Cascador and Sterling launch $200m fund to back SME loans
Cascador and Sterling Bank's new $200m credit backstop fund covers part of lenders' losses, so Nigerian SMEs can borrow up to $1m with less collateral.
Startups & Funding
Fundraising news, founder profiles, accelerator programmes, and the money moving through African tech. The rounds that close and the ones that quietly fall apart.
Africa Bitcoin Corporation's leadership crisis deepens
Africa's first listed bitcoin treasury company has lost its CEO after regulator FSCA debarred three executives over alleged share-price manipulation at its predecessor, Altvest. Reports now point to a board-level clash with shareholders.
pawaPay wins payments licence in Mozambique
Pan-African payments company pawaPay has received a Payment Service Provider licence from the Bank of Mozambique, letting it sign up merchants directly and connect them to the country's mobile money networks.
Airtel Money starts full trading in London at a £5.3bn valuation
Airtel Money priced its London IPO at 196p a share, valuing the African mobile money business at about £5.3bn ($7bn). Full trading opens today after a soft start in conditional dealings.
Five months after running out of capital, Chimoney gets a new owner
Financial technology startup Chimoney has been acquired by CapitalSage Vantage Limited, five months after announcing its closure due to capital depletion. The acquisition revives the cross-border payment platform, settles outstanding obligations, and secures a regulated pathway for international expansion.
Nigerian startup funding fell 97% in September. Here's why
Nigerian startups raised $364 million in August and just $11.3 million in September. One mega-deal explains most of the swing, and the underlying picture is weaker than either month suggests.
Did African startups raise $1.4bn or $2.2bn this year? It depends who is counting
Two credible trackers put Africa's nine-month startup funding $800 million apart. The gap comes down to what each one counts, and both agree on the trend that matters: equity is back, debt is cooling.
👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – Moove-ing on
Six years after launching vehicle financing for ride-hailing drivers in Lagos, mobility fintech Moove is exiting the Nigerian market. The company is handing over eligible vehicles valued at ₦35 billion to current operators, ending vehicle payment obligations as it shifts focus toward international markets and autonomous robotaxi fleets.
The Nigerian founders who turned travel frustrations into a fintech
Oluwatomi Ayorinde and Chizaram Ucheaga launched Timon to solve the payment barriers faced by African travellers. By offering multi-currency travel cards, the startup has processed over $47 million across 16 African markets.
Infinite Partners raises $169.3 million to back South African growth businesses
South African private equity firm Infinite Partners has secured R2.8 billion ($169.3 million) for its Core Equity Fund II, exceeding its initial fundraising target. Backed entirely by domestic institutional investors, the fund provides capital to established mid-market enterprises across digital infrastructure, software, and financial services sectors.
If AI prompts can build your product, will African VCs still invest?
As generative artificial intelligence tools lower software development costs, African venture capitalists are shifting their evaluation criteria. Investors now prioritize proprietary datasets, local market defensibility, and clear execution capabilities over easily replicable code.
Cowrywise crosses 1 million stock trades as retail investing grows
Wealth management platform Cowrywise has surpassed 1 million executed stock trades on its digital investment application. The milestone reflects expanding retail investor participation in the Nigerian Stock Exchange as young, tech-savvy users adopt automated equity trading tools.