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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
- Nigeria advanced Bill HB.2389 to create a single fintech regulator, consolidating oversight of payments, lending, and digital assets nationwide.
- Kenya’s High Court ruled that gig platforms must withhold 16% VAT on customer payments, reshaping tax obligations for delivery and ride-hailing.
- Flutterwave partnered with Polygon Labs to use its blockchain for stablecoin cross-border payments in Africa, targeting enterprise clients.
- Moniepoint launched AI chatbot “M” to translate Nigeria’s informal economy data into insights for entrepreneurs, researchers, and policymakers.
- Spiro and Zeroca launched a climate-finance deal to turn e-motorbike fleet emissions in Kenya and Nigeria into carbon credits that help fund EV adoption.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Maxwell+Spark raised a $15 million Series B to scale lithium-ion batteries for logistics, replacing diesel in forklifts, cold-chain trucks, and backup power.
- KarmSolar closed $5.8 million in project financing from Eurobank for a 7.6 MW solar PV plant via KarmCyprus in Monagroulli, Cyprus.
- Fawry MSME secured a $5.2 million EBRD loan to expand youth-led SME finance in Egypt, with local currency, risk cover, and technical support.
- MidLyr raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding led by Silicon Badia for AI infrastructure enabling compliant automation for banks and fintechs.
- Velents.ai raised $1.5 million for Agent.sa, an Arabic AI employee automating sales, support, and ops in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
💰️ Notable Exits
- ORA Technologies and Azur Innovation Fund have jointly acquired Cathedis, a Moroccan last‑mile delivery startup, marking a landmark local startup‑led consolidation in the country’s tech ecosystem.
🏦 About Investors
- Novastar launched Africa People + Planet Fund III, targeting $200 million to back early-stage climate and sustainability startups in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Egypt.
- DEG committed $25 million to Helios Investment Partners’ Fund V, backing early-stage African tech growth through embedded finance, digital infrastructure, and innovation.
- IFC invested $6 million in female-led First Circle Capital, supporting early-stage African fintechs in embedded finance, lending, and insurtech, advancing gender inclusion.
🚀Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Djamo
Founded in 2019 in Abidjan, Djamo is building a financial super app for UEMOA. It began by bridging mobile money and banks, and now operates as a licensed microfinance provider after securing a BCEAO microfinance license in 2025. Serving over one million users, Djamo offers no-fee accounts, Visa cards, domestic and cross-border payments, savings vaults, salary reception, SME accounts, and new lending with interest-bearing savings. The startup has raised more than $40 million, including $17 million in April 2025, from investors such as Y Combinator, Partech Africa, and Janngo. Led by CEO Hassan Bourgi with CPO Régis Bamba, Djamo’s mission is broad financial inclusion across Francophone Africa.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Equitable ventures
Founded in 2020 in Calebasses, Mauritius, Equitable Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on inclusive fintech across Africa. It backs pre-seed and seed rounds with average tickets around $200,000 and a pan-African reach. The portfolio includes Liquify, TurnStay, and Happy Pay across cross-border payments, embedded finance, AI, and digital lending. Recent moves include a $100,000 commitment from G.O.A.L, the venture arm of The Good Human, into Aperture, its pre-seed and seed vehicle, and the addition of venture partners Hilda Moraa and Wesley Billett. Led by Fabrice Boullé with associate Marc Deslondes, the firm’s native, collaborative, and inclusive thesis aims to accelerate financial inclusion and founder-first growth.
🤑Opportunity Radar
Call for Applications: The MassChallenge 2026 Healthcare Challenge
MassChallenge’s 2026 Healthcare Challenge Program is open globally, with applications due November 5, 2025. The program runs February 25 to June 25, 2026, and requires at least one team member to attend four in-person sessions in Boston, including matchmaking on January 21–22. Benefits include direct collaboration with Eli Lilly, MassMutual, Altus Dental, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, one-on-one mentorship, and curated investor and industry networking, aimed at healthcare startups with validated products ready to scale. Apply now on the Accelerate portal.
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