The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has granted Telda the final approval to launch its prepaid card and application on the Egyptian market, in an effort to achieve the CBE’s financial inclusion and digital transformation objectives.
CEO and Co-founder of Telda, Ahmed Sabbah
“We are very happy to have receive the final license from the Central Bank of Egypt to launch the Telda app and card, as we strive to participate in the country’s transformation into a digital economy and help accomplish the Central Bank’s vision to achieve financial inclusion through constantly offering smart and fast payment solutions,” CEO and Co-founder of Telda, Ahmed Sabbah, said. “Telda is an entirely new financial experience that empowers the youth to indulge into using more advanced technological solutions. We aim to change the way people think and feel about money by providing a better and more efficient banking experience as an alternative to the traditional payment and transfer methods,” Sabbah added.
A Look At What Telda Does
Founded in 2021 by Swvl’s co-founder and former CTO Ahmed Sabbah and Youssef Sholqamy, Telda provides a vast array of functions, including the free issuing of Mastercard-powered prepaid cards. The prepaid cards provide a completely integrated payment experience without the requirement for a bank account, as they may be used for online purchases, in-store purchases, and cash withdrawals from any ATM in the world. In addition, users will be able to send and receive money instantaneously and for free from any other Telda user, as well as monitor their accounts and spending through the control and insights tools that make users aware of their spending habits and in complete control of what their card can accomplish.
Telda is a financial brand designed for Millennials and Generation Z, who are actively seeking smart and simple solutions to manage and monitor their costs without visiting a bank to open an account.
This action is in line with the nation’s aim to promote financial inclusion, allowing all citizens to access modern financial services that meet their needs and eventually resulting in sustainable economic growth for both individuals and the nation.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
Bloc, a Nigerian full-service fintech and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) infrastructure provider, has announced the purchase of Getwallets, a wallets-as-a-service provider that has just rebranded as payments orchestration business Orchestrate.
Bloc, founded in 2021, is a fintech infrastructure company that assists any company in offering fintech solutions to their customers by providing an extensive set of building blocks — infrastructure, licences, compliance, and capital — that allow them to increase their value to their stakeholders, whether they are customers, investors, or employees.
Orchestrate, formerly Getwallets, claims to be the quickest way to add new payment methods to fintech businesses, expand into new areas, and provide various payment options to African clients — all with little to no code. In 2021, the startup was also launched.
Bloc will be able to focus its primary product strategy on delivering seamless BaaS and banking services as a result of the strategic acquisition of Orchestrate, while Orchestrate will lead its financial infrastructure with its unique payments orchestration API. The acquisition is a cash and equity transaction, with Orchestrate remaining a separate corporation overseen by founder and CEO Jerry Enebeli.
Bloc has processed more than US$30 million in bill payments API alone in the last year, and it recently introduced its SuperAgency product, which allows licenced organisations to offer agency banking services. Its purchase of Orchestrate expands its ability to provide fintech infrastructure such as online payments, subscription management, BNPL payment infrastructure, virtual wallets, bill payments, and invoicing through its Fintech-as-a-Service API suite.
“We are proud of our input in helping shape the African fintech space and excited to welcome the Orchestrate team into the Bloc family. Part of our vision has always been to empower businesses of all sizes to offer seamless payment solutions to their customers, which is essential not just to the experience of the end user but also to the sector’s growth,” said Edmund Olotu, founder of Bloc.
“Jerry and his team have built an incredible platform that is a great fit with what we were looking to add to our suite of services so it made sense to acquire their proven expertise rather than building our own platform from scratch. This is an exciting evolution for both businesses as we look to grow and build even more solutions that ultimately supports the growth of African tech businesses in the coming years.’’
Enebeli expressed his excitement about bringing Orchestrate’s technology and know-how to the Bloc team.
“It was clear that our business growth goals aligned and that we could mutually benefit from combining our talent, resources and expertise to create a unique infrastructure that can power African fintech. We’re looking forward to working together to close the fragmented gaps in cross-platform payments and powering many more businesses to scale their markets, whether in Africa or globally,” he said.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
Swvl, a global provider of tech-enabled mass transit solutions, has announced the acquisition of Mexico-based Urbvan Mobility Ltd (“Urbvan”), a shared mobility platform that provides tech-enabled transportation services to Latin America’s second biggest country by population.
