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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
- Paystack launched The Stack Group, a new holding company to expand beyond payments, uniting Paystack, Zap, MFB, and TSG Labs.
- Flutterwave added stablecoin balances and wallet functionality, partnering with Turnkey and Nuvion, letting merchants hold and move funds.
- African fintech Chipper Cash achieved positive free cash flow in late 2025 via strategic restructuring and core market focus.
- BoxCommerce and Mastercard introduced a prepaid card for SMEs, granting instant access to sales earnings and significantly boost cash flow.
- Egyptian edtech eYouth expanded into Iraq, launching an Arabic-first workforce skills platform in partnership with Al-Majal Group.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Nigerian mobility startup MAX secured $24 million in equity and debt funding to scale electric mobility across Africa.
- NowPay raised $20 million to expand its payroll and financial wellness offering into KSA via NowAccess, a JV with Tas’heel.
- OneDosh obtained a $3 million pre-seed round to build a stablecoin-powered global payments network connecting the US and Nigeria.
- Cardtonic secured $2.1 million in seed funding from angel investors to launch Pil, a new B2B expense management platform.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Andela acquired Woven, a technical assessment company, to integrate its AI-powered evaluation tools into Andela's platform, enhancing the assessment of AI-native engineers and meeting the increasing global demand for specialized AI talent.
- Commit acquired African developer recruitment firm Savannah for a multimillion-dollar sum to strategically tap into Africa's burgeoning tech talent pool, expanding its global footprint and addressing rising costs in traditional outsourcing markets.
🏦 About Investors
- DEG committed $20 million to the REGMIFA fund, significantly boosting local-currency financing for MSMEs across sub-Saharan Africa.
- FinDev Canada lent $15 million to Lendable’s MSME Fintech Credit Fund II to expand debt for African fintechs serving MSMEs, especially women-led.
- FSDAi invested $7.5 million in Ci-Gaba Fund, a fund of funds mobilizing local pension capital into private equity and debt across West Africa.
- CCI-Togo is launching an investment fund to support young entrepreneurs in digital and agro-industry, providing capital and technical assistance.
- IRC launched Airbel Ventures, an impact fund, to accelerate breakthrough technologies and AI for crisis-affected communities.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
MAX
Founded in 2015 in Nigeria, MAX has evolved from vehicle financing into a full-stack electric mobility platform, pairing EV leasing with battery subscriptions, solar-powered swapping stations, and IoT-driven fleet management. Led by co-founder and CEO Adetayo Bamiduro, the company recently hit profitability in Nigeria, its biggest market, then raised $24 million in a mix of equity and asset-backed, climate-focused debt. Backers included Equitane DMCC, Novastar, Endeavor Catalyst, and the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund. MAX plans to scale its EV fleet and battery-swapping network and expand across West and Central Africa, positioning itself as a catalyst for cleaner, more affordable, and inclusive transport across the continent.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
REGMIFA fund
Launched in 2010 as a public private partnership backed by KfW and development finance institutions, REGMIFA is a debt-focused investment fund dedicated to expanding access to finance for MSMEs across sub-Saharan Africa. Managed by Symbiotics Asset Management in Switzerland, the fund provides senior loans, mainly in local currency, to banks, microfinance institutions, and fintechs that on-lend to small businesses. In its latest move, DEG committed $20 million to scale REGMIFA’s lending capacity and deepen its regional reach. By reducing FX risk and leveraging local financial intermediaries, REGMIFA plays a critical role in strengthening Africa’s SME financing infrastructure and supporting inclusive, long-term economic growth.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
2025 HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA) Accelerator Program
- 📢 Organizer: HealthTech Hub Africa (HTHA)
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Post-revenue, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Health & Life Sciences, AI & Data, Energy & Environment
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 29, 2026
Google for Startups Accelerator Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey
- 📢 Organizer: Google for Startups
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Seed, Pre-Series A, Series A
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 30, 2026
Startup 360 Connect Angel Leads Program
- 📢 Organizer: African Angel Academy
- 🗂️ Category: Funding, Accelerator, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 30, 2026
Allan Gray Makers Startup Academy 2026
- 📢 Organizer: Allan Gray Makers
- 🗂️ Category: Incubator, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Infrastructure & Smart Cities
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 30, 2026
Accelerate Africa
- 📢 Organizer: Future Africa
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 31, 2026
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