Investor Updates: Moove secures $20m from British International Investment

Nigeria-based Moove gets $20m from British International Investment

Highlights

• Mobility fintech startup Moove has raised $20 million in funding from the UK government’s development finance institution, British International Investment (BII), formerly known as CDC Group.
• Moove is democratizing vehicle ownership in Africa by providing revenue-based vehicle financing to mobility entrepreneurs. It is working on global expansion after raising $10 million in debt funding in February and $105 million in a Series A2 round consisting of equity and debt a month later. 
• The funding from BII brings the total raised by the startup to just short of $200 million and will enable it to purchase and import brand new fuel-efficient cars into Lagos, which will be leased to drivers who can then earn their way to ownership.

Source: TechCabal

Our Takeaway

In Africa, the market opportunity for vehicle financing is huge. Despite having a population of more than 1 billion people, 43% of them urban dwellers, the continent recorded less than 1 million total new vehicle sales in 2019, a far cry in comparison to 17 million in the U.S. alone. Moove currently operates in six cities across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya, with plans to expand further across the continent and globally. 

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New $7m program launched to back African e-health startups

Highlights

• Southbridge A&I, Salient Advisory, and SCIDaR have partnered to launch i3, a $7 million program that will provide African e-health startups with funding and support each year.
• Sponsored by the Gates Foundation, the pan-African program will provide 30 startups per year with access to a systematic grant of $50,000, market and government access events, and connections to a global ecosystem in the healthcare community.
• i3 aims to identify early-stage or growth-stage innovators across the continent that can make a tangible impact on public health, whether in terms of availability, accessibility, quality or transparency of health supply chains.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Healthcare-focused African startups are increasingly attracting venture capital investment as the continent’s e-health sector booms. As of 2020, there were 180 companies active in Africa’s e-health space, while investment peaked in the first half of 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, 55 African e-health startups secured funding from investors. As the African population continues to grow and the need for a nimble approach to healthcare delivery grows, there are strong indications startup numbers and investment levels will continue to soar.  

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West African agritech Afrikamart closes $850k seed round

Highlights

• West African agritech start-up Afrikamart has just announced the closing of an $850,000 seed round of financing.
• Participating in the round are leading venture capital groups including the BLOC Smart Africa fund managed by Bamboo Capital Partners, Orange Digital Ventures, Launch Africa, and Teranga Capital.
• The financing is expected to allow Afrikamart to ramp up its purchases from smallholder farmers across the country, enabling more efficient logistics management and last-mile delivery of vegetables directly to street vendors and small retailers, restaurants, and hotels in Senegal.

Source: Ventureburn

Our Takeaway

Africa is fast becoming a global leader in the agritech space. Between 2016 and 2019, the industry grew by 44% year-on-year, and the continent has registered the highest number of agritech services in the developing world, reaching more than 30 million smallholder farmers as of 2021. On its part, Afrikamart’s end-to-end solution allows a formalization of the fresh food value chain and the empowerment of small market operators. To date, nearly 2,000 farmers have provided it with fresh produce; up to 10 tonnes have been delivered per day to 500 regular customers across 4 cities in Senegal.