Nigerian tech startups continue to blaze the trail when it comes to fundraising in Africa. From fintechs to e-commerce, Nigerian startups are attracting more investors even as funds raised so far this year are nearing $1 billion.
A look at the third quarter figures shows that fintech has continued to be the most attractive ecosystem for investors. Not only did fintech firms collectively raise the most funds during the quarter under review, but the largest amount raised was also by a fintech. This follows the same pattern witnessed in the previous quarters of the year.
From pre-seed pre-series C, below are the top ten Nigerian startups that sealed the biggest deals in Q3 2022.
10. Youverify ($1 million)
Identification service startup, Youverify, secured a $1 million seed round extension in 3rd quarter of the year bringing its total raise for the round to $2.5 million, having raised $1.5 million in 2020.
Africa-focused VCs Orange Ventures and LoftyInc Capital, the two investors who co-led its initial seed round, also led the extension. Additional investment came from Octerra Capital, Plug & Play Venture, Syntax Ventures, HTTP Investors, Afer Group, and Fronesyz Capital.
The company said the funding would be used to support its product improvement and development, talent acquisition, and African expansion.
9. Grey ($2 million)
Fintech startup, Grey was also among the top fundraisers in Q3 as it raised $2 million in seed funding to expand its services into new African markets. The seed funding round included participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Heirloom Fund, True Culture Fund, angel investors Alan Rutledge, Samvit Ramadurgam, Karthik Ramakrishnan, and other high-profile investors.
The 1-year-old company said the funding would also allow it to extend its product suite to both remittances and person-to-person and business-to-business payments so every African can enjoy seamless cross-border payments with low fees.
8. Beacon Power Services ($2.7 million)
Nigerian energy tech startup, Beacon Power Services (BPS) also closed a $2.7 million seed round in August. The round was led by Seedstars Africa Ventures with participation from Persistent Energy, Kepple Africa Ventures, Factor[e], and Oridun Capital Management.
The company, which is providing energy management software and analytics for utilities and mini-grid operators, said the new funding would enable it to improve its current products (product upgrades to add new features and incorporate automation) and expand into new markets beyond Nigeria and Ghana, where it currently operates.
7. Duplo ($4.3 million)
Duplo, a B2B payments startup, raised $4.3 million in seed funding in August 2022. This came just seven months after it announced its $1.3 million pre-seed investment, bringing its total funds raised to $5.6 million.
Participant investors in the seed round include Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Tribe Capital, Commerce Ventures, Basecamp Fund, Y Combinator, and existing investor Oui Capital.
The company said it would be leveraging the fund to launch new products and expand into new business areas in Nigeria.
6. Pastel ($5.5 million)
Pastel, a Nigerian bookkeeping and digital platform for merchants raised a $5.5 million seed round in Q3. The seed raise was led by pan-African venture capital firm TLcom Capital. Other VC firms such as Global Founders Capital (GFC), Golden Palm Investments, DFS Labs, Ulu Ventures, Plug and Play, and Soma Cap also participated in the seed round.
The company said it would deploy the fund to expand its product offerings and develop more productivity and finance management features and tools around group savings, loans and payments for small businesses. The startup had raised a $620,000 pre-seed last year from some of its existing investors.
5. Kippa ($8.4 million)
Kippa, the financial management and payments platform for Nigerian small businesses, also raised $8.4 million in Q3 2022 to be among the leading fundraisers in the period. The funding was backed by international investors to develop products that will help SMEs grow their businesses with participation from Goodwater Capital, TEN13 VC, Rocketship VC, Saison Capital (the venture arm of Credit Saison), Crestone VC (led by Inanc Balci, Co-founder and former CEO at Lazada), VentureSouq, Horizon Partners and Vibe Capital.
Founded in June 2021, Kippa raised pre-seed funding of $3.2 million in November 2021 with the idea of onboarding merchants to a simple-to-use mobile bookkeeping app to help them digitise bookkeeping and recover customer debt.
4. NowNow ($13 million)
Another fintech startup, NowNow Digital Systems secured $13M in its seed round to improve financial inclusion across Africa by providing financial services to the unbanked and underbanked in the continent. The funding round led by NeoVision Ventures Ltd., DLF Family Office, and Shadi Abdulhadi heralded NowNow’s plans to scale and expand its service offerings across Africa.
With the newly secured funds, NowNow said it would drive financial empowerment as well as introduce new products which will further enhance its already existing consumer banking, agency banking, and merchant payment solutions.
3. Ominibiz ($15 million)
Omnibiz, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform closed a $15 million pre-Series A round comprising $5 million equity and $10 million debt in the quarter under review. The funding was led by Timon Capital with participation from other VC firms such as Ventures Platform, Lofty Inc, Chapel Hill Denham, Chandaria Capital and Musha Ventures.
Omnibiz said it would use the funding to double down on winning the loyalty of retail customers and driving their retention. The company also planned to begin its regional expansion into cities it cited during its seed raise last year: Abidjan, Takoradi, Kumasi, and Accra. Earlier, the company had closed a $3 million seed round in August 2021.
2. Vendease ($30 million)
Vendease, Nigeria’s food procurement startup raised $30 million in equity and debt funding round in Q3 2022. The Series A equity round of $20 million was co-led by TLcom and Partech, in a rare joint investment by two of the biggest Africa-focused funds, while a $10 million debt round was raised from the local finance market. The equity round also included VentureSouq, Hustle fund, Hack VC, GFR Fund, Kube VC, Magic Fund, and Kairos Angels, who returned after participating in the previous round.
The company said the investment would be used to consolidate its growth and operations in Nigeria and Ghana and to support its expansion across the continent. It would also be used for the development of new solutions and services to drive growth across the food value chain.
1. TeamApt ($50 million)
TeamApt, a Nigerian fintech that provides business payments and banking platforms, topped the fundraising table in Q3 with its $50 million pre-series C funding. QED Investors, a U.S. fintech-focused venture capital firm led the new investment, while Novastar Ventures (co-lead), Lightrock, and BII also participated in the round.
The company said the fund would allow it to expand its credit services, move into new markets, and spread financial happiness by digitising Africa’s economy. TeamApt operates one of Nigeria’s largest business payments and banking platforms and processes a $100 billion annualized run-rate transaction value via its products Moniepoint and Monnify.
All these dollars being raised introduced more exchange rate risk into the business. Risk management is at the core of business survival. A secondary market listing on the equity section of the vibrant FMDQ should be considered. NGX is a dream killer