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. Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures lands new investor
Toyota Tsusho Corporation announced its commitment to invest in Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), which is managed by Verod-Kepple Africa Partners (VKAP). This investment aims at supporting start-ups and pursuing opportunities for business synergies with Toyota Tsusho Group in Africa.
VKAV is the first fund launched by VKAP, which is a joint venture between private equity firm Verod Capital Management and venture capital investor Kepple Africa Ventures. VKAV plans to make investments of $100 million in the five years, from 2022 to 2026, in scalable, tech-enabled, post-revenue businesses bringing about transformative change by addressing difficult challenges across various industries on the continent.
2. SPE exits to Sango Capital
SPE Capital Partners signed an agreement to sell a controlling stake in Sotipapier, the leading paper packaging manufacturer in Tunisia, to Sango Capital.
In addition to acquiring a majority stake in Sotipapier, Sango Capital plans to proceed to a tender offer in accordance with regulations in force. This agreement remains subject to the obtention of the required authorisations from the competent authorities.
Sotipapier was founded in 1981 and is the leading paper packaging manufacturer in Tunisia. The company manufactures and sells Kraft paper, test liner and fluting paper, mainly serving the cement and cardboard manufacturing sectors.
3. Google’s Africa Investment Fund backs Lori Systems
Lori Systems, the e-logistics company digitising haulage and providing shippers with solutions to efficiently manage their cargo and transporters, announced an investment from Google’s Africa Investment Fund.
This new investment is the third from Google’s $50 million Africa Investment Fund, which CEO Sundar Pichai announced in October 2021. It comes off the back of the launch of Google’s first product development centre on the continent, in Nairobi, Kenya, the city where Lori Systems first launched.
4. Nigeria: TLcom leads Pastel’s $5.5m seed round
Nigerian business management solution provider Pastel has closed a $5.5 million seed funding round, led by TLcom Capital, with participation from other venture capital firms like GFC, Golden Palm, DFS Labs, Ulu Ventures, Plug and Play, Soma Cap and other Silicon Valley investors.
Pastel started as a group of Stanford graduate students using design thinking strategies to create solutions that African business owners are willing to pay for. The company’s founders met in graduate school at Stanford University in California and quickly bonded over their passion to solve pain points for African businesses as they go about their day to day activities. This passion birthed the Sabi bookkeeping app, the company’s flagship product.
5. Aruwa Capital backs cold storage solutions company
Koolboks, the cooling company providing accessible cold storage solutions to businesses across Africa, has closed a $2.5 million seed funding round, led by Aruwa Capital Management and with participation from Acumen, Blue Earth Capital, All On, GSMA and other investors. This brings the company’s total investment to date to $3.5 million. Koolboks will deploy the capital to scale its expansion across Nigeria, including building its team to support its growing B2C business and the construction of a local assembly facility in the country. The company also opened an affiliate office in Kenya in July 2022.
Founded in 2018 in France, Koolboks combines Africa’s abundant supply of the sun with water to create a solution that is able to generate refrigeration for up to four days in the absence of power and sunlight. Through efficiently harnessing natural resources, Koolboks has made it affordable to access continuous refrigeration by integrating a pay-as-you-go technology that enables individuals and small businesses to pay as low as 10 US dollars a month to own an off-grid solar refrigerator. The Koolboks unit works as a refrigerator, freezer, or lighting for households and shops. It also comes with 2 LED lighting bulbs and USB ports for charging mobile phones – making the product invaluable to users in off-grid areas. Koolboks currently sells across 16 countries, 13 of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
Get the most from the Africa Private Equity News app by creating a free membership account. Go to the app home screen, tap the round orange icon in the top-right of your screen and follow the prompts.