Investors update: December 16 2022

Africa-focused Sun King expands its Series D to $330m

Highlights

• Sun King, a provider of off-grid solar energy products in Africa and Asia, has secured a $70 million equity investment led by LeapFrog Investments. 
• It’s an extension of the $260 million Series D round the solar company announced this April, which was led by BeyondNetZero, the climate investing venture of General Atlantic and M&G Investments’ Catalyst and Arch Emerging Markets Partners. 
• Thus, Sun King has closed its Series D round at $330 million and as a result, raised over $550 million in debt and equity since its inception.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

As African economies grow, the demand for energy by companies, homeowners, and industries increases by the day. This comes with challenges of climate change and energy depletion, however, many innovators and investors believe renewable energy can help Africa counter these challenges. Financiers mostly are skeptical about funding ventures in the renewable energy space, which has hindered growth in the sector, but Sun King’s successful mega fundraising round suggests the perception towards the renewable energy opportunity in Africa could be changing.

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Standard Bank, GE to invest $80m in Africa’s healthcare

Highlights

• Standard Bank and GE Healthcare are collaborating to bring greater accessibility to African healthcare systems across the continent. 
• The two long-time collaborators will make financing of up to $80 million available for the distribution of GE Healthcare equipment over the next five years.
• Through a strong focus on delivering radiology, diagnostic imaging, and nuclear medicine delivering oncology solutions, the  goal of the collaboration is to enhance the well-being of communities and potentially save lives.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

The healthcare sector in Africa is increasingly attracting investments, both foreign direct and venture capital, as part of efforts to solve the continent’s healthcare woes. 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—at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world—and the need for improved healthcare delivery grows, there are strong indications investment numbers will continue to soar. 

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Egyptian startup Appetito merges with Saudi company Jumlaty

Highlights

• Egyptian grocery deliveries startup Appetito has merged with Saudi-based counterpart Jumlaty to create NOMU, which aims to become MENA’s leading food-tech supply chain platform.
• Founded in March 2020 by Shehab Mokhtar, Appetito is a grocery delivery platform that sources products from manufacturers, stores them in its warehouses, and ships them to customers via mini fulfillment centers. 
• The startup raised a $2 million pre-seed funding round in late 2021 and acquired Tunisian quick commerce platform Lamma to expand its operations into Morocco, Tunisia, and West Africa in June of this year.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Going by the number of mergers and acquisitions involving African startups announced so far this year, all signs point to a significant surge in the total number of exits and buyouts the region’s ecosystem will record by the end of 2022. This trend is spread across the continent, with a number of acquisition deals reported even outside leading tech hubs such as South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. The new entity, NOMU, is currently present in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco and has the capacity to cover the existing infrastructure of 25 million people and 100,000 F&B stores.