Why The Acquisition
Urbvan provides technology-enabled transportation services with the goal of improving both the quality of life and the safety standards of bus travel over long distances. Swvl’s acquisition of Urbvan, which integrates mobility patterns with a shared car aggregator platform, gives an outstanding chance to accelerate Swvl’s aim of providing safer, faster, smarter, and more affordable mass transportation for everyone, no matter where they live.
Urbvan was formed in 2016 with the goal of using shared mobility to improve people’s lives. The company is present in 18 cities around Mexico, offering solutions for metropolitan routes, intercity routes, private organisations, and private on-demand needs. Urbvan, like Swvl, is dedicated to offering economical, efficient transit solutions that are free of harassment and other dangerous situations.
Transaction In Summary
The transaction provides Swvl enhanced scale which Swvl believes will create substantial value for shareholders in several ways:
Drives Swvl’s continued global expansion
Deepens penetration in the attractive, densely populated Mexican market and provides a strong foothold for further growth in Latin America.
Increases global footprint to > 135 cities in > 20 countries.
Offers a complementary suite of TaaS mobility solutions with proven ability to retain customers and experience high growth levels:
Over 450,000 registered users and over 9m tickets sold to date.
B2B client base is over 80 organizations, including large multinational companies.
27 anchor routes in México City.
Brings proven track record of growth:
138% revenue CAGR since 2017.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in Q3 2022.
Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, said, “Urbvan was founded on the same principals as Swvl: to address the inefficiencies found in traditional mass transit in many parts of the world. With a significant footprint in Mexico, an impressive suite of Transport as a Service (TaaS) offerings, and strong relationships with local government players, this acquisition reinforces Swvl’s position as a leading provider of safer and more reliable mobility solutions which are required for vulnerable people living in densely populated, challenging markets with vast geographies.”
Renato Picard, Urbvan Co-Founder and Co-CEO, said, “Swvl and Urbvan share a vision to remodel mass transit to be safer for everyone, no matter their gender or social class, in the most challenging and densely populated urban neighborhoods in Latin America. We are excited to partner with Swvl as we work to illustrate best-practices for tech-optimized day to day travel in Mexico. This transaction positions Urbvan to leverage Swvl’s global offerings to scale the platform both within the region and beyond. We look forward to using our combined capabilities to provide safe, efficient, and affordable shared mobility options across the world.”
João Matos Albino, Urbvan Co-Founder and Co-CEO, said, “When looking for new growth opportunities, Swvl emerged as an ideal partner to help Urbvan’s ambition to creating the most efficient and sustainable transportation system in Latin America. We have been impressed by Swvl’s experience of rapidly scaling their platform globally while providing best-in-class mobility solutions and ensuring that both employees and users remain a top priority. We look forward to partnering with them on the next step of our journey.”
Youssef Salem, Swvl CFO, said, “The acquisition of Urbvan contributes towards all the key objectives of our recently announced portfolio optimization plan: opportunity to enhance margins, turn cash flow positive in 2023, focus on high profitability segments TaaS and SaaS, expand in higher ticket fare markets and extract more value from our proprietary technology stack. Today’s announcement reinforces Swvl’s commitment to back regional champions in the mobility space. Looking ahead, we plan to continue to pursue accretive strategic initiatives to continue expanding best-in-class tech-enabled mass transit solutions in the most challenging markets across the world, where we believe our system can make the greatest difference to people’s daily lives.”
A Look At What The Startup Does
Swvl is a global provider of transformative tech-enabled mass transit solutions, offering intercity, intracity, B2B and B2G transportation across > 135 cities in > 20 countries. The Company’s platform provides complimentary semi-private alternatives to public transportation for individuals who cannot access or afford private options. Every day, Swvl’s parallel mass transit systems are empowering individuals to go where they want, when they want — making mobility safer, more efficient, accessible, and environmentally friendly. Customers can book their rides on an easy-to-use proprietary app with varied payment options and 24 / 7 access to high-quality private buses and vans.
Swvl was co-founded by Mostafa Kandil, who began his career at Rocket Internet, where he launched the car sales platform Carmudi in the Philippines, which became the largest car classifieds company in the country in just six months. He then served as Rocket Internet’s Head of Operations. In 2016, Kandil joined Careem, a ride-sharing company and the first unicorn in the Middle East. He supported the platform’s expansion into multiple new markets.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
The most recent development in African startup finance is that the Tunisian company Paymee successfully completed a six-figure fundraising campaign with the American investment fund P1 Ventures.
