Kwik Delivery has in the space of five days launched what observers see as highly innovative apps to take its delivery service to the next level. The logistics company launched two plugins with the objective of allowing large and small merchants to offer Kwik Delivery’s on-demand, just-in-time delivery service to all their customers. On March 29th, 2021 Kwik Delivery released Magento Version 1.0 of the Kwik Delivery plugin. Four days earlier, it had released the version 2.0 of its WooCommerce plugin (version 2.0) for merchants and eCommerce businesses.
Kwik Delivery
Both plugins were developed to allow large and small merchants to offer Kwik Delivery’s on-demand, just-in-time delivery service to all their customers. This eases the stress/need of constantly arranging for delivery or worrying about on-time delivery once purchases are made. Kwik platform delivers within 2 hours of order placement in Lagos and within 1 hour in Abuja.
“With only a few clicks, merchants and eCommerce businesses can provide quick, efficient, and affordable delivery services to their customers after purchases,” says Romain POIROT-LELLIG, Founder & CEO of Kwik Delivery. “That ease of business and the convenience it affords merchants are what Kwik Delivery brings to the commerce in Africa through this plugin.”
This new version of the plugin (both for WooCommerce and for Magento) has the following new and exciting features: Instant Notification – Merchants can now get instant notifications on their dashboards when an order is placed on their websites. This makes it faster to assign orders to a rider.
Cash on Delivery payment option: Merchants now have the option to let customers pay on delivery after purchase. Kwik Delivery would collect the cash on behalf of the merchant and remit within 24 hours.
The Magento version of the Kwik Delivery plugin is a new addition to the growing list of platforms with FREE Kwik Delivery plugin. Other platforms include; WordPress/WooCommerce, Shopify and Prestashop.
Kwik Delivery plugin was first released on September 14th, 2020, becoming the first-ever African last-mile WooCommerce delivery plugin. The statement made by Olivier DECROCK, Chief Technology Officer at Kwik Delivery at the first release, “We will continue to innovate . . .” proves true today as the plugin continues to improve and expand across platforms. “We are moving at a rapid pace to provide the delivery value so important to Africa’s eCommerce framework,” says Olivier DECROCK on the recent developments. “More and more online merchants are springing up and more businesses are going virtual. It is our responsibility to create that ease of logistics necessary for the growth and sustenance of eCommerce in Africa. The plugins we’ve released over the months is just one step in that direction.”
Kwik Delivery is an on-demand, last-mile delivery platform that connects African businesses to independent delivery riders. Kwik Delivery is the trading name of Africa Delivery Technologies SAS. The mobile app is available on iOS and Android. Since its launch in 2019, Kwik Delivery has remained committed to fostering commerce across Africa through outstanding delivery technology. Updating the WooCommerce plugin is a show of such commitment and drive for innovation towards enhancing commerce in Africa.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Kenya has announced it joined The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business as a full member of the 27-year-old organization, committed to accelerating Canada-Africa trade and investment. A move observers say would open opportunities towards realizing Canadian trade and investment in Kenya. The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business is an independent, not-for-profit organization with strong working links with both Canadian and African businesses and governments. Leading CEOs and Heads of State – alongside investors, entrepreneurs and policy-makers – are among the hundreds of speakers and tens of thousands of delegates to in-person and virtual events.
‘We are excited by this new partnership with the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. We look forward to benefiting from the expertise and knowledge of over a quarter a century promoting trade and investment between Canada and Africa,’ underscored Mr. Stephen Lorete, the Charge d’Affaires at the Kenya High Commission in Ottawa.
‘Kenya is a leading and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with many attractive trade and investment opportunities, across many sectors, and we invite the Chamber’s membership and the general Canadian business community to take advantage.’
A packed program of action immediately accompanies the Republic of Kenya’s accession to The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. Over the next two months three (3) major events are scheduled to take place. These are: The Second Session of the Binational Commission meeting between Kenya and Canada with a strong trade and investment component taking place in Nairobi, Kenya between 13th-15th April 2021.
An upcoming mid-April announcement on a historic MoU with The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business and representatives of Kenya’s private sector – following a seminar held last year in Nairobi with Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng and companies from both countries. A Virtual Trade Mission from Canada to Kenya in the second half of May 2021.
‘Apart from my country of birth, there is no other nation on the continent in which I have spent more time than in the incredible country of Kenya,’ says Garreth Bloor, President of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business.
‘Today we are honoured to welcome a leading economy, composed of some of the world’s top business leaders. The opportunities are immense and work toward realizing Canadian trade and investment in Kenya is already well-underway.’
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
In 2016, Mahmoud Nouh abandoned his ship building venture barely a year into it, and even after raising $300k in just two months of operations. He was headed for SWVL, a bus-booking startup his friend Mostafa Kandil had just started. At that time, SWVL had industry giants, Careem and Uber to confront. Uber alone had more than 40,000 Egyptian drivers working on the platform every month, and new drivers joining up at the rate of 2,000 a week. Somewhere else far away, Ahmed Sabbah, owner of Goyastores, which he had tilled hard at for more than two years, was also about leaving, to join SWVL as Chief Technology Officer.
