The 5 most popular stories on Africa Private Equity News this week
Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories this week on Africa Private Equity News.
1. Kenya: Impact fund participates in Twiga’s $50m fundraise
OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I, the first global emerging markets impact fund in Finland, has invested $3 million in Kenyan headquartered B2B e-commerce food distribution platform Twiga. OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I joins a group of investors, led by Creadev, in a financing package totalling $50 million.
Twiga operates a B2B e-commerce system to simplify the supply chain between fresh food producers, FMCG manufacturers and retailers. This removes the need for many intermediaries, significantly lowering the cost of food for consumers.
2. Egypt: Grocery delivery platform raises $26m
Breadfast, an Egypt based grocery delivery platform, has secured $26 million in a series A round, co-led by Vostok New Ventures and Endure Capital. The round included participation from JAM Fund, YC Continuity Fund, Shorooq Partners, 4DX Ventures and Flexport.
This investment round brings Breadfast’s total investment to date to more than $33 million since it launched in 2017 and one of the largest in the region so far in 2021. The new capital raised will fuel Breadfast’s rapid expansion into eight new cities across Egypt, scale the technology behind its ‘pocket supermarket’ app, and grow its team as it gears up to expand its extensive grocery delivery service across sub-Saharan Africa.
3. Electric vehicle manufacturer secures $7.5m funding
Opibus, an electric vehicle manufacturer, has raised $7.5 million in funding led by Silicon Valley fund At One Ventures, further supported by Factor[e] Ventures and Ambo Ventures.
Opibus, which has existing customers across six countries in Africa, is a provider of electric vehicles designed and manufactured locally. Its vision is to create reliable and cost effective products designed for the pan-African mass-market. The company has a unique approach to both heavy electric vehicles and electric motorcycles. The proprietary powertrain enables existing heavy commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks to be converted to electric – thereby reducing cost, resource use and giving the vehicles a second life. The motorcycle is fully designed and tailored for the local use case, with a robust frame and dual swappable battery packs.
The closed fundraising consists of $5 million in equity and $2.5 million in additional grants, totaling to $7.5 million. The investments will be used to prepare for scale up and mass manufacturing starting 2022.
4. InfraCo Africa and Helios are establishing a new investment vehicle
InfraCo Africa and Helios Investment Partners are working together to establish a pan-African investment vehicle: Climate, Energy Access and Resilience (CLEAR). CLEAR will fund climate-aligned infrastructure and growth businesses whilst also working towards achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The initiative will address the growing demand from domestic and international investors for sustainable investment opportunities that can help to close the infrastructure and productivity gap in Africa which would support communities that are susceptible to the impacts of climate change.
5. LP considers $25m investment in Egypt focused SME fund
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering an equity investment of up to $25 million in Ezdehar Fund II. The fund has a target size of $150 million.
The fund will seek to achieve long-term capital growth by making equity and equity-related investments in Egyptian small and mid-sized companies and will be managed by Ezdehar B.V.
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