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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Asia, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌏️
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📰 Important News
- Bank of Ghana launched new IMTO rules mandating licensing, local bank partnerships, and cedi-only payouts to tighten oversight and boost FX inflows.
- Thunes partnered with Sterling Bank to enable faster, simpler instant remittances for Nigeria’s 17 million diaspora sending money home.
- Nigerian-based Fringe Infrastructure has launched its first EDGE data center in Lagos, deploying a power-first model.
- Heirs Technologies has been accredited by the NRS as a System Integrator to help businesses comply with the government's mandatory e-Invoicing framework.
- EduTrack launched an AI-powered digital education system offering study support, exam prep, performance analytics, and digital tools for schools.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Mylo, the fintech arm of B.TECH, completed its second $37.2 million securitization bond issuance to support digital consumer finance expansion.
- SORA Technology landed $2.5 million in late seed funding to scale its drone and AI platform and expand malaria and climate monitoring across Africa.
- FitXpert raised seven-figure funding from Foras Investment to scale its fitness and nutrition software across the Arab world.
- Business For Teens secured six figure pre-seed funding led by Salah Abou El Magd to expand teen entrepreneurship education across Egypt and the Gulf.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- African payments giant Flutterwave acquired open banking pioneer Mono, integrating its data and verification APIs to create a unified financial infrastructure for the continent's next growth phase.
🏦 About Investors
- Acumen reached a $250 million target for its Hardest-to-Reach Initiative with the final close of a $180 million debt fund backed by a $7.8 million SDC commitment to scale clean energy access across sub-Saharan-Africa.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
FitXpert
Founded in 2023 in Egypt by Salah Selim and Mostafa Mahmoud, FitXpert is building infrastructure for a fragmented fitness and nutrition industry across the Arab world. The SaaS platform offers trainers, nutrition centers, and clinics a unified system for client management, program design, progress tracking, and follow-ups, replacing manual and disconnected workflows. The company recently raised a seven-figure strategic investment from Foras Investment under the 0107 Invest initiative, backing its next growth phase. Led by co-founder Salah Selim as CEO, FitXpert is scaling its technology, strengthening operations, and preparing for regional and Gulf expansion, with a clear mission to professionalize and digitize wellness services across the region.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Acumen
Founded in 2001 in New York, Acumen is a nonprofit impact investor pioneering the use of patient capital to tackle global poverty across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Operating at the intersection of philanthropy and investment, Acumen focuses on energy, agriculture, health, and financial inclusion, backing social enterprises in markets traditional capital avoids. Its latest milestone saw the Hardest-to-Reach Initiative reach a $250 million target raise, including the $180 million final close of the H2R Amplify debt fund to scale clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. Led by founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen differentiates through blended finance, long-term partnerships, and market-building strategies, positioning itself as a catalytic force expanding essential services to underserved communities.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
Scale Your High-Tech Vision with ExciteLab
- 📢 Organizer: ExciteLab
- 🗂️ Category: Award/Prize, Funding, Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 13, 2026
Rise Up Together Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator South Africa
- 📢 Organizer: Rise Up Together
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Training & Learning, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Social & Governance
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 15, 2026
RIOT Startup Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: RIOT
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
LACI Startup Programs
- 📢 Organizer: Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
- 🗂️ Category: Incubator, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
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