{"id":150,"date":"2018-12-28T08:30:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T08:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/28\/venture-capital-global-expansion-blockchain-and-drones-characterize-african-tech-in-2018\/"},"modified":"2018-12-28T08:30:03","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T08:30:03","slug":"venture-capital-global-expansion-blockchain-and-drones-characterize-african-tech-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/28\/venture-capital-global-expansion-blockchain-and-drones-characterize-african-tech-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Venture capital, global expansion, blockchain and drones characterize African tech in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div class=\"article__contributor-byline\">\n<div class=\"contributor-byline__more-articles\">\n<p><span class=\"more-articles-title\">More posts by this contributor<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"more-articles-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/12\/20\/ibm-africa-and-hello-tractor-pilot-ai-blockchain-agtech-platform\/\">IBM Africa and Hello Tractor pilot AI\/blockchain agtech platform<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/12\/09\/africa-roundup-terragons-asia-acquisition-twiga-foods-10m-raise-simbapays-china-payment-service\/\">Africa Roundup: Terragon\u2019s Asia acquisition, Twiga Foods\u2019 $10M raise, SimbaPay\u2019s China payment service<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\"><span>2018 saw Africa\u2019s tech sector become more dynamic and international. VC firms on the continent multiplied. There were numerous investment rounds. And startups pursued acquisitions and global expansion. <\/span><span>Here\u2019s a snapshot of the news that shaped African tech over the last year. <\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Surge in VC funds<\/h2>\n<p><span>A notable 2018 trend was Africa\u2019s VC landscape becoming more African, with an increasing number of investment funds headquartered on the continent and run by locals, according to Crunchbase data released in this<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/10\/22\/local-venture-capital-fund-formation-is-on-the-rise-in-africa-led-by-nigeria\/\"> <span>TechCrunch exclusive<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Drawing on its database and primary source research, Crunchbase identified 51 viable Africa-focused VC funds globally with at least 7-10 investments in African startups from seed to series stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of the 51 funds, 22 (or 43 percent) were headquartered in Africa and managed by Africans. Of those 22, nine (or 41 percent) were formed since 2016 and nine were Nigerian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"breakout aligncenter wp-image-1763229\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/africa-focused-vc-funds1.png?w=680\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"844\"><\/b><span>Four of the nine Nigeria-based funds were formed within the last year:<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.microtraction.com\/\"> <span>Microtraction<\/span><\/a><span>, Neon Ventures, Beta.Ventures and CcHub\u2019s Growth Capital fund.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Crunchbase study also tracked more Africans in top positions at outside funds and the rise of homegrown corporate venture arms. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><\/b><span>One of those entities with a corporate venture arm, Naspers, announced a $100 million fund named Naspers Foundry to invest in South African tech startups. This was part of a $300 million (4.6 billion Rand) commitment by the South African media and investment company to support South Africa\u2019s tech sector overall, as reported<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/10\/29\/naspers-announces-300-million-initiative-to-support-startups-and-tech-in-south-africa\/\"> <span>here at TechCrunch<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Another DFI came on the scene when France announced a $76 million African startup fund administered by the French Development Agency, AFD. TechCrunch got the skinny on how it will work<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/06\/17\/breaking-down-frances-new-76m-africa-startup-fund\/\"> <span>here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Investment and expansion<\/h2>\n<p><span>If African VC investment headlines were scarce a decade ago, in 2018 we became overwhelmed with them. This was largely a result of several recently closed Africa funds \u2014 TLcom\u2019s $40 million,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/02\/05\/africa-roundup-partech-ventures-launches-70m-fund-tpg-growth-acquires-trace-rensource-raises-3-5m\/\"> <span>Partech\u2019s $70 million<\/span><\/a><span>, TPG\u2019s 2 billion \u2014 beginning to deploy that capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In March, Nigerian consumer data analytics firm Terragon<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/03\/29\/african-vc-tlcom-capital-invests-5m-in-nigerian-data-analytics-firm-terragon-group\/\"> <span>raised $5 million from TLcom<\/span><\/a><span>. Kenyan business enterprise software company Africa\u2019s Talking<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/04\/25\/1628778\/\"> <span>raised $8.6 million<\/span><\/a><span> in a round led by IFC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Investment startup <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.piggybank.ng\/\"><span>Piggybank.ng<\/span><\/a><span> closed $1.1 million in seed funding and announced a new product \u2014 Smart Target, for traditional savings groups. Trucking Logistics company<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/12\/07\/nigerian-logistics-startup-kobo360-raises-6m-expands-in-africa\/\"> <span>Kobo360 raised two rounds<\/span><\/a>,<span> for a total of $7.2 million. Kenya-based agtech