State of Tech in Africa 2024 report
The recently released AfricArena State of Tech in Africa 2024 report tells the stories of founders, investors and ecosystem builders - it also includes, as in the previous 4 years, a section providing a forecast of the investment (equity & venture debt) in #african #tech #startups
In our inaugural late 2019 report we had predicted that by 2022 investment in african tech startups would more than double and hit $4.5b - the actual was even better at $5b.
This year we foresee that, in spite of fairly depressed global VC markets, investments in African tech startups will start a rebound by mid 2024 and foresee a moderate growth in investments for the year, returning to above $4b. The driver for this are multiple from the amount of deployable capital in recently raised new funds (e.g. second funds for Partech, Novastar Ventures or TLcom Capital LLP Capital and new entrants such as Norrsken22), the fundraising cycle of startups needing to raise capital in 2024 (we expect the demand for capital to well exceed $5 billion), the continuous growth of capital intensive climate tech and energy startups and a strong grant cycle driven bv USAID to execute on the Prosper program by November.
We further believe that we will see increased activity on the M&A side, in particular an increased number of acquisitions of startups by corporations as part of their innovation plan or other startups as part of their scale-up strategies around the continent, particularly in fintech. Our model for subsequent years, indicates an upper range of $7.5 billion in 2025 with an accelerated rebound of the market and an expected 40% - 50% growth, driven in part by return of North American investors post US elections. but will soften in 2026 with another slower cycle from mid 2026. Total investment may exceed for the first time $10 billion by 2027. While the growth in these numbers may appear significant, it should be noted that this remains a very small fraction of the overall VC activity in tech globally and as of 2023, less than 1% of the global VC market and $3 per capita.
Discover more insights reading our State of Tech in Africa report, a free ecosystem research resource downloaded over 1,000 times and available on www.africarena.com
The article by Christophe Viarnaud, CEO at Methys
Africa Big Deals 2019-2022
The purpose of this analysis is to extract more information contained in the Startups Database to inspire the RDN community, entrepreneurs, governments, and key players to understand what is going on and take the opportunity in this movement to make Africa a better place.
The analysis captured publicly disclosed deals of $100K+ only and that took place in 2022 or 2021, as well as: deals of $500K+ for 2020 and deals of $1M+ for 2019 according to Africa: The Big Deal.
Want to read more about Africa Big Deals?
Download our brief presentation in the following link.
Data insights from the Top 250 Fintech ventures in 2020 according to CB Insights
According to CB Insights, in 2020, the Fintech 250 cohort has raised approximately $49.2B in aggregate funding across 900 deals since 2015. The Fintech 250 includes Startups at different investment stages of development, from early-stage companies to well-funded Unicorns. The following chart presents the distribution of the top 250 Fintech ventures around the world.
Top 250 Fintech Distribution by Percentage
About 54% came from the United States of America, 15% from the United Kingdom, and 8% from India. About 3% of Fintech Ventures each came from France, Canada, and German. About 2% came from Brazil and 2% from Sweden. Other countries include China, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Argentina, Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, and Vietnam; each has less than 2%.
Expert Advice: The United States of America has novel information in building heath and potential ventures. Fintech ventures from other countries like Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, and others have to seek novel information through partnerships and collaboration with Fintech ventures from the United States of America and the United Kingdom. This might be the best way to influence more health and potential Fintech ventures around the world.
The Top 250 Fintech Ventures by Continent
About 59% of 2020, Fintech 250 ventures came from North America, 24% from Europe, 12% from Asia, 3% from South America, 1% from Africa, and 1% from Australia.
Expert Advice: Based on the total population and market size of Asia, South America, and Africa continents, more investments are needed to build health and potential Fintech ventures.
Launch of SOFACO Call for proposals Batch No 2 “Special Covid-19 / Cultural organizations”
The African Culture Fund (ACF) launched on May 23, the first batch of the Solidarity Fund for African Artists and Cultural Organizations (SOFACO) in order to support the resilience of African artists and cultural actors whose activities have been negatively affected by the COVID 19 crisis.
After a first batch, intended only for individual artists, the ACF is launching on September 26, 2020, the second batch of SOFACO, this time dedicated to cultural organizations in Africa.
