The new fund, named Unconventional Capital, offers a non-dilutive, revenue-based financing model, providing early-stage businesses with capital without requiring them to give up equity.

This approach is designed to address the challenges faced by many African SMEs in securing traditional venture capital funding.

The fund will be co-led by Esther Ndeti and Franziska Reh, who will serve as Managing Partners.

Ndeti is currently Uncap’s Investment Principal, while Reh is the CEO of the firm.

Unconventional Capital will collaborate with strategic partners such as O-Farms and SAIS to identify and support promising African businesses.

Global institutions, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Bayer Foundation, have also expressed their support for the fund.

Uncap’s revenue-based financing model is expected to be particularly attractive to African SMEs that often struggle to raise capital while maintaining control over their operations.

Since its establishment in 2019, Uncap has invested in 87 companies across seven sub-Saharan African countries.

The firm plans to support each company with between $22,000 and $112,000 in funding. To be eligible, SMEs must be registered limited companies in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, or Nigeria, with at least two years in operation and a minimum revenue of $89,000 in the past 12 months.

In addition to launching the new fund, Uncap announced the separation of its financial operations from Level, a stand-alone SaaS platform designed to simplify investment management for funders and accelerators in Africa.

The investment, led by Shorooq Partners, will fuel the company’s expansion and platform enhancements.

SETTLE aims to streamline financial operations for businesses by providing real-time insights and automating payment processes.

The funding will enable the company to accelerate its growth in Egypt and expand into global markets.

In a market still dominated by traditional payment methods like paper checks, SETTLE offers a much-needed digital solution.

By integrating with ERP systems, the platform automates payments, receivables, and treasury management, leading to improved financial control and reduced operational errors.

“We’re excited to support SETTLE in their mission to revolutionize B2B payments in Egypt and beyond,” said Tamer Azer, partner at Shorooq Partners. “Their innovative platform has the potential to significantly improve efficiency and transparency for businesses of all sizes.”

With the backing of strategic investors, SETTLE is poised to become a leading player in the B2B payment space.

The company’s focus on automation and data-driven insights aligns with the growing demand for digital financial solutions.

The fresh capital will be used to bolster the company’s efforts to tackle food insecurity across the African continent.

Founded by Olushola Oladejo and Yosola Oke, Foodpreneurs Hub empowers African food entrepreneurs by providing training, mentorship, and access to strategic partnerships.

The platform aims to bridge the gap between food production and post-harvest losses, which account for over 40% of food waste in Africa.

“Our mission is to democratize food processing,” said Yosola Oke, COO of Foodpreneurs Hub. “We are building a community that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to innovate, create jobs, and contribute to food security across the continent.”

The recent funding round follows a previous investment of $5 million from Fusen Funds, led by American billionaire Chris Klaus.

This additional capital will enable Foodpreneurs Hub to expand its reach and support more food entrepreneurs in their journey to success.

Through initiatives like the “FoodStars Business Scale-Up” program, Foodpreneurs Hub provides entrepreneurs with mentorship, access to capital, and opportunities to pitch their ventures for funding.

The funding round was led by E4E Africa and 4Di Capital, with participation from several other investors, including DotExe Ventures, Launch Africa, Equitable Ventures, Felix Strategic Investment, Gaingels, and local angel investors.

Happy Pay, founded in 2023, provides interest-free and deposit-free credit solutions to its users.

The company leverages AI-driven credit scoring to assess customer affordability quickly, ensuring a seamless checkout experience for both consumers and merchants.

With this new funding, Happy Pay plans to launch innovative products, boost its marketing efforts, and expand its merchant base.

The company also intends to strategically grow its team to support its rapid expansion.

“This funding will enable us to accelerate our growth and expand our innovative product offerings, ultimately providing more value to the customers and merchants we serve,” said Wesley Billett, co-founder and CEO of Happy Pay.

Happy Pay has experienced significant growth over the past year, attracting a 900% increase in user growth, primarily driven by millennials and Gen Zs.

The company has been driving growth for South African eCommerce merchants by offering access to new customers, higher average order values, and improved conversion rates.

Patrick Postrehovsky, Co-Founder and COO of Happy Pay, stated that the fintech provides consumers with zero-cost alternatives to high-interest credit, enabling customers to access the formal financial system using their own affordability data.

The BNPL market in South Africa is experiencing rapid growth due to the country’s large population of financially unserved and underserved consumers, increasing eCommerce activity, and challenging economic conditions.

The BNPL payments in the country are expected to reach $1.07 billion this year, with an anticipated annual growth rate of 10.6% from 2024 to 2029.

The funding round was led by Reach Capital, with participation from Classera, Brighteye Ventures, e& capital, and several business angels.

LabLabee plans to use the funds to expand its operations in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region and enter the US market.

The company will also introduce new hands-on training labs and expand its course catalog to include topics like industry 4.0, telco security, telco AI, and edge computing. Additionally, LabLabee will hire more staff to support its growing user base.

Founded in 2021, LabLabee offers hands-on learning experiences in future network technologies.

The company works with telecom operators, vendors, industrial companies, and more to integrate practical exercises into their training programs.

Esteban Sosnik, General Partner and Co-Founder at Reach Capital, praised LabLabee for its deep technical experience and industry knowledge.

He noted that the company is addressing a critical need in the telecom sector by helping workers upskill and reskill.

LabLabee’s co-founder, Samir Tahraoui, highlighted the challenges faced by telcos and industrial engineers in learning new technologies.

He emphasized that LabLabee’s platform makes learning easier, faster, and field-ready.

