Venture funding in African startups continued to rise this year following a period of record-setting capital influx last year. In the first five months of this year, venture funding totaled $2.7B, over double the $1.2B garnered by African startups in the same period last year, per Futuregrowth Asset Management. The funding trend is expected to remain strong in the second half of this year, although the rate of funding might dip slightly. More: - Nigeria and South Africa received the highest venture capital funding last year, amounting to $1.8B and $832M respectively out of the total $5.2B invested across the African continent.
- Global institutional investment firm’s contribution to the continent over the recent years stood at $4B.
- Notable firms that have invested in Africa include Tiger Global, SoftBank Group, Andreessen Horowitz, General Atlantic, and Dragoneer Investment Group, amongst others.
- Norrsken 22, Novastar Ventures, Partech Africa, and TLcom Capital Partners are among Africa-focused investors currently raising roughly $700M to further invest in the region.
- The region has also minted new unicorns in recent times, including Flutterwave, Chipper Cash, Andela, OPay, and Wave.
- Startups in the technology sectors bringing breakthroughs to the domains of finance, agriculture, energy, and healthcare received the majority of funding.
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London-based Newcleo raised $315M (€300M) in fresh equity funding to develop the technology behind a new generation of nuclear reactors designed to reduce radioactive waste and increase efficiency. The firm intends to use the fresh capital to develop its technology, which is currently in its nascent stages, fuel international expansion, and build a 30-megawatt prototype, estimated to cost $420M (€400M). More: - Newcleo’s lead-cooled fast reactor will be capable of running on waste produced by traditional nuclear reactors, eliminating the need for mined uranium, and is designed to be safer than water-cooled reactors.
- After completion of the prototype, the company intends to build a larger 200-megawatt commercial unit, with build costs currently estimated to be under $1.05B (€1B).
- The firm is currently seeking permission and necessary permits from the British and French governments.
- Newcleo’s last fundraising in August brought in $105M (€100M) in capital for the firm.
- Investors in the funding round included Exor NV, Azimut Holdings SpA, LIFTT, and Club Degli Investitori.
Zoom out: - A push for clean energy and carbon-neutrality in Europe has resulted in increased funding for nuclear startups.
- Last year, the sector received $3.4B from investors.
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World Fund, a German venture capital firm, is soliciting investment for a new fund with the goal of making it Europe's largest climate-tech-focused fund. The firm intends to raise $365M (€350M) and has already secured capital from "anchor" investor PwC Germany. World Fund will back startups in seed to Series B stages, with individual check sizes ranging between $1.05M (€1M) and $10.5M (€10M). More: - The Berlin-based venture firm was founded in 2021 by Christian Kroll, the founder of Ecosia, and will only invest in startups that can potentially save 100 metric tons of CO2 or emissions each year.
- Ecosia plants trees globally with ad revenue generated by users searching the web using its search engine.
- By 2040, the World Fund hopes to save two gigatons of emissions.
- The fund is scheduled to have a first close in the following weeks, with the final close expected to occur in early 2023.
- World Fund has already backed alternative protein startup Juicy Marbles and food-supply chain firm Freshflow with the capital already collected so far.
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Platform.sh, a platform to develop, deploy, and secure websites and web apps, secured $140M in capital. Digital Partners led the Series D funding round, which brings the firm’s total funds raised to date to $187M. The firm will scale its business, accelerate product development, hire more employees, and acquire startups with the proceeds. More: - Platform.sh reported $45M in current annual recurring revenue, up 50% from 2021.
- The French startup’s 5,000-plus customer base includes notable global firms like Adobe, Nestle, the Financial Times, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Culture in France.
- The funding saw participation from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Revaia, BGV, Eurazeo, Hiinov, and Partech.
Zoom out:
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MicroTransponder, a global medical company developing neurostimulation devices, raised $53M in Series E funding. The oversubscribed round was led by US Venture Partners. The Texas-headquartered firm intends to use the proceeds to commercialize its proprietary FDA-approved Vivistim Paired VNS system that helps stroke patients regain hand and arm mobility. More: - MicroTransponder announced the appointment of Richard Foust, a seasoned medical device industry professional with over 25 years of experience in the domain, as CEO and Director.
- New investors Osage University Partners, Action Potential Venture Capital, and The Vertical Group joined existing investors GPG Ventures and Exceller Hunt Ventures in the funding.
- Prior to the current financing, the firm had raised $42.1M, with its Green Park & Golf Ventures-led Series C in Dec. 2015 yielding $5.5M in capital.
- In Nov. 2017, the company raised $11.6M in a venture fundraising round. Details of the round and the investors were not disclosed.
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British firm Instanda raised $45M (£36.7M) in Series B financing led by Toscafund with backing from existing investor Dale Ventures. The firm provides a no-code SaaS platform that enables insurance firms to manage their insurance offerings and product lines across different regions. In 2021, the company attracted 21 new clients, bringing its total number of clients to over 70, including notable companies such as Atlanta, Hamilton Fraser, HDI Global SE, Markel, National General, and Standard Bank. More: - To date, the firm has secured $73M in total financing.
- Instanda aims to use the proceeds from the recent funding round to further develop its product offerings and expand its business in Europe, UAE, Japan, Canada, and U.S. regions.
- With a focus on catering to a wider range of insurers in the North American market, the company intends to accelerate the development of its billing, claims processing, insurance value chain digitization, and comprehensive aggregation capabilities.
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- LocalGlobe, a venture capital firm based in London, closed a $500M fund. The firm’s investments will be based on the firm’s four-fold funding strategy, which includes a core LocalGlobe fund for pre-seed and seed investments, a Latitude fund to participate in Series B and C stages, a Solar fund for pre-IPO and beyond companies, and Basecamp fund to back first-time seed managers in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The company also rebranded itself to Phoenix Court Group.
- European life sciences-focused venture capital firm Forbion held the first close of its inaugural growth fund. The fund has received $500M (€470M) in capital commitments from several institutional investors, including PME and PMT, Reggeborgh, Pantheon, Eli Lilly, and others. The firm has set a ~$640M (€600M) hard cap for the fund.
- Spanish intelligent product catalog management SaaS platform Sales Layer received $25M from its Series B funding round led by PeakSpan Capital. Series A investors Swanlaab and Bright Pixel Capital backed the current fundraising.
- Swedish diagnostics company Elypta, pioneering an early cancer detection platform using metabolism-based liquid biopsy, was provided a $21M Series A financing led by Bonnier Ventures. Navigare Ventures, Industrifonden, Norrsken VC, Nina Capital, Chalmers Ventures, and Hillclimber joined the financing.
- Lux Capital led a $10M Series A capital injection into Impulse Space, a California-based space tech company developing in-space transportation services.
- California-based virtual kitchen and e-commerce platform Salttalk closed its Series A funding round with $8M in financing led by Foothill Ventures.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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