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. PE firm makes further investment in Tanzania’s dairy sector
DOB Equity, a Dutch family-backed impact investor in East Africa, has made a further investment in Tanga Fresh, the biggest dairy processor in Tanzania.
This additional investment will help Tanga Fresh expand its production in the long-life milk market. There has been an increasing trend of East African consumers moving from fresh milk to long-life milk, presenting a major potential for market growth.
2. South Africa: DataProphet raises $6m funding round, led by Knife Capital
DataProphet has raised a $6 million series-A funding round led by Knife Capital, joined by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) and Norican Group, a leading foundry engineering and equipment company. Two years ago, DataProphet received venture capital funding from Knife Capital to boost its innovation capabilities.
Founded in Cape Town in 2014, DataProphet is a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) that enables manufacturers to step towards autonomous manufacturing. Its AI-as-a-service offering proactively prescribes changes to plant control plans to continuously optimise production without the expert human analysis that is typically required.
3. Zebu’s Africa Food Security Fund backs South African company
Zebu Investment Partners, through its sophomore fund, the Africa Food Security (AFS) Fund, has successfully closed its investment in South African agtech company IQ Logistica (IQL). IQL is the owner and developer of a cloud-based platform used to collect, collate, and aggregate data for the purposes of tracing agricultural outputs and related key data as these progress through the value chain.
The AFS Fund focuses on food production and processing across Africa, underpinned by the assertion of the positive impact which investing in the agricultural value chain can have for food security. This investment represents the fund’s first foray into the agtech sector.
4. CDC Group announces Miro Forestry fundraising close
CDC Group, the UK’s publicly owned impact investor, has announced a further $12 million commitment to Miro Forestry, a sustainable forestry and timber business with plantations in Ghana and Sierra Leone. This fundraising round, which includes participation from four other investors, has successfully raised a total of $48 million at close.
This latest investment by CDC builds on an existing commitment which has supported Miro in planting about 17,000 hectares (ha) of FSC approved eucalyptus, teak and acacia plantations, across Ghana and Sierra Leone. CDC’s latest commitment will facilitate Miro Forestry’s plans to reach c.25,000 ha within the next five years, placing the business on track to become the largest sustainable integrated plantation forestry business in West Africa.
5. SparkMeter raises $12m from Clean Energy Ventures, Goodwell, others
SparkMeter, a provider of grid management services, equipment, and software solutions that increase access to reliable electricity in underserved communities across Africa, Asia and the Americas, has announced the closing of a $12 million series A financing. The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, alongside Goodwell Investments, in partnership with Alitheia Capital, Total Energy Ventures, and other notable investors. The latest funding will allow SparkMeter to launch its new digital solutions offering, connecting smart grid data insights to business operations for large electricity distribution utilities in emerging markets.
SparkMeter has also received funding from Lateral Capital, Schmidt Family Foundation, Incite Capital, Powerhouse Fund, Shell Foundation, Factor[e], The E8 Fund, and other investors.
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