Yet, four years after taking the risk to join SWVL, both men still have one strong thing in common: quitting even SWVL and moving on.
“Mahmoud has been a major pillar in the company since day one,” SWVL noted in a farewell statement on Nouh in October, 2019. “His contributions to building SWVL from being a small startup in a tiny room to a major player in the transportation scene are countless. He is the mastermind behind building SWVL’s bus fleet and its operations.”
For Sabbah, it was such an emotional moment to leave.
“Yet.. everything in life has a beginning and an end and after four thrilling years, my SWVL ride is ending,” Sabbah wrote in a social media post.
“The SWVL journey has pushed me, and many of us, to be better than we ever thought possible — from challenging us with intense hard work and executing at breakneck speed to tapping into our grit and resilience,” he said.
Even though it is arguably expected that founders would, one day, seek exit from the startups they founded, it is important to comprehensively understand how most African founders, of both existing and non-existing startups, have handled this point in their lives.
SWVL’s three co-founders: L-R -Mostafa Kandil, Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Sabbah
Finding A Space On The Board
One recurring thing most African startup founders have done when it comes to exiting startups they founded is to find a space on the startups’ boards of directors.
This is usually the case where moving away from a startup entirely may be counterproductive, especially if the exiting founder previously oversaw the technical or other key departments of the startup, and there have not been adequate succession plans in place to absorb the impact of any exit.
Also, where there is uncertainty as to how the remaining percentage of the shares held by the founder may vest, especially if the founder quits before his or her shares in the company become fully vested, moving to the board may become an option.
Migrating to the board gives founders the chance to assist startups in absorbing the impact of their exit as well as re-negotiate their unvested shares.
Being part of the board, whether in an executive or non-executive director capacity, will also give founders the time to explore other opportunities as there is no limit to the number of companies they can be part of as directors, provided the multi-roles would not hamper the performance of their roles for the startups and that they have negotiated good deals in their contracts of directorship with the startups.
Notable African CEOs have taken the route of board membership upon exit from the startups they founded.
One founder whose exit via the board is worthy of mention is Grant Brooke, former CEO of Twiga Foods, who ran the Nairobi-based agritech startup for 6 years before handing over to Peter Njonjo, who has years of corporate experience, including a 21 year stint at Coca Cola Company where he led the multinational’s West and Central Africa business unit as President.
Upon resignation as CEO of Twiga Foods in 2020, Brooke moved to the board of the startup, and has remained there since then.
The board membership has allowed him to found, in 2020, another startup, Shara, which is building tools for SMEs in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
This, he would not have been able to do if he were still the CEO of Twiga Foods.
“If my leadership was the period in which Twiga was proving a point that there’s a better way to build food safe and secure markets, Peter’s leadership will be about institutionalizing this way of doing business and scaling it. Peter’s experience in building efficient supply chains and last-mile distribution in over 33 African countries makes him uniquely suited to lead us,” said Grant Brooke at the time he left.
In essence, exiting as a founder via the board may also be a way of giving way for more experienced hands to drive a startup to the next stage.
Every founder wants to feel needed by their company. So there is one thing they just don't want to let go of. Usually the thing they are best at. But often, a specialist will be better than them, and it's better that they oversee that thing.
The best thing Marie Lora-Mungai, former CEO of Buni.tv could do when her startup was acquired by Trace Tv in 2016 was to fall back to Restless Global, a strategic advisory and content development company specialized in the African entertainment space, which she had founded a year before Buni.tv’s acquisition, in 2015.
Similar strategy was used by former Chief Operating Officer of Nigeria’s Jobberman, Olalekan Olude, when he resigned his position with the startup in 2017.
Olude moved that same year to Rovedana, a staffing and payroll financing services platform for SMEs in Nigeria which he had previously founded, and later to CicoServe Payments, a grassroots bank in Nigeria.
Most former CEOs and founders of African startups have equally explored the route of venture capital and angel investing, immediately after quitting their startups.
This is the case of Mark Forrester, former co-founder of WooCommerce, a South African startup that was sold in 2015 to web development company Automattic (WordPress) in a deal estimated to be worth over $30 million.
Forrester has since moved on to become an investor, investing in startups such as IoT security and automation platform Sentian; mobile creativity app Over; community-based security solution Jonga; and online grocery delivery service Yebo Fresh.
No matter what route exiting African founders took, one thread almost always runs through: they already have wall chests of resources and well-drawn-out plans about their next moves.
A majority of them ended up proceeding to found new companies as they had promised in their farewell speeches; with some moving on to entirely different endeavours.
However, it is not often easy for co-founders whose exits were forced, such as in cases of outright dismissal or resignation on the ground of gross misconduct, to move on from their exits.