With the aid of this capital infusion, the firm will largely be able to strengthen its teams. In this interview, the company’s founder and CEO, Marouen Amamou, said that the team now consists of three members, including a freelancer.
Paymee founder and CEO, Marouen Amamou
“Currently, our team consists of three persons,” he added, adding that the business hopes to add “developers and salespeople” to its ranks.
Before expanding its operations to other countries on the African continent, the entrepreneur also plans to capitalise on the success that the startup has already achieved in order to strengthen its position on the local market.
“We intend to establish the first Moroccan implementation milestones by 2023,” Amamou said.
In order to expand their geographic reach outside Tunisia’s boundaries, he also noted that they would need to raise additional funding.
Paymee Returned From Death Following Two Frustrating Events.
Paymee was a wallet provider when it was released in 2018, allowing users to make direct payments to merchants or send money to other users.
And as soon as the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) circular on payment institutions was issued, the founder stated that he wanted to promptly regularise the structure of his company, particularly with regard to the minimum capital of 5 million dinars required by the regulator.
“I was able to find an international investor willing to inject the necessary funds. The primary concern is that the BCT has not made public the fundamental processes for obtaining approval. After a number of months of coming and going at the BCT, the investor gave up,” Amamou stated.
However, Amamou did not stray from his original plan.
As soon as the procedures were in place, he was able to attract a second investor who required a letter guaranteeing that the BCT would not oppose the deal.
This document, according to Amamou, acts as proof that the Central Bank officially recognises the startup’s entry into the activity it claims to engage in as of the date and time mentioned in the document.
“Due to hesitation to issue this letter, the second investor decided to withdraw their financing,” Amamou explained.
As a result, Amamou was obliged to abandon his business-to-consumer (B2C) activities and focus only on his business-to-business (B2B) operations in order to ensure the survival of his company, hence the latest funding from P1 Ventures.
A Look At What Paymee Does
Founded in 2018 by Marwen Amamou, Paymee offers online payment acceptance solutions to online merchants. The company focuses in digitising payment flows that provide card-based online payment acceptance solutions. It is possible to integrate its solution into any website or mobile application. Without a website, businesses and SMBs can generate payment links for their clients. Paymee specialises in providing merchants with innovative payment technology in order to enhance their revenue through the acceptance of digital payments.
It has recently launched a new product, a QR Code that replaces POS terminals.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
South African fintech startup Jumo has announced that it has served 20 million customers since it was founded 7 years ago.
Founded by CEO Andrew Watkins-Ball in 2015,JUMO, a banking-as-a-service platform, claims to leverage artificial intelligence to power financial services, notably lending in emerging nations.
Jumo CEO Andrew Watkins-Ball
JUMO provides core solutions around savings, loans, and infrastructure to banks, fintechs, and eMoney operators to address these constrained demands in both markets.
MTN, Airtel, Tigo, Ecobank, Absa, Letshego, Mansa Bank, and Telenor are among its partners. The startup has offices in Nairobi, Porto, and London, in addition to its headquarters in Cape Town.
According to a recent statement from JUMO, the company’s Singapore office has closed.
However, in terms of active operating markets, the fintech is present in six African countries: Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Ivory Coast, and Pakistan.
“Thank you to the 20 million customers we’ve served!,” the company announced in a statement. “You have helped us refine our credit prediction skills and reduce the cost of lending risk to as little as 3%. You’ve also helped us create a data analysing learning machine, so we can provide banking services at a fraction of standard costs, with proven product-market fit. You are the reason we are, and will always remain, mission-driven and financial inclusion focused.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
After acquiring two online vehicle sales platforms in the third quarter of 2021, Autochek is continuing its buyout operations, this time in French-speaking Africa with CoinAfrique.
Classifieds network, CoinAfrique, is available in twelve French-speaking African nations, deriving at least fifty percent of its monthly transactions from automotive sales. Through this acquisition, the Nigerian wants to expedite the rollout of its vehicle lending service in French-speaking Africa, particularly in CoinAfrique’s markets.
The Nigerian automobile technology development firm was already functioning in nine East, West, and North African countries. It is expanding its operations to twelve additional French-speaking markets on the continent.
