Welcome to the third edition of EMEA Weekly's Startup Researcher. This week has been buzzing with thrilling updates across the region, from Northvolt's substantial green loan to Aramco's hefty $4 billion boost into its venture capital division. Not to mention, the debut of Accelerate Africa - Africa's answer to Y Combinator. Let's delve deeper and unpack these events.

Africa

Important News:

• Paystack, the fintech company, has rolled out a new functionality for its users in Ghana. The recently introduced "Transfer to bank account" feature enables businesses to conduct individual or bulk disbursements to any mobile wallet or bank account in the country.

• Amazon Prime Video is reportedly scaling down its operations in Africa.

• Vodafone has revealed a decade-long partnership with Microsoft to deliver generative AI, digital services, and cloud solutions to more than 300 million businesses and consumers in Africa and Europe.

• It has been reported that Kippa, a fintech startup based in Nigeria, has suffered a loss of ₦30 million due to internal fraud, specifically linked to its former agency banking product, Kippa Pay, which is no longer operational.

Top Funding Rounds:

• Axian Group has unveiled its strategic investment in Bosta, an innovative Egyptian startup that is transforming the delivery processing and logistics sector in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

• Zeal has raised $4 million in a funding round, with Raed Ventures, Cur8 Capital, and strategic angel investors leading the investment.

• Canza Finance secures $2.3 million in funding to obtain licenses from financial regulators across the African continent.

• The Kenyan climate-tech startup KOKO has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Rand Merchant Bank.

Notable Exits:

• Ezdehar, a company specializing in direct investment fund management, has secured a minority stake in Yodawy, a company operating in the medical technology sector. This acquisition is valued at $10 million.

• South African fintech company Ukheshe has successfully acquired full ownership of EFTCorp.

• Convergence Partners has reached an agreement with Alviva to purchase Datacentrix, a South African ICT solutions provider.

About Investors:

• Iyin Aboyeji, the founder of the venture capital firm Future Africa, alongside Mia von Koschitzky-Kimani, a general partner at the firm, has launched Accelerate Africa. A startup accelerator supported by a $750,000 grant from USAID.

• Seedstars Africa secured $10.5 million from the African Development Bank, just one week after receiving a commitment of $30 million from the European Investment Bank.

• The UNDP has announced a partnership with African countries to launch the Timbuktoo Initiative. This initiative aims to provide substantial capital to accelerate the growth of the African startup ecosystem. It plans to raise and allocate $1 billion to create 10 million job opportunities and transform the lives of 100 million people.

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Europe

Important News:

• Switzerland's SoftwareOne board has turned down the offer from private equity firm Bain Capital, which proposed a valuation of $3.5 billion.

• The UK government has initiated a "scale-up policy sprint" to further increase the count of domestically originated unicorns. This effort comes as the US attempts to attract UK founders to cross the Atlantic by offering billions in public funding, particularly for clean tech and hardware.

• Tech Nation, the startup organization in the UK, has introduced its first program since the cut in government funding. This new initiative will concentrate on supporting climate tech startups.

• The Dutch government took a notable stride in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) by unveiling its vision for generative AI.

• The startup SIRPLUS, dedicated to combating food waste, has filed for insolvency, citing its inability to secure funding and the difficulties posed by a challenging market environment as the primary reasons.

Top Funding Rounds:

• Northvolt, a Swedish battery manufacturer has successfully obtained a $5 billion loan to enhance its facility in northern Sweden. This marks the biggest green loan ever secured by a climate technology company in Europe as of now.

• Paris-based EV-charging startup Electra has raised a €304m Series B to expand its network of charging stations across Europe.

• Everphone, a Berlin-based startup focused on leasing and refurbishing mobile phones for businesses, has raised €270 million in its Series D funding round.

• Aira secures €145 million in Series B funding to expedite the clean energy revolution in European heating.

• CloudTalk, a sales call software startup headquartered in Bratislava has secured €26 million in a Series B round, the largest-ever funding round in Slovakia.

Notable Exits:

• Mytraffic acquires Geoblink, marking the beginning of a new era in location intelligence.

• Encompass acquires CoorpID, a Dutch startup, to bolster its Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions.

• Rayner Group has announced an agreement to acquire Swiss-based This AG, the manufacturer of Sophi phacoemulsification machines.

• Wifirst, a leading WiFi infrastructure operator for professionals, acquires Hotsplots, a major player in the WiFi market in Germany.

• INFICON has completed the acquisition of the entire asset portfolio of FabTime, a specialist in smart manufacturing software.

About Investors:

• Thema, a venture capital fund investor with a Pan-European focus, has officially launched its venture fund platform. This platform aims to offer support and provide capital for first-time fund managers, facilitating the establishment of their own venture capital businesses.

• Delin Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, has successfully concluded a new fund worth £46 million, focusing on startups in the future of work, education, and learning sectors across Europe. Beyond direct investments in tech and life sciences startups, Delin Ventures has also acted as a limited partner (LP), supporting VC funds like Stride and LocalGlobe.

• Hanna Loikkanen has been appointed as Finnfund's Chief Investment Officer. Finnfund is a Finnish development financier and impact investor.

• Golden Egg Check (GEC), a Dutch analyst startup has revealed the successful raising of €2.5 million for its venture capital fund, GEC Capital I.

• EIT InnoEnergy and Demete, have jointly announced the establishment of a €500 million fund dedicated to fostering the development of a robust and diverse supply chain for battery raw materials in Europe.

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Middle East

Top Funding Rounds:

• Silkhaus, a short-term rentals startup has secured a pre-Series A financing round in the multi-million range from Partners for Growth. This agreement also provides Silkhaus access to an additional multi-million dollar credit line to support its expansion plans.

• G42 the leading UAE-based technology group has revealed its investment in Analog, a new edge computing company launched in the Davos forum last year.

• Tumodo, a business travel platform established in 2023, has declared the successful completion of a $35 million pre-seed funding round, co-led by angel investors with a focus on the MENA region.

Notable Exits:

• Droobi Health, a health-tech company based in Qatar, has joined forces with Smit.fit, a digital healthcare provider based in India, to create a new entity named DroobiSmit.

About Investors:

• Aramco has decided to inject an extra $4 billion into its worldwide venture capital subsidiary, Aramco Ventures. This move will more than double the initial capital assigned to Aramco Ventures, raising its total investment commitment from $3 billion to $7 billion.

Premium Insights:

Closing the third edition of EMEA Weekly's Startup Researcher, we conclude another week of exploration into the dynamic world of startups in the region. As we eagerly anticipate the future, we appreciate your continued engagement. Stay tuned for more captivating stories, insightful analyses, and exclusive features in our upcoming editions. Thank you for being a part of our community, and here's to the ongoing journey of discovery and innovation. Until next week, happy reading and stay inspired!