A year after Kennedy Nganga — the technical person once in charge at Safi Analytics (a Kenya-based smart metering startup) — was asked to go, by foreign co-founders Lauren DunfordandWeston McBride, all appears not be well for the young man, even though he has since moved on to Techpreneur School, a platform that facilitates training and mentoring of upcoming entrepreneurs by experienced ones.
#StartupbillKE#businessnow I only hope this bill will help stem the culture of exploitation and technology theft from local innovators. Still out here fighting for justice about this issue. https://t.co/MoyHGtKqF4
Similar fate seems to have also touched African founders asked to go on grounds of fraud or sexual misconduct.
Ever since Anthony Kariuki, former CEO of the Nairobi-based fintech startup Alternative Circle was asked to leave the startup in 2017 — after barely a one-year stint as CEO— on grounds of sexual misconduct allegations, he has disappeared completely from limelight.
This is also the case for Daudi Were of another Kenyan startup, Ushahidi, who was asked to go in 2017 after nearly a ten-year stint as CEO.
The best way of explaining the after-effects of such disappearances forced by dismissal or crime allegations is that the affected founders were literally caught off-guard and had never, maybe, thought of leaving their startups soon.
In light of that, it is therefore imperative for startup founders to design solid personal succession plans from the outset of their participation in startups.
A good succession plan should cover all the possible permutations of their lives on the startups.
But then, a well-intentioned approach, aimed at first assisting the startup to fulfil its vision and mission should always be preferred, as most times beginning with ulterior motives in mind has, almost always, killed so many startup teams — and startups themselves — around the globe.
Moving In-House Under A Holding Company Structure
This is the second option — apart from moving to the board — often explored by African founders whose startups were acquired.
In most cases, this is enabled by a provision in the acquisition agreement that allows the founder to become automatically employed in a new role at the acquiring company upon acquisition.
The agreement may allow the founder to exit after some time, usually after the acquired startup has properly settled into the acquiring company.
This path has been hugely explored by most South African founders.
Hannes Van Rensburg, former CEO of South African startup, Fundamo City — which was bought by credit card company Visa in 2011 for $110 million — moved over to become Senior Vice President, Visa from 2011 to 2014.
Same for Chris Pinkham, former CEO of Nimbula — which was acquired in 2013 by software titan, Oracle for $110 million. Pinkham went on to Oracle as Senior Vice President, Cloud Product Development from 2013 to 2014.
S/N
NAME OF STARTUP FOUNDER/ BASE COUNTRY OF OPERATIONS
STARTUP/ROLE AT STARTUP
YEAR JOINED STARTUP
YEAR OF EXIT
NATURE AND REASONS FOR EXIT
MAJOR ACTION AFTER EXIT
1
Mahmoud Nouh (Egypt)
SWVL/Chief Operating Officer
2017
2019
Resignation. Reasons: For personal reasons.
Founded in 2020 Capiter, a B2B marketplace that brings together FMCGs, wholesalers, and merchants on one platform.
2
Ahmed Sabbah (Egypt)
SWVL/Chief Technology Officer
2017
2020
Resignation. Reasons: To start a consumer fintech.
Left to start a consumer fintech, which is yet to be launched.
3
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji (Nigeria)
Flutterwave/CEO
2016
2018
Resignation. Reasons: Personal and family reasons.
Moved on to found a community investment firm Future Africa,
4
Tonjé Bakang (Cameroon)
Afrostream/CEO
2014
2017
Termination due to liquidation. Reasons: Startup failure.
Proceeded to become a university lecturer at France’s Sciences Po. Seed investor in SpaceFill, Shipfix, among many others.
5
Barrett Nash (Rwanda)
CanGo(CEO)
2014
2020
Termination due to liquidation. Reasons: Startup failure.
Co-founder/CEO since March 2020 at InfiniteUp, a startup that is digitizing MSMEs across sub-Saharan Africa.
6
Tricia Martinez (South Africa)
Wala/CEO
2014
2020
Termination due to liquidation Reasons: Startup failure.
Proceeded to work for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office as a policy fellow since 2020.
7
Etop Ikpe (Nigeria)
Cars45/CEO
2016
2020
Resignation. Reasons: Dispute over startup’s equity structure.
Proceeded to found Autochek, a car listing platform in 2020 as the CEO.
8
Abdulhamid Hassan (Nigeria)
OyaPay/CEO
2017
2019
Termination due to liquidation. Reasons: Startup failure.
Proceeded to Paystack as Product Manager. Left Paystack to found Voyance and later to co-found a Y Combinator-backed fintech API startup, Mono in 2020.
9
Adewale Yusuf (Nigeria)
Techpoint/CEO
2015
2020
Resignation. Reasons: To launch a new venture.
Proceeded to co-found TalentQL, a tech talent-hiring platform.
10
Sim Shagaya (Nigeria)
Konga/CEO
2012
2016
Resignation. Reasons: Became Chairman of Konga’s Board of Directors.
Proceeded to found uLesson, an edtech startup in 2019.
