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A Computer Screen Depicting Innovation in Technology. Photo by Luca Bravo. Unsplash.
15 Most Innovative Startups from Africa
Africa is the world second largest continent by population and size. It occupies approximately 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, this translates into about 6% of earth’s total surface area and 20% of total global land area.
Africa prides itself of a massive population of around 1.4 billion people as of 2021 representing 18% of the total global population. With this large mass of land and an ever-growing population, it has developed a myriad of challenges related to resource exploitation and distribution. Some of the challenges include unemployment, poverty, hunger and disease.
Unemployment has been a major headache for African governments in both Sahara and sub-Sahara developing countries.
Though nitially viewed as a catastrophic unemployment have proved to be a gold mine and has offer new opportunities for innovation to both local and global entrepreneurs in the last two decades. While the innovations has has been on the rise access to finance in Africa continues to be a key constraint for youths in Africa, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
African Governments and Development partners have focused on offering policy interventions to curb unemployment, however their efforts success have been minimal and the progress made almost negligible. This has been occasioned by the fact that majority of young graduates and entrepreneurs targeted by these initiatives lack capital and collateral to attract financiers.
In the late 2000s with Africa adopting information technology there has been an increased awakening in innovations that tend to address the challenges that are unique to the continent.
Majority of the inventions have been are around financial inclusivity echoing the significance of financial inclusivity in the continent and which one the continents headache over the years.
While financing remains a major challenge in Africa, to the innovators of the tech-startup as well as well their clientele it’s the key opportunity to unlocking Africa’s unemployment.
The challenges in the financial inclusivity has led to some of the most fascinating innovation and success stories in the world.
As per African Tech Startups Funding Report 2021 by Disrupt Africa a total of 564 startups were funded throughout Africa with an annual total funding of US dollar 2.1 billion.
Disrupt Africa has been compiling data Africa Tech Start ups funding statistics and has in the last seven years noted the following key startups that have stood out both in fundraising and in makert success they include Nigerian fintech startup Flutter wave that raised US dollar 170 million, Egyptian fintech company MNT-Halan that raised US dollar 120 million, Nigerian retail-tech startup Trade Depot that raised US dollar 110 million, Kenyan AI platform Gro Intelligence that raised US dollar 85 million, South African fintech Yoco that raised US dollar 83 million, Nigerian digital bank Kuda that raised US dollar 80 million, Nigerian mobility fintech Moove that raised US dollars 63.2 million, Nigerian energy company Daystar Power raised US dollar 62 million and Egyptian e-commerce startup MaxAB that raised US dollar 55 million.
From their finding report its worthwhile to note that the premier investment destination for technology-based start-ups in Africa are Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and Kenya with a great percentage of funding focusing on Fintech.
Access to finance in Africa continues to be a key constraint for youths in Africa, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It is estimated that 82.6 per cent of formal Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Africa have unmet financing needs. Lack of collateral or guarantee still remains one of the key challenges of accessing capital in Africa it is estimated that it locks out over 60% of youth-run businesses from credit.
The growth in tech start-up has been on the rise with the record for largest round ever raised by an African tech startup being beaten annually on multiple occasions over the course of the year.
The key startups that have stood out both in fundraising and makert disruption over the last seven decade include Nigerian fintech startup Flutter wave that raised US dollar 170 million, Egyptian fintech company MNT-Halan that raised US dollar 120 million, Nigerian retail-tech startup Trade Depot that raised US dollar 110 million, Kenyan AI platform Gro Intelligence that raised US dollar 85 million, South African fintech Yoco that raised US dollar 83 million, Nigerian digital bank Kuda that raised US dollar 80 million, Nigerian mobility fintech Moove that raised US dollars 63.2 million, Nigerian energy company Daystar Power raised US dollar 62 million and Egyptian e-commerce startup MaxAB that raised US dollar 55 million.
The technology related start up have disrupted the traditional enterprises among the various value chains, this interruption is expected to create a different kind of industrial revolution for African producers and consumers.
