54 Collective leads AI startup's seed round
Aya Data has raised an oversubscribed $900,000 seed round.
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Aya Data, a B2B AI solutions provider covering the full AI lifecycle – from data collection and annotation to deployment and optimisation – has raised an oversubscribed $900,000 seed round, consisting of $650,000 in equity and $250,000 in debt.
The round was led by early-stage investor 54 Collective, with participation from prominent angel investors in the African tech ecosystem.
The funds will be used to continue scaling the venture’s AyaGrow and AyaSpeech products, developed specifically for African markets. AyaGrow is a crop and field monitoring solution that empowers commercial and smallholder farmers through AI-driven precision agriculture. AyaSpeech is an end-to-end speech-to-speech solution that allows businesses, consumers, and governments to interact in spoken, local African languages, unlocking access to and for underserved and previously excluded demographics who do not speak or write European languages.
“We are thrilled that 54 Collective and our angel investors have put their confidence in our vision for the future of African tech. Our commitment goes beyond just putting Africa on the global AI map; we’re dedicated to building local expertise that can leverage AI to tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges. By harnessing the power of AI, we aim to drive sustainable growth across Africa, creating innovative solutions that address unique local needs while fostering a new generation of African tech leaders,” says Ama Larbi-Siaw, Aya Data co-founder and COO.
“At 54 Collective, we are highly impressed by Aya Data’s strong traction, particularly their ability to secure early market validation from prominent corporate clients. Their agility and responsiveness to evolving market demands have positioned them well for continued success in the dynamic AI landscape. The leadership team’s proven track record in driving innovation, fostering sustainable growth, and enhancing performance aligns seamlessly with Aya Data’s mission. We are excited to support their future growth as a leader in AI across Africa,” commented Ahunna Ogunedo, investment manager at 54 Collective.
Aya Data’s model is to hire high-potential persons into low and medium-skill roles such as data collection, annotation, and processing, and transition them into high-skill technical roles like data engineering and data science through a proprietary development methodology.
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