11
Bolaji Akinboro (Nigeria)
Cellulant/Co-CEO
2004
2020
Resignation. Reasons: Allegations for financial impropriety.
No major move announced, but already a Chairman of the Board of Directors at Voriancorelli, a B2B marketplace company since 2020.
12
Ayodeji Adewunmi (Nigeria)
Jobberman/CEO
2009
2019
Resignation Reasons: to pursue a new career in venture investing.
Proceeded to GOKADA as co-CEO; Left Gokada in 2019 for Kudy Financials, Luxembourg as COO since 2020.
13
Kola Aina (Nigeria)
Ventures Platform Hub/Managing Partner
2016
2019
Resignation. Reasons: Moved to the Board.
Proceeded to get on the board of other companies, including that of Ventures Platform.
Proceeded to found Rovedana, staffing and payroll financing services platform for SMEs in Nigeria in 2017; and CicoServe Payments, a grassroots bank for in Nigeria.
16
Nico Stern (South Africa)
IoT.nxt
2015
2021
Resignation. Reasons: There were some suggestions in IoT.nxt’s statement that IoT.nxt’s closer integration with its parents had had at least a partial role in Steyn’s resignation.
No major move reported yet. Stern will however remain a shareholder and board director.
17
Manuel Koser (South Africa)
Zando/CEO
2012
2013
Resignation. Reasons: to co-found Silvertree Capital, a “company builder and venture investor” in African startups.
Co-Founder & Managing Director at Silvertree Holdings, an investment company since 2013
18
Robert Paddock (South Africa)
GetSmarter/CEO
2007
2018
Exit by acquisition. Reason: GetSmarter was sold to US edtech company 2U in 2017 (announced in May) for $103-million plus $20-million in cash. Paddock
Proceeded to found Valenture Institute, an e-learning platform in 2019.
19
Paul McEwan (South Africa)
Kapa Biosystems/Chief Scientific Officer
2006
2016
Exit by acquisition. Reason: The startup was sold to Swiss medical company Roche in 2015 for $445-million.
Proceeded to Roche as the Vice President, Life Cycle Leader, Sample Preparation from 2016 to 2018. Left Roche in 2018. Became an angel investor in Life Science Angels since 2019.
20
Hannes Van Rensburg (South Africa)
Fundamo City/CEO
1999
2011
Exit by acquisition. Reason: Fundamo was bought by credit card company Visa in 2011 for $110 million.
Exit by acquisition. Reasons: Nimbula was acquired in 2013 by software titan, Oracle for $110 million.
Proceeded to Oracle as Senior Vice President, Cloud Product Development from 2013 to 2014; Worked at Twitter as VP Engineering from 2015 to 2017. Co-founded Sailing Umoya since 2020.
22
Vinny Lingham (South Africa)
Gyft
2012
2015
Exit by acquisition. Reasons: Gyft was sold in 2014 to global payment technology solution company FirstData for “above $54-million” according to Lingham.
Proceeded to First Data Corporation as Senior Vice President Product Development from 2014 to 2015. Proceeded to host Shark Tank South Africa from 2016 to 2016. Co-founded Civic Technologies, a blockchain based identity management since 2016.
23
Mark Forrester (South Africa)
WooCommerce
2008
2015
Exit by acquisition. Reasons: WooCommerce sold in 2015 to web development company Automattic (WordPress) in a deal estimated to be worth over $30-million
Proceeded to become investor, investing in startups such as IoT security and automation platform Sentian, mobile creativity app Over, community-based security solution Jonga, and online grocery delivery service Yebo Fresh,
24
Adii Pienaar (South Africa)
WooCommerce/CEO
2008
2013
Resignation. Reasons: Sold his shares in the company to other co-founders, Magnus Jepson, and Mark Forrester to build another company.
Proceeded to found Conversio in 2014, which was acquired by acquisition by CM Group in August 2019. Adii became VP Commerce Product Strategy of CM Group, but left in September, 2020 to found Cogsy, a startup helping Ecommerce brands to optimise their inventory and increase their return on working capital, since October 2020.
25
Rob Stokes (South Africa)
Quirk (CEO)
1999
2016
Exit by acquisition. Reason: Quirk was acquired by advertising giant WPP in 2014 for a reported R350 million to R400-million ($35million to $39 million) at the time of the sale.
Proceeded to assume board chairmanship and directorships positions in several companies –BrandsEye; The Open Knowledge Trust –he founded
26
Grant Brooke (Kenya)
Twiga Foods/CEO
2014
2020
Resignation. Reasons: To assume board role at Twiga Foods.
Proceeded to assume a board position on Twiga Foods, but co-founded Shara, a startup where building tools for SMEs in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe since 2020.
27
Anthony Kariuki (Kenya)
Alternative Circle/CEO
2016
2017
Resignation. Reasons: Sexual misconduct allegations
–
28
Daudi Were (Kenya)
Ushahidi (Co-founder)
2008
2017
Resignation. Reasons: Sexual misconduct allegations.
