capital, the manager of the Anava fund of funds, has invested $5.2 million in the Badia Impact Squared Fund (BIF2), a newly-launched fund targeting regional early-stage, high-growth startups.
• BIF2 is managed by Silicon Badia, a pioneering venture capital firm that invests in early-stage and growth-stage technology firms operating globally.
• Anava has already secured an initial close of €40 million and eyes a final close at €100 million.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

An increasing number of small- to medium-sized funds are targeting opportunities in Africa and other frontier markets. Uncovered Fund, LoftyInc Capital, Savannah Fund, and Ventures Platform are some of such Africa-focused firms that have launched in the past year. Silicon Badia, which has offices in the United States and the Middle East, has invested in over 80 technology firms in over 15 industries and cities worldwide. Its second regional fund, BIF2, is a sector fund that invests in ICT startups in Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Lebanon at the Series A and Series B stages.

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Morocco-based Aza Petrosolutions raises $296k

Highlights

• Morocco-based startup Aza Petrolsolutions (formerly Aza Petroleum), has raised $296,000 in a fresh funding round from the Maroc Numeric Fund II.
• Founded in 2020, Aza develops tech-based solutions tailored to the oil distribution industry. It offers a fully automated system that streamlines refueling and distribution operations as well as facilitating the use of mobile payments at service stations.
• This is the 6th investment of Maroc Numeric Fund II and the 23nd investment of its management team, taking into account the investments made by Maroc Numeric Fund I, which is now in the divestment phase.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

Beyond consumer-facing solutions, a number of tech startups in Africa have built or are building enterprise solutions for industries like oil and gas. For clients, leverage digitization and technology helps transform operational environments and gain the advantages of increased performance, effectiveness, and cost reductions. Rising demand for computing from African giant corporations is attracting big cloud operators into the African market, which is largely untapped and we’ve seen companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Huawei look to tap into this boom by setting up local data centers on the continent.