The Empower Africa Business Platform is Now Live !!!
Kenyan identity management startup Peleza and Y Combinator-backed Prembly have joined forces to create a new entity, the Prembly Group.
The merger brings together Peleza’s expertise in background checks, particularly valuable due to its established partnerships with East African mobility giants Uber and Bolt and logistics leader FedEx, with Prembly’s focus on identity verification, security, and compliance solutions.
This collaboration isn’t entirely new as Peleza has been leveraging Prembly’s infrastructure for the past year and a half.
According to Peleza’s founder, Marita Mutemi, the merger formalizes this partnership, which aims to expand service offerings across various markets with a specific focus on global reach.
“This merger is a natural extension of our existing collaboration,” Mutemi said. “It allows us to provide a wider range of services to customers across different markets, including internationally.”
Prembly’s co-founder and CEO, Lanre Ogungbe, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the combined entity’s potential for leadership in the Pan-African identity management space.
Following the merger, Ogungbe will assume the CEO role of the Prembly Group. Mutemi will become the Group’s CFO and concurrently serve as the CEO of Prembly East Africa.

The Mastercard Africa Growth Fund has announced investments in three Africa-focused investment firms: Chui Ventures, VestedWorld, and SME Impact Fund.

Kenyan renewable energy startup Hydrobox has secured $9 million in debt funding to expand its small hydro projects, delivering affordable and reliable electricity to underserved communities in Kenya.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed $100 million to Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms Ltd (ARISE IIP), a leading developer and operator of industrial zones in Africa.