Proceeded to found a company a little known company Mikakati since 2018
29
Kennedy Nganga (Kenya)
Safi Analytics (CTO)
2017
2020
Dismissal. Reason: Allegations of being pushed out of the company by foreign co-founders Lauren Dunford and Weston McBride
Proceeded to found Techpreneur School, a platform that facilitates training and mentoring of upcoming entrepreneurs by experienced ones.
30
Munyaradzi Chiura (Zimbabwe)
Hypercube/Cofounder
2013
2017
Exit by dissolution. Reasons: Hypercube Dissolved by founders.
Proceeded to Flywire Corporation as Payments Consultant Africa since 2017. Currently Head, Rest of Africa Growth at Flutterwave since 2021.
31
Marie Lora-Mungai (Kenya)
Buni.tv/CEO
2009
2016
Exit by acquisition. Reasons: Buni.tv was acquired by Trace Tv.
Proceeded to the board of Buni.tv as a board member since 2016. Also, an angel investor. CEO since 2015 of Restless Global, a Strategic Advisory & Content Development company specialized in the African Entertainment space, which encompasses the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) , Sports Business, and Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors.
When Every Other Thing Fails
African startup founders faced with exit dilemma have also explored different paths, apart from those stated above.
Former CEO of Nigerian ecommerce company Konga, Sim Shagaya, saw a cool-off period — during which he was still sitting on Konga’s board as chairman — of almost three years, returning only in 2019 to launch uLesson, an edtech startup.
Tonjé Bakang, CEO of failed music streaming startup Afrostreams, has since assumed a lecturing role at Sciences Po, a research-based university based in Paris, France. Tonjé is, today, also a serial seed investor.
Tricia Martinez, of failed crypto startup Wala, has equally moved on to work for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office as a policy fellow.
However, it is worthy of note that not all founders of failed African startups shunned entrepreneurship entirely, afterwards.
“…I just took another risk leaving one of the leading companies in the AI space in Europe to move back home for no salary but I love every minute of this new hustle!” Wrote Hassan in 2018, on the occasion of the death of one of his first startups.
What Happens To The Unvested Shares?
There are no hard and fast rules about vesting shares, but standard practice is that once the founder has exhausted the period of such vesting and the ownership of the shares have fully accrued to him or her, then no further rules apply except, of course, that the founder is at liberty to dispose of the shares in any manner he or her desires.
Problems however arise where the founder exits before the shares become fully vested in him or her.
The general rule in all cases is, however, that a company has an option to repurchase unvested shares if a co-founder ceases to work for the company for any reason or fails to make the expected contributions he or she has agreed to make.
In any case, the agreement between the founder and the startup may also make room for accelerated vesting, in which case the shares held by the founder go against the natural course of time earlier agreed between the founder and the startup, allowing the founder to be entitled to all the shares due to him or her in a shorter time period.
But this mostly happens if the startup is going through Initial Public Offering (IPO), take-over, mergers and acquisitions, sale of more than half of the company’s assets, among unlimited possibilities.
At the end of the day, what matters in vesting shares is always the agreement between the founder and the startup; and it is important that the founder’s agreement covers this; and at the same time, leaving rooms for future amendments.
This is one way to take care of uncertainties arising out of a founder’s exit.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
Weelo, an Egypt-based B2B SaaS startup, has raised a six-figure seed funding round led by SkaleUp Ventures and Integral Capital, with participation from global investors from Hong Kong and Italy, AUC Angels, and other angel investors. With the funding, Weelo will expand into Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and North Africa.
“B2B SaaS solutions will continue to grow as businesses move from on-premise technology to cloud technology. Real time management solutions for sales and distribution platforms will lead to opportunities within the supply chain,” said Mohamed Asfour, founder and CEO of Weelo.
L-R: Sophia Korayim (Co-founder and COO); Mohamed Asfour (Co-founder and CEO). Image credits: Weelo
Why The Investors Invested
Based in San Francisco, United States, SkaleUp Ventures is an emerging markets — Middle East and North Africa — focused investor. The venture capital firm had previously invested in Chitosan Egypt, a business harnessing shrimp waste. S[k]aleUp Ventures aims at democratizing capital to fuel global sustainable change by making it accessible for anyone, anywhere to invest in #ConsciousTech startups.
“Weelo is at the forefront of the digital transformation needed to create efficiency, speed and transparency in emerging opportunity markets like the Middle East and Africa. With a user-friendly revolutionary product, a strong founding team, and innovative business model; it just made sense they will dominate the market easily and we wanted to share in building that success,” said Salma El-Hariry, Founder and CEO of SkaleUp Ventures.
Cairo-based AUC Angels has actively been investing since 2019. The angel investing firm had made investments in Egypt’s Opio and ILLA.