This renewed collaboration aims to break down financial and social barriers to education, impacting over 70,400 young women and girls directly and benefiting 3.3 million young people across the continent.

Over the next seven years, the Mastercard Foundation will invest an additional $360 million to help young women transition through education, entrepreneurship, and employment.

This move is part of the Foundation’s broader commitment to building inclusive education systems and enabling Africa’s youth, particularly girls, to thrive.

The partnership with CAMFED focuses on transforming the educational and economic landscape for girls in Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Malawi.

Over the next six years, this investment will support 62,000 girls as they move through secondary and tertiary education, and into employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

In addition to directly supporting the educational journey of these young women, CAMFED will work closely with local communities and governments to improve education systems for millions of students.

The long-standing collaboration between the Mastercard Foundation and CAMFED has already resulted in access to secondary and higher education for over 35,000 young women facing the highest financial and social barriers.

This latest expansion aims to build on that legacy and accelerate progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.

The Mastercard Foundation is also extending its seven-year partnership with FAWE to increase access to tertiary education, technical vocational and educational training (TVET), and job opportunities for over 10,500 young people across Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana, Liberia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Senegal.

This program includes bursaries for participants who are starting new businesses or innovating within existing ones.

With this expansion, FAWE will increase the number of post-secondary programs it supports to over 500 accredited tertiary institutions in Africa.

This initiative will benefit an estimated 1.2 million young women, providing them with the skills and opportunities needed to contribute to their communities and economies.

Backed by an initial investment of $11 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the initiative leverages Field’s proprietary technology, distribution network, and financing services to deliver innovative therapies to communities in need.

Field’s service currently supports over 40,000 healthcare providers in Kenya and Nigeria, providing them with the tools and resources necessary to improve patient outcomes.

The company’s CEO and Founder, Michael Moreland, highlighted the importance of utilizing digital technology to enhance access to quality care, emphasizing that the partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will accelerate progress in maternal and child survival.

According to data, women in sub-Saharan Africa face a disproportionately high risk of maternal mortality, with a rate that is significantly higher than in developed regions.

To address this urgent issue, Field’s service will provide expectant mothers with access to emerging therapies such as heat-stable carbetocin and calibrated drapes, which can help prevent and treat postpartum hemorrhage.

Despite advancements in healthcare delivery, economic challenges can hinder progress in improving maternal and child health.

Field is committed to overcoming these obstacles by providing coordinated systems and processes that support the implementation of innovative interventions.

Founded in 2015, Field has established itself as a leading pharmaceutical supply chain provider in Nigeria and Kenya.

The company’s distribution service, Shelf Life, reaches over 2,500 pharmacies and hospitals across the two countries, ensuring access to essential medicines and healthcare products.

Additionally, Field offers trade financing solutions to address working capital constraints and facilitate investments in new medical interventions.

This brings the total amount raised in the round to $72 million, following a $50 million investment in 2022.

The latest round was led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Venture Capital, with participation from PayPal Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, British International Investment (BII), FMO, A15, Nclude, and Helios Digital Ventures (HDV).

Paymob plans to use the fresh capital to expand its operations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on enhancing its product suite and services.

Since receiving the initial portion of its Series B funding, the company has already made significant strides, launching an app for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and introducing new payment methods like embedded checkout experiences and products such as lending and advanced settlements.

Founded in 2015 by college friends Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj, and Mostafa Menessy, Paymob started as a solution to Egypt’s growing eCommerce market, addressing the lack of suitable payment infrastructure for digital businesses.

Today, the company offers a comprehensive omnichannel payment gateway, enabling over 350,000 merchants to accept online and offline payments across five countries in the MENA region, including Egypt, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

Paymob has achieved notable success, becoming profitable in Egypt for the first time in the second quarter of 2024.

Revenue in Egypt has surged sixfold since mid-2022, driven by the company’s ability to cross-sell additional services to its expanding merchant base.

Despite its relatively recent entry into the UAE market, Paymob has already seen significant growth. Transaction volume in the Middle Eastern nation now matches that of its entire Egyptian business.

This rapid expansion can be attributed to the UAE’s higher purchasing power, stronger currency, and widespread adoption of digital payments.

This strategic move aims to bolster the growth of early-stage financial technology companies in Africa.

First Circle Capital, co-founded by Selma Ribica and Agnes Aistleitner Kisuule, is a specialized venture capital firm focused on insurtech, financial infrastructure, and climate fintech.

The fund’s portfolio includes 13 investments across seven African markets, showcasing its commitment to supporting innovative fintech solutions.

Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer at FSDAi Nyala Facility, expressed enthusiasm for backing the “remarkable female investors” leading First Circle Capital.

She highlighted the fund’s expertise in the fintech sector and its potential to catalyze further institutional investments.

With Africa’s fintech industry poised for exponential growth, First Circle Capital’s investment aligns with the continent’s increasing demand for accessible and affordable financial services.

The fund’s focus on underserved populations and SMEs is crucial for fostering economic development and social resilience.

Selma Ribica and Agnes Kisuule emphasized the importance of expanding financial services in Africa, noting that the majority of fintech funding has been concentrated in payments.

By investing in the next layer of financial products, First Circle Capital aims to empower individuals and SMEs across the continent.

The fund’s team, with offices in Kampala and Casablanca, brings a wealth of operational experience and a strong network to support portfolio companies.

First Circle Capital Africa Fund I is backed by FSDAi Nyala Facility, Axian Group, and several serial entrepreneurs and investors.