For this call, the ACF supports the activities and projects of creation, production and dissemination of works, and capacity building in the fields of performing arts (music, dance and theater) and visual arts (arts traditional plastics, photography, digital art, design, fashion, decorative arts as well as all pre-production, production, post-production, broadcast and distribution activities in the cinematographic and audiovisual disciplines).
The deadline for receipt of applications is October 20, 2020 at midnight GMT.
Warning!
As mentioned above, this call is only for cultural organizations.
The terms of reference of the call can be downloaded by clicking ICI .
VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE :
Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications only online by clicking ICI.
Contacts: (+223) 20 20 43 45 / applications@africanculturefund.net
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- Bridging the language barrier by assisting people with rational ideas with different language backgrounds.
About Energy Open Innovation Challenge (EOIC)
The Energy Open Innovation Challenge (EOIC) is now open for applications with personalized mentorship opportunities and up to S$1 million of grant funding support for product development and 4 x S$25,000 in Startup SG grant prizes to be won!
Organized by Enterprise Singapore, this challenge is run in close association with four energy companies Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil Singapore and Shell, government agencies, and innovators.
Startups, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from across the globe are invited to join this challenge and submit innovative business or tech-related solutions to any and all of the 19 problem statements covering 4 key categories in the global energy industry!
Categories
The 4 categories are as follows:
1. Asset Management
2. Robotics
3. Sustainability
4. Workflow
Submit your company proposals today and compete for:
· Access to leading energy companies’ R&D expertise
· Potential financial support granted by the energy companies
· Up to S$1 million (per problem statement) of grant support & 4 x S$25,000 Startup SG grants from Enterprise Singapore and networking opportunities with accelerators/incubators, venture capitalists, etc.
· Personalised mentorship from leading industry experts· In-depth industry exposure and wide audience outreach
Are you ready to disrupt the global energy industry?
Sign-up for the EOIC, then click on the “Participate” button to submit your pitch!
Application Deadline: November 6th, 2020
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RDNPlatform Funding Application Support
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We provide the following services under RDNplatform funding application support
- Amplifying funding opportunities to reach more people and support them with applications.
- Assist in crafting winning proposals and concept notes
- Advisory on the best funding practices and application
- Linking partners with funding sources
- Bridging the language barrier by assisting people with rational ideas with different language backgrounds.
About Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership (AEIP)
Funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, the Africa-Europe Innovation Partnership (AEIP) was launched in 2019 to build a network and connect high-quality tech hubs from both continents to explore opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships resulting in collaboration, exchange, and growth.
The AEIP has recently launched an ongoing Cleantech thematic challenge whereby startups from Africa and Europe leveraging clean energy and deploying solutions that decarbonize energy production to boost renewable and energy efficiency, are asked to send an email to eu-africa@servicefacility.eu to learn more about how to participate in this challenge.
Objective
The objective of the thematic challenge is to match startups and scale-ups from Africa and Europe developing similar Cleantech solutions to each other, in order to boost renewable energy and decarbonized energy production and transmission collaboration between Africa and Europe.
Benefits
Benefits: The AEIP team will support matched African and Europe startup and scale-up pairs to co-create complementary innovative Cleantech solutions by introducing them to African and European corporates that can mentor and support them to collaborate and explore new markets.
Eligibility
Eligibility criteria for applicants:
– African and European startups and scale-ups working on Cleantech solutions (power – renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon capture);
– Cleantech startups and scale-ups interested in working with a partner startup or scale up from the other region.
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RDNPlatform Funding Application Support
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We provide the following services under RDNplatform funding application support
- Amplifying funding opportunities to reach more people and support them with applications.
- Assist in crafting winning proposals and concept notes
- Advisory on the best funding practices and application
- Linking partners with funding sources
- Bridging the language barrier by assisting people with rational ideas with different language backgrounds.
Global AgriInno Challenge 2020 is coming!
Join us now, and you will have the chance to share information and enhance your knowledge on smart agriculture, innovation, and start-up practice through a unique global network composed of United Nations’ mentors, leading angel investors, academic experts, and youth agripreneurs from the global agri-food sector.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Zhejiang University, are co-organizing the Global AgriInno Challenge 2020 to harness innovation solutions in response to the challenges associated with ‘distribution and sales of agri-food products’.