Founded in 2018, Weelo provides micro, small, and medium businesses with cost-effective SaaS subscription-based technology solutions (MSMEs). It uses AI-powered analytics and a real-time management system to handle the entire sales cycle, from warehouse to cash collection. The startup aims to digitally turn conventional sales and distribution structures in the supply chain for SMEs in a number of industries.
“Sales and distribution automation is a major problem for suppliers in the Mena region according to Sophia Korayim, COO and co-founder of Weelo who said “the associated high cost, number of people, multiple systems required, and its maintenance make it very costly and complex for suppliers to manage their sales and distribution networks”.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
Egypt’s angel investors are some of the most active in Africa. Serial investor and entrepreneur Mohamed Hossam Khedr and another undisclosed angel investor have poured some seed funding into TakeStep, a Cairo-based healthtech startup that aims to support people struggling with substance abuse and addiction. Khedr becomes TakeStop’s latest managing partner, following the latest investment.
“We’re very excited about closing this investment round, and proud of the unfailing trust our investors have in us,” said Mohamed Khashaba, CEO of TakeStep. “We look forward to further developing our technology and operations in order to help more patients in the region on their road to recovery.”
The team at TakeStep. Image credits: TakeStep
Here Is What You Need To Know
Ahmed Hossam, a gamification guest lecturer at Oakland University for AI PHD Researchers and vice-chair at The International Gamification Confederation, has also joined the TakeStep board at this stage.
The funding will assist TakeStep in expanding its operations to the Gulf Countries made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — except for Iraq.
“This is truly an exciting time for TakeStep. I am personally thrilled about joining this exceptional team, and cannot wait to see how the company will grow in the coming months,” said Khedr. “TakeStep is very intelligently using technology to transform patients’ healing processes, and has a significant impact on the community.”
A Look At What The Startup Does
Launched in 2018, TakeStep helps patients, licenced therapists, and guardians to interact with one another while still allowing them power over their rehabilitation. Since its founding, the organisation has helped over 15,000 people in resolving their addictions.
Takestep has initiated many campaigns to provide mental health care to over 260,000 Egyptians since the beginning of the pandemic.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
A Sociologist and Human Resource Manager who fell in love with the capital market was a 360 degrees turn for Estelle Nnanna Kalu, but she did not stop there, even after honing her skills as a Customer Relationship Manager. While still in the capital market sector, she was working on helping to create platforms to engage small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). When she left the capital market sector, she became a full advocate on how to help micro and small and medium scale enterprises (MSME’s) into the Nigerian digital space. This inspired her to launch Nectare, a digital platform with the objective of helping MSMEs to be more visible to their specific audience and link up with customers. In this interview with Afrikan Heroes, Estelle Nnanna Kalu speaks with Kelechi Deca about her drive, inspiration and what she hopes to achieve: excerpts.
How did you come about the idea of Nectare?
I observed existing platforms had a lot of loopholes, from not putting out adequate information about their listed vendors to not covering a lot of categories, this means that there are services out there that do not enjoy adequate visibility. I also noticed we have a very large pool of entrepreneurs and small businesses that weren’t being paid attention to, a lot of them are on social media jostling for space, I felt it would be great to create a platform that would attempt solving these problems and give them a level playing field to showcase themselves.
Estelle Nnanna Kalu
Also the process of verifying vendors to a large extent has been very porous, people are scared of patronizing small businesses because of trust issues, At Nectare, and we want to make sure clients get what they want from a verified provider.
What value proposition do you think you’ll bring to the market?
Nectare will reach out to a wider market based on our expanded list of categories; there are services that weren’t in existence a couple of years ago that we have now which haven’t been captured in the directory market.
We’re raising the security level between service providers and clients, this ensures trust issues are reduced to the barest minimum.
Nectare intends helping small businesses improve their return on investment by guiding them on how best to make every customer a loyal one, by improving customer service. As a newly subscribed vendor, you’re meant to understand your job description as a Nectare vendor is to offer your clients your best service ever.
We also have a better secured platform due to the measures we’ve taken to vet vendors; this means end users can be sure of what they are getting.
What are the challenges you faced in nursing the dream to fruition?
My challenges were basically trying to deal with thought leaders in the industry who felt I was coming up with an idea that already existed and I should try something else. For me, it was about filling a void, finding a specific niche to focus on. Existing platforms focus a lot on big businesses. Nectare has a specific audience which is individual entrepreneurs and small businesses that aren’t being given much attention.
Have you thought of quitting, and what made you to keep pushing?
I’ve never thought of quitting, I’m yet to make the required impact so I need to see it happen and the thought of creating a community of service providers like I’ve always envisioned is what keeps giving me the push.
What do you think are the major factors militating against startups in Nigeria?
Many entrepreneurs are frustrated by policy somersaults, unclear implementation of policies, and a very unfriendly business environment. Inflation rates are close to 20 percent, with one of the highest interest rates in the world. Nigeria definitely is one of the toughest places for business ideation and growth but for the resilience of the people. Presently, the level of regulations in many states of the federation is strangulating. Fees and multiple and oftentimes enforcements are done by faceless groups. Nothing works as smoothly as it should; just call it the Nigerian factor.
