Investor Updates: Egyptian e-mobility startup Shift EV secures Series A funding

Egyptian e-mobility startup Shift EV secures Series A funding

Highlights

• Egyptian electric mobility startup Shift EV has raised an undisclosed Series A funding round to help it onboard more clients and scale operations into other markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 
• Founded in 2020, Shift EV converts existing fuel-run vehicles into electric ones utilizing its in-house designed and manufactured batteries, and late last year delivered its first fleet of electrified vehicles.
• The funding round was led by Union Square Ventures, Algebra Ventures, and Wamda, all of whom participated in its seed round last year. They were also joined by the Oman Technology Fund (OTF). 

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Globally, the acceptance of electric vehicles is gaining momentum with adoption estimated to have risen six-fold since 2015. In 2020, there were more than 11 million registered EVs including cars, buses, vans, and trucks globally, and the number is expected to hit 145 million by the end of the decade, suggesting a global transition from gas-powered vehicles is right on track. By continents, however, Africa lags behind its peers and has shown little progress so far. Electric vehicles remain rare in most of Africa but local initiatives led by startups like Shift offer a ray of hope that the region won’t be totally left behind.

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Google launches first Africa product development center in Nairobi

Highlights

• Google has announced the launch of its first African product development center in Nairobi to build “transformative” products and services for the African market and the world. 
• This comes after the tech giant revealed plans to invest $1 billion over the next 5 years. The center is Google’s second major research and development investment in Africa after the tech giant set up an AI and research center in Ghana in 2019.
• Google plans to hire over 100 tech talent including software engineers, researchers, and designers over the next 2 years to help solve difficult and technical challenges.

Source: Reuters

Our Takeaway

Google joins the growing list of tech giants setting up innovations hub in Nairobi. Two weeks ago and shortly after Microsoft launched a research and development center in the Kenyan capital city, Visa announced its first innovation center cited in Nairobi to co-create payment and commerce solutions with partners. The decision of the US giant to double down on efforts in Africa further validates the region’s huge growth opportunity for investors willing to bet on it.

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Kenyan startup uses AI to facilitate real-time diagnosis

Highlights

• Kenyan startup Neural Labs is using AI-enabled medical imaging to facilitate real-time diagnosis of various respiratory, heart, and breast diseases and pathologies.
• Founded in January 2021, Neural Labs has developed a platform called NeuralSight in a bid to reduce Africa’s disease burden and hospital workloads, with better patient outcomes and democratized access to healthcare.
• NeuralSight can identify, label, and highlight over 20 respiratory, heart, and breast diseases and pathologies, including pneumonia, tuberculosis, COVID-19, emphysema, and more. The co-founders have been working on different AI-focused technologies since 2020, eventually zeroing in on tackling healthcare challenges.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

With significant venture capital funding pouring into the tech ecosystem, Africa is seeing a boom in the number of startups solving some of the most challenging health problems of the continent. These range from access to medical care, infant and maternal mortality, rapid diagnostics, and genetics. Last year, over $4.77 billion was invested in African startups; around $379.6 million of those went to 479 healthcare-focused companies, compared to the $90 million 180 companies received in 2020.