supply chain startup Twiga Foods raised $10 million. B2B retail supply chain<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/07\/26\/sokowatch-closes-2-million-seed-round-to-modernize-africas-b2b-retail\/\"> <span>Sokowatch closed a $2 million seed round<\/span><\/a><span> led by 4DX ventures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1763228 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/YOKO.1.png?w=393\" alt=\"\" width=\"393\" height=\"441\"><\/b><span>White-label lending startup<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/08\/10\/offering-a-white-labeled-lending-service-in-emerging-markets-mines-raises-13-million\/\"> <span>Mines.io secured a $13 million<\/span><\/a><span> Series A round. South African SME payment venture<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/09\/06\/south-africas-yoco-raises-16-million-to-boost-digital-services-to-small-businesses\/\"> <span>Yoco raised $16 million<\/span><\/a><span>. Paga Payments added $10 million in fresh funding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And then there were the three huge raises of the year. Kenyan digital payment company<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/06\/10\/africa-roundup-african-startup-investments-turn-to-fintech-this-winter-season\/\"> <span>Cellulant hauled in $37.5 million<\/span><\/a><span> in a Series C round led by TPG Growth. South African lending startup<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/10\/03\/africa-roundup-paga-goes-global-and-4-startups-raise-99m-in-vc\/\"> <span>Jumo raised $52 million<\/span><\/a><span> led by Goldman Sachs. And just this month,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carlyle.com\/media-room\/news-release-archive\/carlyle-group-invests-wakanowcom-one-west-africa%E2%80%99s-largest-online\"> <span>The Carlyle Group invested $40 million<\/span><\/a><span> in Africa-focused online travel site Wakanow.com. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Acquisitions and expansion<\/h2>\n<p><span>In 2018, African tech demonstrated it can travel, as several digital companies expanded on the continent and abroad. In May,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mallforafrica.com\/\"> <span>MallforAfrica<\/span><\/a><span> and DHL launched <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketplaceafrica.com\/?SID=aj59trekd8b8na7ot5pargrudg\"><span>MarketPlaceAfrica.com<\/span><\/a>,<span>\u00a0a global e-commerce site for select African artisans to sell wares to buyers in any of DHL\u2019s 220 delivery countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"breakout aligncenter wp-image-1763225 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/MPA.1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"935\" height=\"470\"><\/b><span>Paga announced plans to expand in Africa and internationally, with an eye on Ethiopia, Mexico and the Philippines,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/10\/03\/africa-roundup-paga-goes-global-and-4-startups-raise-99m-in-vc\/\"> <span>CEO Tayo Oviosu told TechCrunch<\/span><\/a><span>. Kobo360 is<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/12\/07\/nigerian-logistics-startup-kobo360-raises-6m-expands-in-africa\/\"> <span>moving into in new markets<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0\u2014 Ghana, Togo and Cote D\u2019Ivoire<\/span><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On the back of its $52 million round,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/09\/17\/jumo-raises-52m-led-by-goldman\/\"> <span>Jumo said it would expand in Asia<\/span><\/a><span> and started by opening an office in Singapore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On the acquisition front, Terragon bought Asian mobile marketing company Bizense<\/span><span> in a cash and stock deal. The company is exploring greater growth opportunities in Latin America and Southeast Asia, CEO<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/11\/12\/nigerian-data-analytics-company-terragon-acquires-asian-mobile-ad-firm-bizense\/\"> <span>Elo Umeh told TechCrunch<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.techcrunch.com\/2018\/01\/19\/tpg-growth-and-caas-investment-firm-evolution-media-buy-into-africas-music-business\/\"><span>TPG Growth acquired<\/span><\/a><span> a majority stake (of an undisclosed value) in Africa entertainment content company <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/trace.company\/about-us\/\"><span>TRACE<\/span><\/a><span>. After previous investments, Naspers acquired \u00a096 percent of Southern African e-commerce venture <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/takealot-com\"><span>Takealot<\/span><\/a><span>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And in December, California-based Emergent Technology Holdings<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emergenttechnology.com\/emergent-technology-acquires-interpay-africa\/\"> <span>acquired Ghanaian fintech payment company InterpayAfrica<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Partnerships<\/h2>\n<p><span>Collaboration between local tech firms and big global names continued in 2018.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/09\/20\/liquid-telecom-goes-long-on-africas-startups-as-future-clients\/\"> <span>Liquid Telecom and Microsoft<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0continued their partnership to offer connectivity cloud services <\/span><span>such as Microsoft\u2019s Azure, Dynamics 365 and Office 365 to select startups<\/span><span> and hubs. This is part of Liquid Telecom\u2019s strategy to go long on Africa\u2019s startups as its future clients and the continent\u2019s next big companies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Facebook teamed up with Nigerian tech hub<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nghub.fb.com\/\"> <span>CcHub to launch its NG_Hub<\/span><\/a><span> high-tech incubator.