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Welcome to our newsletter section. In this newsletter, we will be looking at:
· OZÉ Raises $3m To Expand Capacities of Digital Recordkeeping Platform
· Oracle Opens First Cloud Region in Africa
· Floatpays Raises $4m Seed Funding Round for African Expansion
· NALA Raises $10m Funding for Continental Expansion
Let’s dive in !
OZÉ Raises $3m To Expand Capacities of Digital Recordkeeping Platform
Ghanaian fintech startup OZÉ, which provides digital recordkeeping tools with embedded finance products to MSMEs, has raised a US$3 million pre-Series A funding round to expand the capabilities of its platform and increase access to affordable finance.
OZÉ aggregates data to provide context specific recommendations and reports. Using this data and machine learning, the startup predicts a business’ credit risk and provides it with affordable capital from its banking partners.
With a client base of over 125,000 business owners, has just closed a US$3 million pre-Series A round led by Speedinvest and including Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, Savannah Fund and several angels “experienced in operating and investing in global fintech”.
Oracle Opens First Cloud Region In Africa
Oracle today announced the availability of its first cloud region in Africa to meet the rapidly growing demand for enterprise cloud services on the continent. The Oracle Cloud Johannesburg Region will boost cloud adoption across Africa while also helping businesses achieve better performance and drive continuous innovation. The opening marks Oracle’s 37th cloud region worldwide with plans to have at least 44 cloud regions by the end of 2022, continuing one of the fastest expansions of any major cloud provider.
Richard Smith, executive vice president, EMEA, Oracle, said: “The fourth industrial revolution, which is powered by cloud-led technologies, has significantly accelerated in South Africa and the wider African continent. In recent months, cloud technologies have played a vital role in helping African public and private sector organizations ensure business continuity, deliver essential services, and meet evolving customer expectations. The Oracle Johannesburg region offers a next-generation cloud to run any application faster and more securely for less, helping businesses build resilience, agility and achieve improved ROI.”
According to the company, the Johannesburg region is built on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which enables customers to easily migrate IT workloads and data platforms to the cloud or build new cloud native applications. In addition, Oracle offers a wide range of application modernization and cloud strategies to help African organizations operate with global competitiveness.
Floatpays Raises $4m Seed Funding Round For African Expansion
South African on-demand pay provider Floatpays has secured just under US$4 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round to help it expand across Africa.
Having seen 43 per cent growth in its employer base and a 70 per cent increase in users since taking part in Y Combinator, the startup has raised a seed round worth almost US$4 million from investors including Global Founders Capital, Base Capital, Finca Ventures, Raba Partnership and 4DX Ventures, as well as angels Alan Rutledge, Shaun Hurwitz, Youcef Oudjidane and Olugbenga Agboola, the co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave.
The new investors join existing backers Founders Factory Africa, Kepple Africa Ventures, Norrsken Foundation and MFS Investments.
Simon Ward, founder of Floatpays stated: “The investment allows us to consolidate our position in South Africa and expand into the rest of Africa. We are accelerating the development of important features that complement our existing product, such as our new interest-bearing savings account that is directly linked to employees’ paychecks.”
NALA Raises $10m Funding For Continental Expansion
NALA has raised US$10 million in funding as it plans aggressive expansion across Africa in 2022.
According to NALA, the US$10 million funding was secured from Amplo, Accel, and Bessemer Partners, with participation from angels including the founders of Monzo, Robinhood, Alloy and Deel. and Peeyush Ranjan, the head of Google Payments. NALA will be launching a crowdfunding campaign this year where their first users will get to own shares in NALA.
The startup plans to be active in 12 African countries by the end of the year, including Nigeria, while it is also targeting launches in the United States (US) and the European Economic Area in Q1.
Benjamin Fernandes, NALA CEO stated: “Payments in Africa are one per cent built. It’s 2022 and Africa’s still the most expensive place in the world to send money in and out of. Until this changes we are limited by the opportunities of trade across the continent. Over the next five years, while logistics gets better, more places around the world are going to trade in and out of Africa, we are positioning ourselves to be at the forefront of this change.”