Investor Updates: June 21 2022 - Ghanaian fintech Fido secures $30m Series A

Ghanaian fintech Fido secures $30m Series A

Highlights

• Ghana-based fintech Fido has raised a $30 million equity investment and some undisclosed debt funding in a Series A round led by Fortissimo Capital, with participation from Yard Ventures; a VC fund by Harvard alumni. 
• Founded by Nadav Topolski, Tomer Edry, and Nir Zepkowitz, Fido gives mobile loans of up to $250 to individuals and small businesses, which are repayable through single or multiple installments for a period of up to six months.
• This round brings the total equity investment raised by the startup to date to $38 million. With it, Fido plans to roll out new products and expand across Africa.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Access to consumer and SME credit remains a major barrier in Africa, which many startups like Carbon, Branch, and Fairmoney are addressing through mobile lending. In terms of types of services, fintech firms specializing in digital payments dominate sub-Saharan Africa’s fintech investment landscape by both financing and transactional metrics while those focused on digital banking and lending services follow closely behind, per Brookings. Fido claims to have issued over $1.5 million in loans to 350,000 customers in Ghana.

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Nigeria’s Healthtracka raises $1.5m seed funding

Highlights

• Healthtracka, a Lagos-based healthtech that offers an at-home lab testing platform, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. 
• Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson launched the company with Victor Amusan in May 2021. And the news comes five months after its participation in the Techstars Toronto accelerator program last October.
• The funding will assist Healthtracka in its next growth phase as it also scales its B2B2C offering where partner companies in Nigeria can deliver at-home testing to their employees.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the popularity of telemedicine—an innovative way of getting access to and delivering healthcare using digital devices such as mobile devices and computers—has risen significantly. Per a McKinsey study, telemedicine grew 78 times in April 2020. In Africa, where fewer than 50% of Africans have access to modern health facilities and the doctor-to-patient ratio stands at 1:5,000, the budding healthcare tool has equally made new inroads.

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Kibo School gets $2m to offer online STEM degrees to Africans

Highlights

• Kibo, an online school that is set to offer several STEM degree programs targeted at students in Africa, has launched after raising a $2 million seed funding.
• The round was led by Neo, a VC firm by the co-founder of Code.org. Future Africa, Pledges, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, Transcend Network, and several angel investors also participated in the round. 
• The new funding brings the total capital raised by the startup to $2.4m after last year’s pre-seed round.

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 even attending events, have shifted to online platforms. 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 many startups have emerged to capture this opportunity with backing from international investors while simultaneously expanding Africa’s tech talent pool and addressing the unemployment problem that continues to plague the continent.