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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
- M-KOPA surpassed $1.6 billion in credit, boosting financial inclusion, smartphone access, local manufacturing, and climate-focused asset financing.
- Flutterwave expanded Send App across all U.S. states and restored major card support, making remittances to Africa faster and more flexible.
- South Africa launched a regulatory sandbox letting startups structure offshore IP to attract global capital and reduce deal friction.
- Thunes and MoMo PSB enabled instant cross-border transfers into Nigerian mobile wallets, strengthening key remittance corridors.
- Egypt’s FRA approved new licenses for Co-Wealth, Nawy Shares, CI Capital, and Thndr, expanding real estate funds and venture capital activity.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Zipline secured up to $150 million in funding to scale its AI drone network across Africa, expanding deliveries to 15,000 facilities and 100 million people.
- Bluworks raised $1 million in a round led by Khawarizmi Ventures to expand its blue-collar workforce management platform across MENA.
- BasiGo secured Proparco’s investment to scale its electric bus fleet in Kenya and Rwanda, advancing its push toward a 1,000-bus rollout.
- Clarrio.ai received new backing to scale its real-world-evidence platform, improving chronic disease outcomes across Africa and global markets.
- Cinch secured UM6P Ventures’ investment to expand its tech-enabled mosaic farm model in Kenya and Ghana, boosting smallholder incomes.
💰️ Notable Exits
- InfiniLink was acquired by GlobalFoundries, underscoring the startup’s silicon photonics strength and elevating confidence in Egypt’s deeptech ecosystem.
🏦 About Investors
- South Africa’s B20 presidency launched a $100 million Digital Inclusion Fund to back early African tech startups driving connectivity and financial inclusion.
- FSD Africa launched a $25–30 million Inclusive Insurtech Fund to scale early insurtechs and narrow Africa’s protection gap.
- Chui Ventures closed its $17.3 million Fund I above target, backing 18 African startups with a gender-inclusive focus while preparing a larger Fund II.
- The African Development Bank committed $15 million to Adenia’s Fund 1 to scale mid-cap African businesses and drive job creation.
- CV VC expanded its African blockchain portfolio to 13 startups, backing companies like OkHi and Turnstay to accelerate digital and financial growth.
🚀Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Zipline
Founded in 2014 by Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, Keenan Wyrobek, Ryan Oksenhorn, and Will Hetzler, Zipline has grown into a global leader in autonomous drone logistics, delivering blood, medicines, consumer goods, and food across four continents. Led by CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, the company recently secured up to $150 million in performance-based funding from the U.S. Department of State, building on catalytic support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The package will accelerate national-scale expansion in Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. As Zipline prepares to triple its network, its AI-driven drones are redefining health access and moving logistics toward a future that serves communities everywhere.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
FSD Africa
FSD Africa, founded in 2012 in Nairobi and backed by UK aid, has become one of the continent’s most influential market development institutions, driving financial inclusion and resilience across sub-Saharan Africa. Its latest move, the launch of the $25–30 million Inclusive Insurtech Investment Fund (3iF), marks a major expansion into early stage insurtech, targeting solutions that strengthen climate resilience and close Africa’s widening protection gap. Led by a team that includes sector leaders like Kelvin Massingham and Elias Omondi, FSD Africa couples catalytic capital with policy tools such as its new regulatory sandbox assessment toolkit. With 3iF, the organization aims to scale innovators that can deliver affordable, accessible insurance to millions of underserved households and businesses across the continent.
🤑Opportunity Radar
Call for Applications: The Imagine H2O Accelerator
The Imagine H2O Accelerator is now open for applications until December 19, 2025, offering a zero-equity program designed to help early-stage water and climate tech founders scale globally. Startups gain access to world-class mentorship, pilot funding, investor networks, and a strong industry ecosystem, with participation open to teams worldwide, including all African markets. The 2026 program cycle begins soon, supporting innovators developing breakthrough solutions across water management, quality, access, and sustainability. Apply now to accelerate your technology and enter new markets.
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