Investor Updates: Tiger Global leads $12m seed extension in Zambia’s Union54

Tiger Global leads $12m seed extension in Zambia’s Union54

Highlights

• Zambian card issuing fintech Union54 has raised $12 million in a seed extension round led by Tiger Global six months after raising its seed round of $3 million, also led by Tiger Global.
• The startup’s API allows African software companies to issue and manage their debit cards without needing a bank or third-party processor.
• Since its launch in October and participation in Y Combinator’s summer batch 2021, Union54 has issued slightly over 500,000 virtual debit cards to its customers and claims to have processed volumes in millions of dollars.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Issuing debit cards is traditionally very expensive, slow, and inflexible, which makes the process out of the reach of most small companies. With the emergence of card-issuing API fintech startups, however, smaller businesses and startups have relatively easy access to issuing cards for their customers. More so, card-issuing API fintech players in Africa are increasingly attracting the attention of investors and their venture capital dollars.

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Kenyan e-commerce startup Elloe raises $1m pre-seed

Highlights

• Kenya’s Elloe, a conversational e-commerce startup, has raised $1 million in pre-seed capital as it bids to expand across emerging markets.
• Founded by Owen Sakawa, Elloe is an AI-powered, conversational commerce platform that allows SMEs to buy and sell products online across any messaging platform. 
• The funding round is led by the Philippines-based Mad Ventures and will help Elloe expand across Kenya and other emerging markets.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

In Africa, e-commerce is gradually evolving to become social selling. Across the continent, startups are springing up with different e-commerce business models built around social networking and messaging sites like Facebook and WhatsApp that consumers already use. Facebook and Instagram are used for online shopping more than e-commerce marketplaces by Africans, per a 2019 GeoPoll survey. This emerging social commerce sub-sector is set to witness exponential growth in the coming years as more startups emerge and consumers make purchases via social media platforms.

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Morocco’s Nessiam secures $306k investment

Highlights

• Morocco-based lingerie e-commerce site Nessiam has secured a $306,000 investment from CDG Invest, the CDG Group’s investment arm, as part of its 212 Founders program.
• Founded in 2021 by Mohammed Damiri and Hamza Aouadi, Nessiam offers a variety of women’s underwear on its website.
• The investment will help Nessiam in its plans to become a benchmark brand in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and establish other product lines such as swimwear and accessories for the forthcoming summer season.

Source: Wamda

Our Takeaway

As the e-commerce industry in the MENA region grows, Nessiam’s market opportunity is substantial. In 2017, the market was worth $8.4 billion, with an annual growth of 25% since 2014, and is predicted to reach $28.5 billion by the end of this year. With the accelerated adoption of e-commerce induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, these figures are bound to have increased substantially.