Francophone Africa is home to some of the fastest-growing economies on the continent and we are excited to be expanding Autochek’s footprint in this region with the acquisition of CoinAfrique, the number one classified marketplace for French-speaking Africa. pic.twitter.com/ji8F3qu7TF
Following this purchase, Etop Ikpe (picture), Managing Director and Co-Founder of Autochek, stated that he was “looking forward to leveraging the expertise of CoinAfrique’s founders to enhance the value proposition of vehicle financing across the continent.”
Autochek has previously bought online vehicle sales platforms well before CoinAfrique. The automotive technology startup bought the Cheki Kenya and Cheki Uganda platforms in September 2021.
With the new acquisition, Autochek intends to streamline the process of purchasing vehicles by offering finance and other value-added services. The classifieds business of CoinAfrique will continue to operate with the incorporation of its partner’s auto finance product, which will increase the availability of credit for auto purchases.
By focusing on CoinAfrique, the Nigerian company is targeting French-speaking African markets such as Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, where the sale of new automobiles is experiencing tremendous development.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
A Kenyan High court has frozen 56 bank accounts holding a whopping Sh7 billion suspected to have been laundered by foreign nationals.
The orders were issued after the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) told the court that the accounts for seven targeted companies were used as conduits for money laundering in the guise of providing merchant services.
The accounts that have been frozen are in USD, British Pound Sterling, EURO and Kenya shillings.
Co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji
The companies listed are Flutterwave payment technology limited, Boxtrip travel and tours limited, Bagtrip travel limited, Elivalat fintech limited, Adguru technology limited, Hupesi solutions, Cruz ride auto limited and one Simon Ngige.
According to the court documents, Flutterwave was registered on February 23, 2017.
Its directors are listed as Olugbenga Agboola, David Mouko (Kenyan) and Flutterwave Inc.
The company operated 29 bank accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank, 17 with Equity Bank and 6 with Ecobank.
The Agency says the company’s account received billions of shillings and the same was deposited in different bank accounts in an attempt to conceal the nature, source or movement of the funds.
“Investigations established that the bank accounts operations had suspicious activities where funds could be received from specific foreign entities which raised suspicion. The funds were then transferred to related accounts as opposed to settlement to merchants,” said the Agency.
In an affidavit, Isaac Nakitare, an investigator with the agency says they obtained orders on April 4 this year to search and inspect the accounts.
Nakitare says by the time he obtained the orders, the accounts at Guaranty Trust bank belonging to Flutterwave had a balance of Sh5.3 billion, Sh1.4 billion at Equity bank and other millions at Ecobank.
Some of the funds he said were transferred into fixed deposit accounts.
The Agency further established that Flutterwave was concealing the nature of its business by allegedly providing a payment service platform without authorization from the central bank of Kenya as required by section 12 of the national payment system act.
The accounts he said were used as conduits for money laundering in the guise of providing merchant services.
“If indeed the Flutterwave was providing merchant services, there was no evidence of retail transactions from customers paying for goods and services. Further, there is no evidence of settlements to the alleged merchants,” he said.
The company’s Equity account number revealed that at some point in May 2021, it received 185 online card payments all sharing the same bank identification number.
The transactions were done using cards issued by the same bank at the same point on the same day raising suspicion of card fraud.
For instance, ARA says the Flutterwave equity USD Bank account was opened in November 2020.
The funds received were mainly from Flutterwave Inc.
Between 2020 and 2022, the account received approximately Sh12 billion and the funds were either transferred to Remix ltd while the rest were invested in a fixed deposit account.
Justice Maina further issued orders stopping Boxtrip travels and tours limited from transferring or withdrawing 3.9 million dollars (Sh460 million) held in his Eco bank account
The Director of Boxtrip travels and tours the director is listed as Enyioma Olufemi a Nigerian national.
“It received the money from Flutterwave ltd in two days. That is 27 to 28 April this year.”
“No explanation nor supporting documents were provided to justify the transactions therefore reasonable grounds to believe that the accounts were used as conduits for money laundering,” said ARA.
For Bagtrip travels, the court froze its account holding Sh425 million shillings.
The director of the company is listed as Taiwo Soyemi, a Nigerian National.
It received the monies from Flutterwave ltd and rainbow solution technology on 28 April and 6 May 2022.
A further Sh1.2 million belonging to Elivalat Fintech Limited was frozen.