Below are some of unique and most innovative start-ups in Africa;
1. Flutter Wave
Flutter Wave Logo. Photo by Opelogbon. Wikimedia.
Flutter wave is a Nigerian technical software partner for banks and financial services providers it provides a solution to the makert failure of fragmented state of online payments in Africa, where banks don’t share platforms and information.
It has built one of Africa’s biggest payments technology companies as a solution that uses payment account attributes inquiry, foreign exchange rates and Visa Direct to bring the convenience of new features like digital payments to consumers across Africa .Its technology leverages on digital payment architecture to assist Africans and African businesses to connect to the global economy.
It has successfully offered payments in more than 30 currencies, E-Commerce platform, Issuing Issue physical & virtual cards, quick access to flexible loans to grow your business, embed financial services into your product and business registration from anywhere.
2.MNT-Halan
MNT-Halan is Egypt’s largest and fastest growing lender to the unbanked. Founded in 2018, with roots dating back to 2010, the company is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt. MNT-Halan was created to digitally bank the unbanked and substitute cash with electronic solutions.
Its Committed to offering financial services to the unbanked and underserved customers in Egypt and the surrounding region.
MNT-Halan has developed its scalable proprietary fintech ecosystem in-house, connecting customers, vendors and micro-enterprises through its consumer facing app, merchant app, known as Halan Neuron a distributed lending and payment processing software. It also offers mobile wallets and cards
The company targets the underserved Egypt’s young and fast-growing population of over 100 million that has been overlooked by traditional financial institutions.
Its main driver is the Egypt’s mobile penetration which exceeds 90% which facilitates offering of digital solutions that include lending, e- commerce, payments, and on-demand logistics. Through these products it aims to also address gender inequality in economic participation.
It has over one million monthly active users and serves more than 4 million customers in Egypt, of which 3.1 million are financial clients and 1.8 million are borrowers.
3.Trade Depot
Trade Depot its a Nigeria- and U.S.-based company that operates a B2B marketplace that connects consumer of goods brands to thousands of retailers and helps with distribution.
It connects small shops, kiosks and retailers with wholesalers of global consumer brands that have access to food, beverages and personal care products through distribution network that include its warehouses and fleets of drivers.
The company main work is centered around integrating supply chain with technology proving a full range of financial products to those onboarded, that includes digital wallets, credit and financial services
It offers a ShopTopUp platform, where retailers can access a credit line for all consumer goods on the application.
Trade Depot also offers a facility where they send the products directly to customers while they pay later in installments at monthly interest rate of almost 5%.
4. Gro Intelligence
We illuminate the interrelationships between the Earth’s ecology and the global economy, so you can develop a holistic understanding of how your end-to-end business is impacted – and act on these insights.
5. Yoco
Since launching in 2013, South African fintech Yoco has positioned itself as the go-to platform to access offline payments among merchants in the country. Today, the company is announcing $83 million in Series C funding to scale offline and online offerings and expand to new markets.
Despite South Africa’s high card and mobile penetration rates of over 70%, the country’s SMEs still struggle to accept cards.
Yoco’s portable card machines have proved masterful in solving this problem; when TechCrunch covered the company three years ago after its $16 million Series B raise, it had little over 30,000 merchants using its platform. Now, that number has quintupled
6. Kuda
Kuda is an online bank that is located in Nigeria, founded in 2016 by Babs Ogundeyi and Mustapha musty.
Kuda is only an online bank with ambitious plans to reach all Africans and it has marked the milestone of serving one million customers.
It is regulated under the Central Bank of Nigeria and has raised $36.6m from four funding rounds as seed funding.
It has also received backups from several notable investors such as Ragnar Meitner, a former managing director of Dutch bancassurance group ING, and Valar Ventures, a New York-based venture-capital firm with 1.2 billion in assets under management.
It is currently licensed for microfinance and mobile banking services.
It has an estimated value of net-worth of over $500 million and raised over $55 million in Series B funding in August 2021.