Where do you see Nectare in the next five years?
I’d like to see Nectare fully established, I want to nurse it to being a community of unique service providers that are willing to work with me closely to put out the best, a platform that is much secured and is everyone’s first port of call when any task needs to be done.
Just like the name, Nectare should be an angry client’s last resort to finding the smallest of everything or service personnel. People appreciate when things are done properly, in the next five years; I hope to have raised an army of efficient vendors to meet those needs.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
One of Kenya’s leading fintech Asilimia has embarked on a very ambitious project aimed at making available a digital ledger app to allow MSME owners to manage their transactions in real-time. This project according to the company will give business owners direct access to a payment infrastructure specifically tailored to their needs via their mobile phone, eliminating tedious registration processes and allowing them to easily send money at scale, invest savings on transaction fees into insurance or business loans, gain insights into their finances, and minimise payment fraud.
Asilimia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tekwane Mwendwa
Asilimia which was founded over three years ago aims to empower small businesses through an affordable, easy-to-use and tailored digital payments platform. It has now launched Leja, a digital ledger app that allows business owners to manage their transactions in real-time. Using Leja, business owners can create simple cash-based accounting P&L records as well as keep a ledger of outstanding debits and credits while requiring zero technical or accounting knowledge.
Speaking on the development, the co-founder of the fintech startup and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tekwane Mwendwa expressed optimism saying that “it has come at an excellent moment to support our users formalise and digitise their business transactions as it will now be easy for them to track their sales and expenses and also follow up on what they are owed by customers.”
The app users will also get to enjoy an integrated mobile money infrastructure that allows them to send and receive online payments with reduced transaction fees by up to 90 per cent, which can be channelled to access insurance and high value loans. Asilimia’s growing active subscribers have to date recorded transactions with a value of more than US$17 million.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
One of Kenya’s leading banks, Equity Group, is planning to set up venture capital and private equity funds through its fintech subsidiary, Finserve. The fund will make investments in startups in Kenya and within the East African region, writes the group’s CEO, James Mwangi in Global Innovation Index 2020 (.pdf), which is co-published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Cornell University of the US and non-profit private university INSEAD.
Equity group’s CEO, James Mwangi
“Equity Investment Bank (EIB) is expected to grow as Kenya and other African economies shift from low-income to lower middle, upper middle, and, eventually, high-income economies. This will see the bank launch private equity and venture capital funds to offer equity investments for innovators and micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs),” said Mr Mwangi in his paper on financing innovation in Kenya .
“The group’s fintech arm, Finserve, is expected to set up a fund to invest in innovative ICTs for the development start-up sector providing digital solutions to Africa’s most pressing problems.”
Here Is What You Need To Know
Mwangi who did not disclose any information about the timeline for the setting up of the fund, however said the move was informed by the company’s realisation that there is still high unmet demand for financing innovation in developing countries such as Kenya.
The holding company’s decision to use EIB to set up investment funds signals a change in how banks use their investment arms, which many of them bought or developed between five and ten years ago with the intention of earning money from stock and fixed income trading.
After buying the trading licence of the defunct stockbroker Francis Thuo & Partners for a record Sh150 million in 2013, Equity formed EIB, hoping to use its large bank customer base to push business to the unit.
Pension Funds In Kenya To Set Aside 5% Of Their Funds For Investment In Local Startup Ecosystem
Last year, Kenya launched National Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Policy which spells out a new set of policy guidelines intended to assist the East African country achieve its Vision 2030, which among many things, is anchored on helping Kenya attain the status of an industrialized information society as well as a knowledge-driven economy by 2030. Part of the policy is the encouragement of pension funds to set aside 5% of their funds for investments in local startup ecosystem.
This is a deal breaker, which if properly implemented, will unlock funding for startups in Kenya. Although the language of this rule is not compelling, this will most definitely be the right push for pension funds in Kenya willing to invest in early startups.
However, it should be noted that, already Kenya has allowed private equity and venture capital firms to raise funds from pension schemes after amending the Retirements Benefits Authority (RBA) Act in 2015. Since then, this has allowed pension schemes to invest up to 10 per cent of their assets in private equity and venture capital firms (firms which, most times, invest in startups and SMEs). The new 5% rule under the new policy, however, will encourage pension funds to invest directly in startups or venture capital firms investing in early stage startups, out of the permitted 10%.
Apart from the 5% rule, there are other funding plans considered under the policy, such as a proposed “anchor fund” that will invest in qualifying Kenyan ventures for a proportionate equity consideration on a first-loss basis, thereby motivating co-funders to commit significant capital to qualified entities.