Some of the monies were transferred to Tiware Adrian Simon who is one of the directors at Elivalat ltd and to Muoko David who is one of the directors of Flutterwave ltd.
For Aduru technology limited, the court froze Sh100 million held in its Equity account.
The directors of the company are listed as Adaeze Okonkwo, and Caroline Muchina, wife to David Muoko who is a director of Flutterwave.
For Hupesi solutions, the court preserved the Sh1.6 million held in its Equity account.
The proprietor of the company is listed as Festus Mutuku.
The documents indicate that the company’s equity account received a total of Sh143m of which 54 million was transferred to Flutterwave payments, 45 million transferred to GC Natural PL and internal transfers of Sh26 million.
The transactions were done in tranches of below Sh1 million to avoid reporting threshold.
But by the time the agency obtained orders to freeze, only 1.6 million was left in the account.
The court preserved another Sh2.4 million held in the account of Crus ride, a motor vehicle dealer.
The company is said to have received the monies from Flutterwave on June 6. The funds were later transferred to Simon Ngige.
“The account had been dormant and had not received any funds from September 2021 to May 2022. However, in June 2022, the account received 269,000 US dollars (31.7 million shillings),” said ARA.
The documents indicate that Ngige received 452000 US dollars (Sh53.3 million) in his KCB account from Flutterwave, Cavin solutions and Cruz ride auto.
On 24 June, Ngige transferred 200,000 US dollars (SHS 23.6 million) to his KCB account. The court stopped him from transferring Sh14 million left in his account
“An analysis of the statements of accounts established that the accounts received suspicious deposits that indicate smurfing activities hoping to evade detection,” said ARA.
The orders granted by the court will be in force for a period of 90 days.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
10 months after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Togolese government, the startup Bboxx-EDF Togo is finally launching the “Togo Smartphone” initiative, which intends to provide Togolese with access to a new variety of products. digital.
The British startup will offer Togolese with next-generation smartphones on a 12-month payment plan through this programme. Initially, only civil servants or public sector employees will be eligible for this offer. Following that, the project will be expanded to include other Togolese users.
Oudou Nsangou, General Manager of Bboxx-EDF Togo
io“We conducted a survey of all state officials to determine which cellphones they eprefer and what features they seek in a phone. We were able to identify 04 specific smartphone models based on this research, which we now offer for sale to these State agents. Following this initial phase of the project, in preparation for a large rollout over the entire country, we will provide access to this solution to all Togolese citizens,” said Oudou Nsangou, General Manager of Bboxx-EDF Togo.
To gain access, the civil servant or agent of the state will go to an online platform, register, provide a certain amount of information, and this information will be passed to the hierarchical managers of the ministerial department concerned who will validate this information and it will go through the Digital Economy and Digital Transformation and after that will go to the level of the Ministry of Finance for final validation before arriving at Bboxx-EDF Togo.
Bboxx-EDF Togo will give participants of this programme with a guarantee for the term of the contract to improve the user experience.
“During these 12 months, we offer them after-sales service, free maintenance, and the option, if the phone has a problem, to come back to us and acquire another phone,” Oudou Nsangou assured.
The scheme was officially launched in Lomé on Monday, with the first beneficiaries receiving smartphones. The latter did not hesitate to welcome the initiative.
Bboxx has been present in Togo since 2017. In 2020, it signed an agreement with the French electrical firm EDF to provide solar irrigation equipment to 5,000 farmers in order to increase agricultural output and economic potential.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
Talabeyah, a B2B marketplace for food and consumables based in Cairo, has recorded one of the quickest startup exits in Egypt. Even though the startup obtained an undisclosed pre-Seed round from unnamed angel investors in October last year, its new home is Egypt-based fintech MNT-Halan, which has acquired it for an undisclosed sum.
“We are happy to have finally reached the closing and are very much looking forward to growing our business nationwide. Teaming with MNT-Halan provides us with extensive talent and technological and financial power to allow us to rapidly scale our operations. We are thrilled to be part of MNT-Halan’s vision and are excited to expand cross border with them,’’ Karim Nassef, CEO of Talabeyah, said.
Here’s Why Fintech MNT-Halan Acquired The FMCG Disruptor Talabeyah
Although the terms of the sale were not disclosed, this is a new chapter for MNT-Halan, which intends to disrupt the present multi-layered and fragmented FMCG supply chain model in Egypt and empower small merchants.