7. Moove
Moove is a Nigerian-born global start-up founded by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi in 2020.
Moove was founded in response to the challenge faced African mobility entrepreneurs specifically the lack of access to vehicle financing within the traditional financial systems.
Moove market initially was in Lagos and has since expanded to six cities across Africa and has employed a revenue-based financing model globally to serve the millions of mobility entrepreneurs in emerging markets around the world who have limited or no access to a vehicle or vehicle financing
8. Daystar Power
In 2017, Jasper and Christian American Citizens having worked in Large corporation across west Africa quickly discovered a makert failure in the energy sector across one of the Africa dynamic and populous region-West Africa.
They noted that the energy deficit was one of, if not, the largest obstacle to businesses in the region, the countries have no stable grid and businesses had to provide their own power for instance in Nigeria, business owners have to run diesel/gas generators for their power supply making power cost one of the most expensive factors of production.
To address these challenges, they founded Daystar Power to help solve the energy crisis facing businesses with solar power. Their modularity panels which can be scaled to fit a client’s specific energy needs have made them ideal for integrating into a client’s existing power system. For any business, solar power, combined with battery storage, can significantly reduce energy costs.
Daystar Power is committed to helping African businesses grow and develop by taking their power needs off their plate. In doing so, it aims to contribute to the clean and sustainable growth of African countries.
Today, Daystar Power is present in four countries, runs over 300 power installations with an installed solar capacity of 32 MW, and has a team of 140 colleagues.
9. MaxAB
MaxAB, a startup based out of Cairo that serves a network of traditional food and grocery retailers across Egypt.
Cairo-based startup MaxAB looks to optimize the supply-chain network for Egypt’s food and grocery retailers.
Founded in 2018, MaxAB has built a digital platform to manage procurement and delivery of grocery products to shops in Egypt. The startup’s developer team created an app for store owners to purchase goods, another logistics app for its delivery fleet and one for its customer support team.
MaxAB’s target market is small-scale retailers in Egypt who sell to the country’s 100 million population.
MaxAB has a fleet of 60 trucks and a large warehouse that serves Cairo. The startup tailored a logistics practice for Egypt to make sure it can meet retail customer needs.
10.NFTfi South Africa
A generic Image Representing Blockchain and Cryptocurrency such as NFTfi. Photo by Morthy Jameson. Unsplash.
NFTfi is a decentralized blockchain technology firm offering a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency loan platform, founded in February 2020 by Stephen Young in South Africa it offer loans to blockchain investors.
The platform issues the block chain investors a non-fungible token (NFT) to be used as a collateral against their investment. It allows one to request a loan with his/her NTF on the platform and other users bid to lend money in cryptocurrency with varying interest rates and repayment terms.
The borrower receives wETH or DAI liquidity in their wallet once they accept the offer from the platform. Later, the NTF offered as collateral is transferred into a double-audited escrow smart contract for the loan duration and if the loan is paid before it expires you get your NTF back. If there is a default the lender can foreclose and receive your NFT.
By 2021, the platform had issued $890,000 as seed money and assembled a team in South Africa to build and launch the product. NFTfi has major plans to grow its team, launch new product features, roll out the platform on other blockchains, invest in its community and fund decentralization.
11. Onboard
An Image of a User on 3D Imaging Technology. Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash.
Onboard is technology start up that offers a SaaS(Software as a Service) platform transforming customer experience management for hardware providers, with 3D smart manuals.
It was founded in 2017 by Safwen Bouali, Cherif Redissi, and Amine Troudi in Tunisia to aid the
It raised a total of $250,000 in Seed funding from multiple accelerators. In May 2022 it was selected for the Flat6Labs Tunis an accelerator programme and received US$65,000 in funding.
It has also received USD175,000 funding boost from Kepple Africa Ventures and two other local entrepreneurs.
It projects annual growth of 17.7% between 2020 and 2027 from the target market it operates in of customer management industry.
This 3D technology has been embraced by a majority of the hardware manufacturers and about 97% of them strongly think it will revolutionize their processes in sales and training.
