Tage Kene-Okafor
TechCrunch
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Recent articles by Tage:
Partech hits first close of largest Africa-focused fund, at €245M
Partech Africa reaches the first close of its second fund at €245 million, making it the largest Africa-focused fund yet. → Read More
SunFi aims to be the fastest way for Nigerians to find, finance and manage solar
SunFi, a solar financing platform based in Nigeria has raised $2.325 million as it builds a fintech platform for the cleantech space. → Read More
South African digital lender Lulalend to launch banking product off the back of $35M Series B
South Africa’s Lulalend has secured a $35 million Series B funding round to scale its business and address South Africa’s enduring SME credit gap estimated to be over $20 billion yearly. → Read More
Egyptian financial services provider MNT-Halan valued at $1B in $400M funding
The round includes $260 million in equity financing and $140 million through two securitized bond issuances, investments that will now see MNT-Halan command a valuation of about $1 billion. → Read More
InstaDeep’s acquisition is a classic case of an African startup gone global
Instadeep’s $682 million acquisition by BioNTech proves a case for African startups building global products. → Read More
How African startups raised venture capital in 2022
African tech slightly raised more venture capital in 2022 than it did the year before. One major driver of that growth is the uptake in venture debt. → Read More
Jumia’s investors rethink their stakes — for better and worse
Edinburgh-based asset management firm Baillie Gifford reduces stake in African e-commerce company Jumia. But other investors bought more. → Read More
South Africa’s Flow gets funding to automate social media advertising for real estate agencies
South African proptech Flow wants to change how real estate agents and developers interact with their customers. It has raised $4.5 million to that end. → Read More
Tabby raises $58M at $660M valuation as PayPal Ventures makes first investment in the GCC
Dubai-based BNPL startup Tabby has raised $58 million from Sequoia Capital India, STV and PayPal Ventures at a valuation of $660 million. → Read More
African gaming startup Carry1st raises $27M from Bitkraft Ventures and a16z
Carry1st has raised funding from top-tier gaming funds such as a16z, Konvoy, and now Bitkraft Ventures since its launch in 2018. → Read More
Africa predicted to experience sustained funding slowdown in 2023
Operating environment for startups in Africa is expected to worsen this year, continuing the trend that picked up in the last half of 2022. → Read More
Why Africa had no unicorns last year despite record fundraising haul
Africa, bucking global trends, raised more VC dollars in 2022 than 2021. But its unicorn list stayed stagnant. → Read More
BioNTech acquires Tunisian-born and U.K-based AI startup InstaDeep for £562M
Last January, InstaDeep raised $100 million from several investors including Germany’s largest vaccine maker BioNTech, which has now acquired it for £562 million. → Read More
Nigerian agritech Releaf gets more capital as it launches new tech for food processing
Releaf, a Nigerian agritech that supplies ingredients to food factories, has received $3.3 million in an oversubscribed pre-Series A round. → Read More
Sun King, a provider of solar energy products in Africa and Asia, expands Series D to $330M
Sun King, a provider of off-grid solar energy products in Africa and Asia, has secured a $70 million extension, bringing its total Series D to $330 million. → Read More
Pan-African early-stage firm Ventures Platform closes fund, hits $46M
Ventures Platform, a Pan-African early-stage venture capital firm, has reached the final close of its fund at $46 million as it looks to double down on “category-leading” companies across the continent. → Read More
Visa to invest $1B in Africa over the next five years
Global payments giant Visa says it will invest $1 billion by 2027 to expand its investments in Africa amidst a digital payments boom on the continent. → Read More
Nigerian startup Taeillo raises funding to scale its online furniture e-commerce platform
Taeillo, an online furniture e-commerce store, has raised $2.5 million from Aruwa Capital, a Nigeria-based early-stage growth equity fund. → Read More
African credit-led fintech Finclusion raises additional capital amidst rebrand
African credit-led neobank Finclusion Group has raised an additional $2 million in equity financing as it officially rebrands to Fin. → Read More
FTX marked down Chipper Cash’s $2B valuation to $1.25B
African fintech Chipper Cash saw its valuation slashed from $2 billion to $1.25 billion before FTX's bankruptcy. → Read More