Please submit your team’s application by 17 October 2020 (24:00 CEST).
The selected teams will be invited to further develop and pitch their digital development solutions in Zhejiang Province, China on 27-28 November 2020 with all relevant expenses covered. Winning teams will be granted seed funding, and the opportunity to participate in a one-week agro-Bootcamp and world study tour. So, are you ready to join us?
Remote participation is an option for international teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
See the guidelines below and register your team now!
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact global_agriinno_challenge@zju.edu.cn, copying lu.jiang@fao.org.
1. Background
The agricultural sector is going to face enormous challenges to feed the projected 9.6 billion people who will inhabit the planet by 2050, requiring a 60% increase in food. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in severe economic and social distress around the world, including negative impacts on agri-food systems. Logistic transportation and sale channels have been seriously hindered, while the demand for agricultural products has increased dramatically.
On the other hand, innovation, digital technology, and entrepreneurship have become even more important in accelerating and the transformation of agri-food systems, by increasing productivity and effectiveness. All these efforts contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During this process, youth plays an important role and therefore it is essential to provide support with digital innovative solutions.
Aimed at identifying, accelerating, and scaling-up youth-led innovative business models and digital solutions to unlock the potentials of agri-food innovation to address the challenges of distribution and sales of agri-food products, FAO, in partnership with Zhejiang University is organizing the 2020 Global AgriInno Challenge implementing the following actions:
a) sharing the latest information, knowledge, and best practices in agri-food innovation, technology, and business models;
b) building an enabling environment through Public-Private-Partnership and co-creation opportunities with diverse participants, practitioners, and experts;
c) engaging and empowering the young agripreneurs and innovators to tackle development challenges through FAO and partners’ global network and continuous support during and after the innovation challenge.
2. Benefits for participation
The selected teams to attend the final competition in China will benefit from:
- 2-day professional development on around your team’s solution through an approach of co-creation with other young agripreneurs/innovators and experienced experts worldwide. All expenses for attending this final competition in China will be covered, including a) travel expenses: round-trip flight and/or train; local transportation fee (taxi/bus/subway); b) accommodation and meals; c) visa application fees as applicable for international participants.
- The access to open data sets from FAO and other partners.
- Advice from experienced experts from UN, international organizations, the private sector, and academia, and the chance to have a dialogue with high-level representatives from leading companies and organizations.
- The chance to meet top angel investors from venture capital funds and business leaders in the agri-food sector who may invest in your solutions.
- The chance to build your global network in smart agriculture with a multitude of stakeholders.
- The top winner teams will receive seed funding (the amount will be communicated at later stage).
- The top winner teams will have the opportunity to join a one-week agro-bootcamp and World Study Tour (training, travel and accommodation covered) in 2021 to visit FAO and meet world leading companies and organizations in the agri-food innovation sector.
3. Who can apply?
The Global AgriInno Challenge 2020 is open for all youth with digital innovations or ideas for agri-food sector. English and Chinese are the two working languages during the Global AgriInno Challenge 2020. However, all the proposals and presentations will be conducted in English. The selection criteria for the final competition in China are as follows:
- The team has registered as a company or the project has been operational for 2-5 years.
- The theme of this year is distribution and sales of agri-food products.
- The team needs to harness digital technology to solve a problem relating to agri-food products distribution and sales.
- Teams with female agripreneurs are highly encouraged.
- One leader of the group must be below 35 years old.
- Each team should be composed of minimum 2 people, maximum 5 people to participate on-site.
- The feasibility and ability of the technology to solve the problem of the distribution and sales of agri-food products must be clearly presented.
- The possibility of replication or scaling-up the business model must be demonstrated.
Note: Any adjustments to the rules will be updated through http://www.fao.org/e-agriculture/. Also, all the participants will be notified in time through e-mails.
Ideally, the team should be composed of the following skill set:
- Human-centered design
- Agri-food products distribution and sales
- Agri-food business models development
- Software programming/data engineering
4. How to apply?
The team leader needs to fill the Application Form, with the Digital Development Solution (in PPT format) and a video, sending these to global_agriinno_challenge@zju.edu.cn and copying lu.jiang@fao.org by 17 October 2020 (24:00 CEST).
