| Less than a year after securing a record seed funding round, Nigerian genomics startup, 54Gene has closed $15 million in Series A funding. The startup will invest the new round in more research on human genetics, bioinformatics, preclinical, clinical and commercial programs. 54Gene has built a biobank of pan-African DNA to provide a reliable source of genetic data on Africans. The new round was led by Adjuvant Capital, a US firm backed by the International Finance Corporation, Novartis, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Other participants in the round include Raba Capital, V8 Capital, Ingressive Capital and a number of follow-on investors.
The round is significant for a number of reasons. First, 54Gene’s announcement has come in the middle of a global pandemic, a very uncertain period for funding activity, although the crisis has shined the spotlight on the health sector. Secondly, the amount it raised was previously only commonplace for fintech, hardly for any other sector. Last April, when we released our industry report about the Nigerian health tech sector, the highest round we recorded was a $2 million round by an EMR startup. Over the past year, a lot has changed. Million-dollar raises are becoming more common in the health tech sector. Finally, the problem the startup is attempting to solve, providing medical researchers with a rich trove of DNA data from people of African ancestry, is crucial for drug development and disease detection. |
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Kenya’s Central Bank has blocked rogue and unregulated digital lenders from accessing the country’s credit reference bureaus (CRBs). This means that the affected lenders can no longer submit credit information on defaulting borrowers to CRBs. This is part of the government’s ongoing war against predatory lending and its efforts to regulate digital lenders. The Kenyan government has also announced in response to COVID-19 that borrowers who have non-performing loans from April 1st until September 2020 cannot be backlisted on the CRBs.
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| As Coronavirus cases continue to grow in Africa, Zikoko, our Sister publication under Big Cabal Media, has put together a microsite — coronafacts.africa — that provides accurate information and free downloadable resources for the general public to help understand and keep up with the Coronavirus pandemic. Visit https://www.coronafacts.africa/ to check it out. |
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As part of our work to provide insight and thoughtful guidance to the industry in this tough and unprecedented period, TechCabal is hosting a short series of virtual interviews on the theme of “Building in Tough Times.”
The series will feature experienced founders, investors and other major stakeholders. The first edition will hold on Friday, April 17 at 11 am with serial entrepreneur, Sim Shagaya, CEO, uLesson. Limited slots are available. Click here to register. |
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In Africa, where millions of people rely on day-to-day activities to feed and poverty levels are bound to skyrocket as a result of global restrictions on movement, concerns are growing about food security in the coming months. There has been an increase in freight costs in the last few weeks due to a shortage of containers and the reduction in the frequency of commercial flights. Majority of fresh produce exports depend on commercial flights and growers are now having to seek alternative, more indirect and more expensive routes to export their produce. In this article, Kay examines how agritech entrepreneurs are working to sustain the continent’s food supply in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant global lockdown.
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| Egyptian startup Eventtus has raised an undisclosed amount to enable it to launch a digital events platform. The startup raised the money in response to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the events industry. Eventtus is developing a virtual eventing platform that will help event organisers adjust to the new realities. Hala Ventures, Algebra Ventures and DAAL VC were the participating investors in the round. Founded in 2012 by Mai Medhat and Nihal Fares, Eventtus is an-all-in-one platform for events ticketing, event management and apps for events. |
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| Renewable energy firm, Rensource has launched Merchlist.co, an e-commerce platform to help SMEs connect to their buyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers will be able to buy directly from SMEs as well as discover service providers on the platform. Merchlist is in beta stage and is only accepting a limited number of orders per day. It is currently working with partners including Grocery Bazaar, Grand Square, Rx Pharmacy, Food Jaar, and The Meat Shop. Rensource builds and operates solar-powered micro-utilities that provide electricity to commercial community structures, such as markets where SMEs are typically clustered. |
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