International Finance Corporation has closed a $225M fund to invest in Africa, Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Middle East. IFC is a branch of the World Bank. More: - The fund will invest in startups through equity deals. The investments will be sector-agnostic and aim to help startups become successful not only locally but internationally.
- Africa, Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Middle East are regions that receive considerably less funding than others, a trend that has been made worse by the recent economic downturn and the global pandemic. The IFC aims to help make this situation better by providing capital and mentorship to these startups so that they can foster entrepreneurship within the communities these startups are based in.
- IFC will invest in early-stage startups. The fund has previously backed food platform Twiga Foods, e-commerce app TradeDepot, and pricing algorithm/delivery company Toters.
- The organization has so far helped 62.5 million people have access to an internet connection, has provided 11.3 million people with access to electricity, and has created over $500B in economic impact from its investments.
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New York-based VC firm Modus has launched the $75M Modus Africa fund to invest in AI and Blockchain startups. The fund is part of an expansion in Africa, a region that has seen 250% YoY growth in funding. More: - Modus Africa will invest in 45 seed-stage startups and allocate 50% of the $75M fund for Series A follow-on. The company's average check size will range from $350,000 to $1.2M.
- The firm believes that it will benefit from the vibrant startup communities in countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, etc., but also expects to find new opportunities in untapped markets.
- Six years ago, Africa did not have a single unicorn, but now the continent has around seven startups worth over $1B. Modus believes it can benefit from an accelerating startup ecosystem in Africa that can lead to 200 million blockchain users, according to the company.
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Renibus Therapeutics has raised $33M to develop therapies for cardiorenal diseases. The Texas-based company is currently in Phase 2 and 3 trials for heart-condition therapies, organ protection therapies, etc. More: - Cardiorenal diseases are diseases that cause organ damage as a result of another body organ being unhealthy. Renibus Therapeutics aims to help patients prevent these diseases from progressing and improve their health.
- The company is entering a Phase 3 trial for RBT-1, a therapy for surgery postoperative complications following cardiothoracic surgery. Other conditions that the company is trying to create effective therapies for are:
- Covid-induced pneumonia,
- nephrotoxicity,
- CKD progression, etc.
- The funding was raised through a $23M SAFE agreement led by undisclosed investors, while the rest of the funding was secured through a loan by Oxford Finance.
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Owl Labs has raised a $25M Series C funding round led by HP Tech Ventures to offer AI video conferencing tools. Its products are used by more than 130,000 companies, including 84 Fortune 500 companies. More: - Owl Labs offers video-conferencing tools for hybrid companies. The company offers three products:
- The Meeting Owl — the company's flagship product, the Meeting Owl is a 360-degree camera, microphone, and speaker that automatically zooms in on whoever's speaking,
- Whiteboard — adds any in-room whiteboard to video conferences,
- Meeting HQTM — a control center for meetings.
- Owl Labs claims to have grown 7x in the last few years, crediting the pandemic for starting a new trend in remote and hybrid work. Since the pandemic, close to 80% of employees want a hybrid work schedule, but only 36% of them have the right equipment to conduct effective hybrid collaborative sessions.
- According to the company, 98% of meetings have at least one remote participant, but only 8% of communication tools are equipped to bridge the gap between remote and physically present meeting members. Owl Labs believes it can benefit from this gap.
- Besides HP Tech Ventures, Sourcenext, Matrix Partners, Spark Capital, and Playground Global also participated in the round.
- The company is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Today's funding 💵 Hardware - Cambridge GaN Device (U.K.), a semiconductor manufacturer: $19M B led by Parkwalk Advisors and BGF, with participation from IQ Capital, CIC, Foresight Williams Technology, and Martlet Capital.
Consumer - Impact (California), a professional network app for the entertainment industry: $15M B led by Shasta Ventures with participation from Benchmark.
- Silkhaus (UAE), a short-term property rental platform: $7.75M growth by Nuwa Capital, Nordstar, Global Founders Capital, Yuj Ventures, Whiteboard Capital, and VentureSouq.
Health tech - Nymbl Science (Colorado), offers balance training for older adults: $12M B led by Cobalt Ventures and Outcomes Collective Growth Capital, with participation from 450 Ventures.
- ifeel (Spain), offers corporations an annual emotional support plan: $10M A led by UNIQA Ventures, with participation from Nauta Capital.
Fintech - The Trading Pit (Liechtenstein), a trading fintech platform that provides traders access to different asset classes: $10M Growth led by Pinorena Capital.
SaaS - Butter (California), a food wholesale platform that helps its customers manage their business efficiently: $9M A led by Gradient Ventures, with participation from Uncommon Capital, Notation Capital, and Jack Altman.
Transportation - BasiGo (Kenya), a line of electric buses used for public transportation: $6.6M Growth led by Novastar.
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Quick Hits: - Apis Cor holds the current Guinness World Record for the largest 3D-printed building on Earth. Invest in the future of construction.*
- Rental property platform LTAS Technologies has been acquired by Avenu, a Virginia-based provider of administration solutions for public institutions. The sum remains undisclosed.
- Terum, a social app that markets itself as the world's first eco-social app, has raised a $500,000 Seed funding round.
- Thallo (Egypt), a company that aims to make it easier to swap carbon credits through the blockchain, raised a $2.5M Seed round led by Ripple, Arcan LLC, Friendly Trading Group 2, Allegory, Cerulean Ventures, and Flori Ventures.
- Sesamy, a company that offers a podcasting network that can be accessed without a subscription, raised a $3.4M Growth round led by GP Bullhound, with participation from Co_Made, Tham Invest, Brofunds, Måns Ulvestam, Karl Rosander, and Hållbar.
*This is sponsored content.
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 |  | Arbër is an Inside writer who also has experience in entrepreneurship. He has experience covering Consumer Tech, Venture Capital, NFTs, Crypto, etc. Arbër holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from XAMK University in Finland. When he is not reading(and writing) business news, he chooses to watch sports or anime...and then read news about sports or anime. |   | | 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 and 1972 Fords. | |
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