The documentation to submit should include (in English):
- Application Form（you may scan QR code on itme 8 or download through attachment to get the application form）
- Digital Development Solution (PowerPoint of max 12 slides, up to 250 words per slide, Microsoft YaHei Font，fontsize not less than 16)
- Summary of the solution (up to 250 words)
- Mission, vision, values of the project (the type of agriculture activity/sub-sector targeted)
- Problem identification
- Technical model
- Timing justification (Why is this moment the best time?)
- Business plan
- Financial situation (capital raised, capital needed, revenue analysis)
- Phased development planning
- 1-2 minutes long video explaining: Why should your team be selected? Answer this question in a 1-2 minutes long video.Upload the video online to a video sharing platform (YouTube, Google Cloud, Youku, Baidu Cloud or other) and share the address of the link.
5. Timelines
6. Mentors & Juries
- Coaches: senior innovation process facilitators and advisers in entrepreneurship.
- Academic experts: FAO, Zhejiang University and other stakeholders in the field of smart agriculture and innovation.
- Business mentors: business leaders from top companies in agribusiness related sectors; angel investors from top venture capital funds with extensive investment experience in smart agriculture.
- Juries: professional experts, investors and business leaders in the agri-food sector.
7. Organizational Structure
Host: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Zhejiang University
National Agricultural Science & Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation Alliance, China
Supporter: Pinduoduo Inc.
RDNPlatform Funding Application Support
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We provide the following services under RDNplatform funding application support
- Amplifying funding opportunities to reach more people and support them with applications.
- Assist in crafting winning proposals and concept notes
- Advisory on the best funding practices and application
- Linking partners with funding sources
- Bridging the language barrier by assisting people with rational ideas with different language backgrounds.
About the African Development Bank’s Youth Agripreneur AgriPitch Competition
The African Development Bank’s Youth Agripreneur AgriPitch Competition and DealRoom connect expansion-ready, youth-led African businesses with global investors (debt, equity, and/or grant). The DealRoom focuses on youth-led agribusinesses under the themes of nutrition and gender inclusivity. The goal of the AgriPitch Competition and DealRoom is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture among youth in Africa and to generate jobs, create wealth, and improve livelihoods through inclusive growth across the continent.
African companies that meet the criteria below are encouraged to submit their deal information for review by the Bank’s and Asoko Insight’s data teams. Qualified businesses will be promoted through the Asoko portal to global investors for matching. Interested investors can match with any deal by registering their profile and selecting target deals.
AgriPitch Competition
Shortlisted businesses will participate in a virtual AgriPitch Competition from November 16-20, 2020, where winners will be chosen based on different categories under consideration. The African Development Bank will award shortlisted businesses between US$10,000 and US$40,000 in the form of grant capital (US$120,000 in total is committed).
The African Development Bank is a leading multilateral development finance institution. The Bank has 81 member countries and is headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The evaluation criteria for successful applications are also below.
Applicant Evaluation Criteria
All applicants should consider these criteria carefully as they build out their profiles for submission.
Value Proposition and Innovation Rationale (30% weighting):
Value Proposition and Innovation Rationale (30% weighting):
- How creative is the idea or how creatively the idea solves a problem related to ICT and agri-digitization?
- Gender responsiveness
- Addresses nutrition
- Job creation potential
- Competitive edge
Sustainability and Scalability (20% weighting):
- Sound environmental management systems
- Potential for scaling-up
- Sufficient and qualified staff, including management
Business Feasibility & Traction (30% weighting):
- Clear customer pain/need intensity and market size
- Commercial and technically feasible with strong profit margins
- Existing traction and customers (for matured start-ups)
Professionalism and Presentation of Business (5% weighting):
- Structure and presentation of the business model
- Ease of comprehension of the business
- Strong writing/presentation skills
Investment Appeal (15% weighting):
- Investment pull based on respective early start-up, matured start-up, and all-star stage
RDNPlatform Funding Application Support
Do you need support to submit your applications?
We provide the following services under RDNplatform funding application support
- Amplifying funding opportunities to reach more people and support them with applications.