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Blockchain<\/h2>\n<p><span>As crypto fever gripped many leading economies in 2018, Africa was shaping its own blockchain narrative \u2014 one more grounded in utility than speculation.<\/span> <span>500 Startups-backed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.techcrunch.com\/2017\/12\/11\/africas-sureremit-joins-the-tokenized-race-to-win-the-global-remittance-market\/\"><span>SureRemit launched a crypto token<\/span><\/a><span> product aimed at disrupting Africa\u2019s multi-billion-dollar remittance market and raised $7 million in an ICO. South African payments venture <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/10\/01\/how-a-ugandan-prince-and-an-crypto-startup-are-planning-an-african-revolution\/\"><span>Wala<\/span><\/a><span> and solar energy startup <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/icobench.com\/ico\/the-sun-exchange\"><span>Sun Exchange<\/span><\/a><span> also had ICOs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"vertical alignnone wp-image-1763224 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/HELLO.TRACTOR.1.png?w=338\" alt=\"\" width=\"338\" height=\"680\"><\/b><span>For blockchain as a platform, agtech startups<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/11\/15\/africas-agtech-wave-gets-10-million-richer-as-twiga-foods-raises-more-capital\/\"> <span>Twiga Foods<\/span><\/a><span> and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/12\/20\/ibm-africa-and-hello-tractor-pilot-ai-blockchain-agtech-platform\/\"> <span>Hello Tractor<\/span><\/a><span> partnered with IBM Research to use the digital ledger tech to advance small-scale farmers and agriculture on the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Ride-hail boda bodas<\/h2>\n<p><span>Ride-hail tech expanded into the continent\u2019s frequently used motorcycle taxi market. Uber<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/03\/11\/africa-roundup-uber-says-its-staying-konga-could-be-epic-startup-fail\/\"> <span>entered the three-wheeled tuk tuk moto taxi market<\/span><\/a><span> in Tanzania in March and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/03\/30\/uber-and-taxify-are-going-head-to-head-to-digitize-africas-two-wheeled-taxis\/\"> <span>Uber and Taxify launched motorcycle passenger services<\/span><\/a><span> in East Africa, including Kenya and Uganda.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Fails<\/h2>\n<p><span>Last year saw<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2017\/10\/05\/africa-roundup-mest-airbus-and-microsoft-expand-in-africa-while-afrostream-shutters\/\"> <span>Y Combinator-backed VOD startup Afrostream shutter<\/span><\/a><span>. In February 2018, Nigerian e-commerce startup Konga \u2014 backed by VC \u2014 was sold in a distressed acquisition. There were high expectations for Konga and its much-liked founder Sim Shagaya. I<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/03\/11\/africa-roundup-uber-says-its-staying-konga-could-be-epic-startup-fail\/\"> <span>made the case<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0<span>Konga\u2019s acquisition was one of Africa\u2019s first big startup fails that flew under the radar.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Drones<\/h2>\n<p><span>TechCrunch<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/09\/16\/african-experiments-with-drone-technologies-could-leapfrog-decades-of-infrastructure-neglect\/\"> <span>did a deep dive into Africa\u2019s drone scene<\/span><\/a><span>, talking to several experts and looking at emerging use cases across delivery services, agtech and surveying. On the regulatory side, several countries \u2014 Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia and Malawi \u2014 are doing some interesting things around regulation and creating drone-testing corridors for global players.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>TechCrunch and Africa<\/h2>\n<p><span>In 2018 TechCrunch did more with Africa than any previous year. In addition to more content, there was<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/05\/08\/africa-roundup-safaricom-unveils-bonga-africas-talking-gets-8-6m-techcrunch-visits-nigeria-ghana\/\"> <span>a market engagement trip to Ghana and Nigeria<\/span><\/a>,<span> with meet-and-greets at Impact Hub, MEST Accra and Lagos, and CcHub.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"breakout aligncenter wp-image-1757264 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/mscan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\"><\/p>\n<p><span>TechCrunch also had its<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2QUHRqpIu1U\"> <span>first Africa panel on Disrupt SF\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span> main stage, an<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/video\/building-africas-technology-ecosystem-with-omobola-johnson-tlcom-capital-and-elo-umeh-terragon-group-disrupt-berlin-2018\/\"> <span>Africa session at Disrupt Berlin<\/span><\/a><span> and held the second Startup Battlefield Africa in December in Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/events\/startup-battlefield-africa-2018\/\"><span>Fifteen startups competed in Lagos<\/span><\/a><span> in front of a Pan-African and global crowd. South African virtual banking startup<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bettr.finance\/\"> <span>Bettr<\/span><\/a><span> was runner-up. Ultra-affordable ultrasound startup <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/events\/startup-battlefield-africa-2018\/\">M-Scan<\/a> from Uganda was the winner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>More Africa-related stories @TechCrunch<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>African tech around the \u2018net \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2018\/12\/28\/africa-roundup-2018-vc-global-expansion-blockchain-drones\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surfshields.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}