Big Cabal Media raises $2.3m funding
Big Cabal Media (BCM), a pan-African media company headquartered in Nigeria, has announced the close of its seed series fundraising round at $2.3 million, led by MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Luminate, Unicorn Group, Future Africa and a range of angel investors. BCM has previously raised about $620,000 in angel and pre-seed funding between 2016 and 2020.
Known for its online platforms, TechCabal and Zikoko, as well as its content studio and digital consultancy arms, the new raise will allow BCM to grow its audiences and build out new technology products.
Speaking on the business opportunity and this funding round, CEO Tomiwa Aladekomo says, “Africa is seeing explosive growth across its tech industries, and content is a critical component of that. Today, Big Cabal Media leads the most engaging conversations around innovation, entrepreneurship, culture, and all that matter to a dynamic, growing continent. Our publications, TechCabal and Zikoko are some of the most exciting digital media brands anywhere in Africa, and we’ve shown real capacity for business innovation in growing the business and launching new units like Cabal Creative and TC Insights. We’re thrilled to have new funding and partners who recognise the opportunity to build a truly global media and technology operation from Africa. This round will allow us to invest deeply in technology products and our own tech stack, video production arm, and growing our reach across and beyond the continent.”
With media business models in flux globally, Big Cabal is as focused on business innovation as it is on content and technology. Tomiwa notes that “We’ve always seen advertising as a critical but insufficient revenue basis for a successful media business. Our thesis is that we can build high-engagement media brands invaluable niche spaces, and build products and services – like Tech Women Lagos and Jollof Road – to serve audiences, advertisers and other partners. Part of what this investment will fund is the development of an evolved version of Zikoko Memes, a Giphy-like product focused on African memes, gifs and images, that we first launched in 2020 and has shown great promise.”
“We’re proud to enter this chapter with Big Cabal Media, as we fully believe in its massive potential for further success, scale and global impact,” said Marlon Nichols, co-founder and managing general partner of MaC Venture Capital, the lead investors. “Investing in Africa’s booming digital media sector aligns perfectly with MaC’s mission of supporting exceptional entrepreneurs building valuable technology companies that leverage shifts in cultural trends and behaviours. I have no doubt that BCM will seize this unique opportunity to continue leading conversations in culture and helping digital consumers access the information that matters most to them.”
Dr. Akintoye Akindele, chairman of Unicorn Group, follow-on investors in the round said, “Since inception, Big Cabal has created original content that engages and resonates with audiences. This is reflected in its position as one of the best recognised African digital media brands globally. This seed series raise led by MaC Venture Capital positions the company to scale across the continent, deepen its technology stack, and diversify its brand and product offering to cater to Africa’s youthful and growing digital natives. We are excited by this next phase in Big Cabal’s growth.”