- Assist in crafting winning proposals and concept notes
- Advisory on the best funding practices and application
- Linking partners with funding sources
- Bridging the language barrier by assisting people with rational ideas with different language backgrounds.
About the GSMA Innovative Funding
The GSMA is looking for start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and social enterprises in Africa and Asia that are driving the digital inclusion of people with disabilities by addressing one or more of the following barriers:
- Access;
- Affordability;
- Relevance;
- Knowledge and skills; and
- Safety and security.
Successful projects will receive an equity-free grant of between £100,000 and £250,000 to scale their innovation over a 15- to 18-month period.
Today, over one billion people need at least one form of assistive technology (AT), but around 90 percent do not have adequate access to the AT they require. Digital assistive technologies, particularly mobile-based ATs, have the potential to be a valuable and cost-effective tool for people with disabilities. This fund aims to support the innovators of digital ATs and projects that advance the digital inclusion of people with disabilities and advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Funded projects will focus on reducing the gap in access and usage of mobile-enabled products or services, and will look to demonstrate commercially sustainable models that can be scaled and replicated in similar markets.
We’re particularly interested in start-ups, SMEs, and social enterprises that have entrepreneurs with disabilities, female founders, local entrepreneurs, and those who can proactively demonstrate their solution reaches women, in addition to people with disabilities, or have solutions that disproportionately and actively reach more women users.
Deadline
Applications are open until 23:59 BST Friday, 16 October. If you would like to know more about this round of the GSMA Innovation Fund, you will find more detail in the links below:
If you have any further questions, please email GSMAIF@gsma.com
RDNPlatform Funding Application Support
Do you need support to submit your applications?
We provide the following services under RDNplatform funding application support
1. Amplifying funding opportunities to reach more people and support them with applications.
2. Assist in crafting winning proposals and concept notes
3. Advisory on the best funding practices and application
4. Linking partners with funding sources
5. Bridging the language barrier by assisting people with rational ideas with different language backgrounds.
Roots of Impact and its partner Aqua for All are looking for impact enterprises within the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector to provide them with Social Impact Incentives (SIINC). Such ongoing outcomes-linked payments help companies scale, grow their impact and attract private capital. Eligible candidates will have to be preparing for, or already in the midst of, raising repayable investment(s) (min. € 500,000 to be potentially complemented by additional public or philanthropic funding). The geographic focus is on Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
SECTORAL FOCUS
In recognition of the importance and the interdependent nature of the sector as a whole, the call is open to any impact enterprise working on a WASH-related solution.
KEY CRITERIA
- Scope: The enterprises must be operational for at least three years, focus on WASH, and be based and/or active in Sub-Saharan Africa, the MENA region or Asia. They must be seeking repayable investment(s) of a minimum of € 500,000 to be potentially complemented by public or philanthropic funding.
- Business model: Although there are no specific constraints regarding the legal form, the enterprises need to have a business model and generate revenues out of their activities (e.g. fee-for-service, subscription, government revenues/subsidies…).
- Financial sustainability: The objective of SIINC for WASH is to support enterprises that will continue to generate positive impact long after the SIINC payments have ended. Thus, the enterprises must have either already achieved financial sustainability or must have a clear plan for achieving breakeven in the short to medium term.
- Impact track-record: The support provided to the enterprises in this program takes the form of outcomes-based premiums, paid to incentivize positive social impact. In order to design a realistic payment schedule, it is necessary to have baseline data related to the impact generated by the enterprise. There should be a track-record of systematically monitored and reported indicators which can act as a basis for planning the SIINC payments.
- Impact focus: Enterprises that are gender-inclusive and target vulnerable and low-income groups, will be the main focus. Ventures that do not have a specific impact focus are also eligible if they prove to be willing and able to deliver positive social outcomes.
TIMING AND CONTACT
The call is now open for applications and can be accessed online via the apply button. The deadline to apply is September 27th, 2020 at 2.00 pm Central European Summer Time (CEST). For further information, please contact siincforwash@roots-of-impact.org.
SECTOR
Water, sanitation and hygiene
APPLICATION DEADLINE
September 27, 2020
SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
https://roots-of-impact.typeform.com/to/fIaP8K
Business and Investment
