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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Africa, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌍
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📰 Important News
- OpenAI and UNILAG are launching the OpenAI Academy in Lagos to offer free AI training and build local tech talent across Africa.
- Bboxx has partnered with CreditChek to scale Nigeria’s DARES solar project using AI credit tools to expand clean energy access.
- Ghana is aiming to regulate crypto by December 2025, with a new bill and central bank oversight as crypto adoption surpasses $3 billion.
- Inseco shut down after its $5.3 million seed round, hit by power cuts, rapid scaling, and missteps, with assets sold to industry partners.
- Pay10 Maroc received a payment institution license from Bank Al-Maghrib, enabling low-cost digital payments for Moroccan SMEs.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Chari closed a $12 million Series A round co-led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures and gained a payment license to launch its merchant super app.
- Kuunda raised $7.5 million in Pre-Series A from Nedbank, Seedstars, and others to expand its embedded lending platform across Africa and MENA.
- Yakeey is set to receive up to $7 million from IFC to scale its digital real estate marketplace in Morocco and boost housing access.
- Rana Energy raiseda $3 million pre-seed round from Techstars, EchoVC Eco, and others to scale its AI-powered clean energy platform in Africa.
- Nanovate secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to grow its Arabic-first AI platform across MENA, targeting KSA and the UAE with voice and chat solutions.
💰️ Notable Exits
- Wakanow acquired Nigerian ticketing platform Nairabox to merge travel, entertainment, and payments, expanding its ecosystem and driving Africa’s growing experience economy across multiple markets.
🏦 About Investors
- EIB has announced a proposed $38 million equity stake in Tanmiya Capital Ventures Fund II to boost Egypt’s SMEs and attract private investors.
- FUNGUO Innovation Program expanded its funding to $2.65 million, supporting 13 new startups and bringing its portfolio to 74 ventures.
- Chocolate City launched a $1 million Founders Fund with CcHub to provide equity and mentorship for Nigerian creative tech startups.
- Antler Lagos unveiled its first startups, Raba, Cubbes,and Forti Foods, backing ventures in SME finance, edtech, and food security.
- 212 Founders invested in Spain’s Docline to expand digital health, scale AI hospital services, and strengthen cross-border Morocco–Europe collaboration.
🚀Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Thndr
Cairo-based Thndr, founded in 2019 by Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr, is our Startup of the Week for transforming retail investing across MENA. What began as a mobile-first, commission-free investing app in Egypt has rapidly evolved into a cross-border wealthtech platform, offering access to Egyptian, UAE, and U.S. stocks, ETFs, mutual and savings funds, and gold, with fractional shares and guided portfolios for novices, plus pro tools for advanced traders. Serving over 4 million users and facilitating more than 36% of new brokerage accounts in Egypt, Thndr has raised $37 million from marquee investors including Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, and BECO Capital. Strategic milestones like the UAE launch under an ADGM FSRA license, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange membership, and WEF 2025 Technology Pioneer recognition position Thndr as a trusted on-ramp to wealth creation, democratizing access to financial markets for millions across the region.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
P1 Ventures
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Francisco, P1 Ventures is a high-conviction early-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on Africa, backing fintech, healthtech, e-commerce marketplaces, software, and AI. Targeting pre-seed and seed rounds with checks between $100,000 and $1 million, the firm has rapidly built a portfolio of roughly 30 companies, including Raenest, Mnzl, Salus, and Chari, and has achieved an exit with Traction App. Led by managing partners Mikael Hajjar and Hisham Halbouny, P1 combines operator experience with investment expertise to catalyze founders’ growth. Recently, it closed its $50 million institutional Fund II and led a $400,000 pre-seed round for South Africa’s MoneyBadger, reinforcing its role in accelerating African innovation and unlocking follow-on capital across the continent.
🤑Opportunity Radar
Call for Applications: The Climate Innovation Challenge
UNICEF Venture Fund has launched the Climate Innovation Challenge, open until October 21, 2025, to support early and growth-stage frontier tech startups in emerging economies developing open-source solutions that address climate challenges affecting children. In partnership with the India Health Fund and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, the program targets innovations in climate and health as well as climate adaptation and resilience, offering mentorship, technical support, and visibility to help startups scale impact and investment readiness.
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