Investors update: November 23 2022

Tanzanian supply chain startup Ramani raises $32m 

Highlights

• Ramani, a Tanzanian startup focused on consumer-packaged goods supply chains, plans to introduce new financial services as it expands its operations in the East African country after raising $32 million in Series A debt-equity funding.
• The YC-backed startup provides inventory management systems, procurement, and point-of-sale software to its network of micro-distribution centers (MDCs), enabling them to enhance their inventory management and operations.
• The latest round, which follows an undisclosed seed funding round last year, was led by Flexcap Ventures, and serial entrepreneur Jared Schreiber, while debt was raised from undisclosed investors.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Startups that solve the supply chain and operational challenges of players in the fast-moving consumer goods industry keep attracting venture capital from investors due to the large and stable market. The FMCG sector is one of the largest in the continent’s leading economies; per GeoPoll, two-thirds of Africa’s $1.4 trillion retail spending in 2016 was on FMCG goods, which dominate almost all of Africa’s household expenses. There’s also a growing appetite for technology-enabled solutions, especially by organizations that wish to boost operational efficiency.

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Startup acquisitions in African tech grew by 41% in Q3

Highlights

• African tech startups are resorting to acquisitions to weather the ongoing drought in venture capital funding this year.
• In 2021, TechCabal Insights tracked 32 acquisition deals on the continent and per its State of Tech in Africa Q3 report, there have been 43 such deals as of the end of September 2022. 
• The surge in acquisition deals on the continent—the Q3 deal count represents a 41% increase on the previous quarter—signals stronger consolidation within the space.

Source: TechCabal Insights

Our Takeaway

Going by the number of mergers and acquisitions involving African startups announced so far this year, the ecosystem will see a significant surge in the total number of exits recorded by the end of 2022. Before this year, there weren’t many startup acquisitions but with VC funding becoming harder to come by amid global macroeconomic headwinds, founders either have to shut down or consolidate with bigger players. This trend, consolidation, is spread across the continent, with a number of acquisition deals reported outside leading tech hubs.

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Kenya’s Leta raises $3M to expand to West Africa in 2023

Highlights

• Leta, a Kenyan B2B supply chain and logistics SaaS provider, has raised $3 million in a pre-seed funding round.
• Founded by Nick Joshi, Leta uses its route and load optimization technology to boost efficiency in the delivery of goods to customers, and reduce the number of vehicles needed for distribution, leading to cost savings and increased competitiveness.
• The startup plans to expand its operations in its existing operating countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and in new markets in West Africa, specifically Ghana and Nigeria.

Source: TechNext

Our Takeaway

Transportation touches on almost every sector of the African economy and, along with logistics, accounts for almost 80% of transported goods. But players in this space often grapple with challenges caused by fragmentation and lack of transparency. With digitization, startups like Leta try to solve this problem while tapping into the lucrative industry. Leta claims it has optimized over 500,000 deliveries, delivered more than 20,000 tons of goods, and managed 2,000 vehicles since inception.