Hi Fintech friends 👋,
Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;
Two Fintech deals worth over $8 Million were announced.
African based VC received $30 Million to back African startups with checks between $250K and $2 Million.
An African based cryptocurrency partnered with the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume.
World’s payment giant launched virtual cards in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Nigerian half-Unicorn entered the merchant-acquiring segment.
💸 Fundraise and Exits
YC-backed African fintech Clevabankingraised $1.5 Million to enable African individuals and businesses receive international payments for their skills and products.
Sunking raised $7 Million in Debt to allow more low-income consumers across Africa access clean energy solutions through its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing model.
💰 Venture Funds
Seedstars Africa Ventures received $30M in backing to invest between $250K to $2 million in early-stage startups.
Seedstars Africa portfolio
Ethiopia’s first VC-backed incubator, weVenture, planned to bolster early-stage startups.
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
Onboard launched in Kenya.
Kenya emerged Number 1 in Africa in terms of start up investments in 2023
Mastercard and Rawbank’s illicocash partnered to launch virtual cards in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kudaventured into the merchant-acquiring segment with the launch of its Kuda POS terminals.
📰 News of the Week
Coinbasepartnered with stablecoin exchange Yellow Card in African expansion.
$56 million backed Yellow Card, an African focused stablecoin exchange, has partnered with Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, to provide easy access to USDC and digital assets in 20 African countries
This integration would enable Coinbase wallet users to use payment methods available in over 20 African countries.On the other hand, the partnership allows Yellow Card customers to send and receive USDC via Coinbase's Layer 2 solution, Base. The Base chain, launched in August 2023.
Also earlier this year, Yellow Card partnered with Tether to Advance Stablecoin Education and Adoption Among African Youth.
📑 Read of the week
How Africa-focused VCs are turning to secondary markets for liquidity lifelines (Techcabal)
Central Bank Of Nigeria Approved Naira Stablecoin For 2024 Launch (Forbes)
The storm is the time to fish (Teshmbaabu)
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
Woven Finance, the Coronation Group-backed fintech startup, denied shutting down.
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
Interview with Iain Usiri, co-founder and CEO of Ramani on how they digitize and finance micro-distribution centers of category leading brands. Ramani is backed by Y-Combinator, Launch Africa and other prominent investors.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
Nigerian entrepreneur Mr Bayo Ogunlesi has sold his company Global Infrastructure Partners to BlackRock for $12.5bn.
To understand the difference between Infrastructure finance & venture capital watch this video: https://t.co/rOq7WTNr52 pic.twitter.com/TkYxrTihd2— Dr Ola Brown, MFR (@NaijaFlyingDr) January 12, 2024
🎯 Fintech Opportunities
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