12. Market Force
Market Force is technology innovation that aim at digitizing retail distribution for emerging markets by enabling consumer brands to manage their field sales activities and grow their distribution channels in Africa. It was founded in Kenya by Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti in the late 2018.
It picked well in 2020 and was one of 11 companies selected to pitch at the Africa Start-up Summit, powered by Disrupt Africa.
It raised USD 350,000 in seed funding and secured USD 50,000 in funding for being the only Sub-Saharan African Company selected for the Y Combinator Summer 2020 batch.
In December 2020, it introduced a new B2B e-commerce marketplace, with plans to scale it up to new locations and add new services.
By February 2022, it has raised its funding to US$40 million Series A. 2022.
The round was led by V8 Capital Partners, a London and Lagos-based African-focused investment vehicle, with participation from Ten13 VC, SOSV Select Fund, Vu Ventures, and Vastly Valuable Ventures. Its current total funding has raised to $42.7M.
13.54Gene
It was founded in 2019 by Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong in Nigeria to address the gap in the global genomics market where less than 3% of genetic material used in pharmaceutical research is African.
This is despite reports saying Africans and people of African ancestry are more genetically diverse than all other world populations combined.
The company grabbed the world’s attention in 2020, when it played a pivotal role in launching Covid-19 mobile testing laboratories in Nigeria.
He raised $15M in seed funding in April 2020.
It later received ernomous funding from various sources such as Y Combinator, Adjuvant Capital and Cathy AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF).
Total of $45 million funded the company of which $25 million was from Series B, large amount of the company’s investment goes into its biobank and lab testing centres.
14. mPharma
An Image of Various Drugs that , Pharma Distributes through its Platform. Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash.
It was founded by Greg Rockson in 2013 in Accra, Ghana with aim of improving the efficiency of pharmaceutical supply chains in African countries.
He had seed funding of $ 5 million in 2015, and by 2017 the start-up has raised $6.6 million.
It came to the limelight after it seriously came to the aid of the national government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Through a special $3 million fund, it was able to furnish laboratories in Ghana and Nigeria with molecular diagnostic equipment for covid-19 testing.
It also joined a consortium of private-sector players and donated free vacancies for healthcare workers to the Ghanaian government.
It is currently operating in nine countries including Kenya after acquiring Kenya’s second-largest pharmacy chain, Halton.
Patients can now access virtual services. mPharm current funding is at $35million.
15. Thndr
A Graphical Representation of Stock Trading. Photo by Nick Chong on Unsplash
It is an Egyptian investment tech start-up that was formally launched in 2020 by Ahmad Hammond and Seif Amr.
The start-up has developed an investment platform that helps to invest in stocks, bonds, and funds, which is commission free.
It has raised $20 million in the capital in a Series A round to democratize investing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
It raised pre-seed funding in December 2019 and made it into the Y Combinator Summer 2020 batch. It is the first investment to secure the new brokerage license granted by Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) in over a decade.
About 87% of its user invested for the first time using the platform of which 40% are from outside Cairo and Alexandria, rural areas with zero access to financial institutions.
As of today, it has raised a total of $22 million in funding
It was founded in 2020 by Shehab Mokhtar, Appetito delivers grocery and household products through its mobile app to customers from dark stores across 3 cities in Egypt.
On 1st June 2022, Apetitto acquired lamma from Tunisia which was founded in 2021 by Yassir El Ismaili El Idrissi
lamma initially started as a carpooling service, and operated a B2C last mile delivery services.
Lamma has taken part in the Flat6Labs Tunis accelerator early in 2021, and also got funding from Orange Ventures.
The founders of both start-ups have now reached an agreement to create a single entity, operating as “Appetito”, and the deal is expected to be closed by end Q3 2022.
lamma has developed a similar q-commerce business in Tunisia and Morocco.
Appetitto has raised a total of $2.6 in funding over 3 rounds with the recent funding from investors such as Jedar Capital and DFS lab