Also to be created is “a rotating venture capital fund” to be chaired by a person to be determined by the Cabinet Secretary for ICT with membership of a representative of the Kenya Sovereign Fund; the Kenya Private Sector Alliance; the CEOs of the three largest private sector pension funds at any one time; and four other members with ICT expertise as the Cabinet Secretary for ICT may from time to time determine.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
Equity Group venture capital fund Equity Group venture capital fund
The third edition of the “Algeria Startup Challenge” program has just been launched. This year’s edition will be dedicated to innovation in the industrial sector.
Placed under the sponsorship of the Algerian Minister responsible for the Knowledge Economy and Startups, the program aims to “bring together the actors of the ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship in Algeria, the carriers of innovative projects and startups towards the goal of creating the innovations of tomorrow.”
After the “dazzling success” that the program has met since its creation in 2018 during its last two editions, the Algeria Startup Challenge returns this year with a new vision oriented towards innovation at the service of industries, thus responding to their needs in this area, underline the organizers.
The 3rd edition will be organized under the umbrella of Leancubator, a company specializing in the design of incubation programs and support for innovative entrepreneurship, and “which focuses on human capital in the development of innovative projects, creators of values, ‘’ the statement read.
The event is organized in the form of challenges in specialist industries: Foodtech Startup Challenge, Fintech Startup Challenge and GreenTech Startup Challenge, Logistics Startup Challenge.
The first challenge is sponsored by the intersectoral committee “Algeria Food Security Innovation” bringing together several ministries namely, Fisheries and fishery products, Agriculture and Rural development, the ministry delegated to the Prime Minister in charge of the Economy of knowledge and Startups, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Vocational Training and Education as well as the Ministry of Industry. It targets three main sectors of the food system namely, smart agriculture, innovation in aquaculture and food security.
Regarding the Fintech Startup Challenge, it is explained that, in collaboration with the Commission for the organization and supervision of stock exchange operations (COSOB), this program targets projects in Insurtech, Fintech or even Regtech and risk management .
As for the GreenTech Startup Challenge module and Logistics Startup Challenge, it is specified that the latter relies on the collaboration of the main players in each sector, namely, public and private organizations, the national network of incubators and accelerators, investors and investment organizations and community partners (science clubs and student associations).
As part of this 2021 edition, it is also planned to organize training sessions, Speed Dating, open innovation opportunities and other measures allowing real support for the winners in each industry.
A national call for projects will be launched “very soon” on the official website of the program for the attention of any project leader / startup wishing to take part in this program, according to sources.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions. He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance. He is also an award-winning writer
Inspite of the growing concerns over rising Cybercrime theft and privacy issues which has seen over 50 million users dump social networking app WhatsApp, users in Africa seem most reluctant to dump the App.
This emerged in new research carried out by KnowBe4 among smartphone users in Nigeria, Mauritius, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and Botswana.
The KnowBe4 Mobile Users in Africa survey gauged the opinions of Africa’s mobile users on the recent decision by WhatsApp to update their terms and conditions, sharing metadata with the rest of the Facebook group of companies. The survey found that not only did the majority of the respondents across Africa intend to continue using WhatsApp; but also, that their favourite alternative to WhatsApp was Facebook Messenger.
Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist Africa at KnowBe4, says the recent WhatsApp privacy policy has spurred public discussions which resulted in more consumer awareness about their privacy rights as well as brought more visibility to alternative tools such as Signal, Telegram, and others.
Collard says: “It is interesting to see that while most mobile users are concerned about their online privacy, Facebook Messenger, which was listed as the top alternative chat app, collects much more data than WhatsApp. This indicates that there may be a lack of understanding about the actual risks and implications of the new policy.”
The imminent WhatsApp privacy policy change revealed some shifts, however, with 24% of respondents saying they were no longer allowed to use WhatsApp for work and 62% saying they were ‘somewhat concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about the new privacy policy. Around 7.7% of respondents said they had – or planned to – cancel their WhatsApp accounts, with this number rising to 15% among South Africans respondents.
However, for most, the convenience of the platform outweighed concerns about privacy risks; with over half saying they had concerns but would continue using WhatsApp, even though they may have signed up to use other messaging tools. Just over a quarter of respondents had heard about the planned privacy terms changes but did not understand what the risks were.
For those also using alternative messaging tools, Facebook Messenger was the most popular, with over 80% electing to use this platform too. Over 56% also used Telegram, over 12% also used Signal, and 10% or less used Discord, Threema or other messaging platforms.
Collard says: “What’s interesting is that, compared with the 2019 KnowBe4 African Report, respondents were even more concerned about cybercrime. In 2019, 37.86% were worried, and in 2020, the number had risen by 10% to 47.61%. Across all eight countries, we see a growing awareness of the risks that come with cybercrime.
However, she notes, there remains limited awareness of how to avoid risk, and the implications of data privacy terms and conditions. “This indicates a need for further education and awareness initiatives to enlighten the public about risks on social media and messaging platforms,” Collard says.
Education and awareness remain key to protecting mobile users from risks such as identity theft, as well as to prevent potential breaches of sensitive corporate information via messaging platforms, says Collard.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
