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. Apis Growth Fund I fully exits position in Sun King
Apis Growth Fund I, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners, has fully exited its remaining position in off-grid solar energy company Sun King, formerly Greenlight Planet. This follows the announcement on 27 April 2022, in which the fund divested a partial stake in the company.
Sun King has announced a $70 million series D extension capital raise, with the investment round being led by Leapfrog. As part of this transaction, the fund divested its remaining stake in the company.
The fund initially invested in Greenlight Planet/Sun King in 2017.
2. Nigeria: Follow on investment in hibiscus exporter AgroEknor
Aruwa Capital Management, an early-stage growth equity fund investing in Nigeria and Ghana, announced a follow-on investment into AgroEknor International, a hibiscus flower exporter and wellness brand.
In November 2021, Aruwa made an initial investment into the company, which was utilised to accelerate AgroEknor’s growth by procuring products and exporting large volumes of hibiscus flowers to meet the demands of clients in Asia, Europe and North America. The company has since launched its Farmers Education and Empowerment Project (FEEP), which aims to help farmers in Northern Nigeria upgrade their farming practices and increase their farming yields, while serving as a sustainable source for the company’s product. To date, over 2,000 farmers have been enrolled with many more seeking to be enrolled.
3. AfricInvest exits Tunisian AI company InstaDeep
AfricInvest, a private equity firm, has announced that it is exiting its investment in InstaDeep, a technology company based in Tunisia that specialises in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Biotech SE, a company based in Germany, will be acquiring 100% of the shares of InstaDeep.
AfricInvest had been invested in InstaDeep since April 2019, leading the Series A funding round and later adding a follow-on investment.
The transaction includes a total consideration of approximately £362 million in cash and BioNTech shares, as well as potential performance-based future milestone payments of up to £200 million.
4. FMO approves investment in Partech fund
The Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, FMO has approved a €25 million investment in the Partech Africa Fund II.
The fund intends to focus on early-stage funding, providing €1 million to €15 million initial tickets to talented African teams that are using tech to address large emerging market opportunities.
Partech Africa Fund II is a generalist tech fund with target industries ranging from fintech to online and mobile consumer services, as well as mobility, supply chain services and digitisation of the informal economy.
5. Ethiopian tech talent marketplace lands investment from Japanese VC
Gebeya Inc., the SaaS-enabled, pan-African marketplace, announced a new investment from Inclusion Japan. The Tokyo-based firm provides VC funding for startups. The new investment aims to drive growth and innovation for Gebeya’s continuous expansion.
The undisclosed strategic investment will be used to expand Gebeya from a single two-sided tech talent marketplace, to a provisioner of marketplaces under a marketplace-as-a-service model. The startup will share its expertise in supplying vetted gig workers to hundreds of entrepreneurs across Africa, who seek to launch their own marketplaces. They will benefit from the ability to quickly get their businesses online, creating thousands of gig economy jobs per marketplace, across the continent.