The MNT-Halan digital ecosystem consists of small company and consumer lending, payments, and e-commerce. Adding a digital FMCG offering to MNT-merchant Halan’s network significantly boosts the company’s breadth and scope, as well as its ecosystem’s stickiness.
“The acquisition of Talabeyah is another step in our strategy of building a comprehensive digital ecosystem and is a perfect fit for our two companies. Talabeyah has developed an elaborate online catalogue, signed contracts with the largest FMCG suppliers, and demonstrated solid execution of its operations. MNT-Halan will enable Talabeyah to scale nationwide by providing access to hundreds of thousands of merchants and retailers, financing their customers’ purchases and backing the firm with our 120 tech engineers. I am excited to partner with Karim and his talented team to continue to extend our product offering to Egyptian retailers and further grow our loan book and margins,” MNT-Halan CEO, Mounir Nakhla, said.
Credits: MNT-Halan
Karim Nassef, Amr Abbas, and Khaled Hussein founded Talabeyah in 2020 to disrupt and modernise the informal FMCG market in Egypt by combining technology, an innovative supply chain strategy, and the founders’ considerable experience in the FMCG industry. The digital platform of Talabeyah gives small retailers with rapid access to a vast selection of products, transparent price information, and highly dependable service in order to optimise the management of their operations.
MNT-Halan is a super app founded in 2017 by Mounir Nakhla that offers digital solutions, such as lending, buy now pay later, e-commerce, payments, and mobility and on-demand logistics, in support of its mission to empower underserved communities, address inequality, and promote female economic participation. MNT-Halan raised $120 million in investments last year.
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
Kune Food, a Kenyan food-tech startup that a year ago announced a controversial $1 million pre-seed fundraising round, has hit rock bottom. Frenchman and CEO of the one-year-old firm, Robin Reecht, stated in a social media post that despite selling more than 55,000 meals, acquiring more than 6,000 individual clients, and 100 corporate customers, the $3 per meal fee was insufficient to maintain the company’s growth.
“Sad day,” Reecht said, “with the current economic downturn and investment markets tightening up, we were unable to raise our next round. Coupled with rising food costs deteriorating our margins, we just couldn’t keep going.”
Reecht, who founded Kune Food after a three-day frustrating stay in Kenya and on the basis of a three-week “research” stint, stated that Kune’s staff would be hardest hit by the shutdown.
“My first thoughts go to my team. You put your heart and soul into building the Kune that so many people loved. I’m deeply sorry it didn’t work out,” he said.
Reecht urged the entrepreneurs in his network to assist the stranded employees of Kune.
“Please check the Kune “employee page” on LinkedIn and see if your recruitment needs could be filled by some of our team members,” Reecht pleaded. “I know those are difficult times for you too. But they are terrific people who will bring tremendous value to your company. You can call me if you need any reference on a Kune employee.”
Reecht also expressed regret to his investors for the premature demise of his Kune vision.
“Some of you joined the Kune journey when it was just me and a Chef, delivering food on foot to a nearby office,” Reecht said referring to the investors. “Some others joined later and helped us grow into a foodtech startup with a tech platform, a factory, a kitchen studio, 7 distribution hubs, 6000 customers, and a team of 90 people. Not only did you invest in Kune but you gave us your time, brain-width, connections, and emotional support. I am deeply sorry that Kune’s vision didn’t come true. To betray your confidence is something for which I will never forgive myself.”
“My third thought goes to suppliers, customers, bankers, and partners of any sort who supported us along our way. I’m sincerely sorry for the outcome,” Reecht added.
A significant number of Kune’s employees will be laid off as a result of the shutdown. Credits: Kune
Kune Becomes The Latest Startup To Surrender To The Biting Dust Of Funding Crunch Currently Afflicting The Global Startup Ecosystem
Although Kune could not die without a fight, its final throes looked to be occurring at an unfortunate time. According to a recent report, the global IT ecosystem has been experiencing a financial crunch. In the first quarter of 2022, both the United States and Asia had negative year-over-year growth, while Europe and Latin America maintained a Y-o-Y growth of over 30%.
The first throes of Kune’s death began a few weeks ago when it abandoned its initial intention to internalise all production and human resources capacities and instead decided to sell entirely on the platforms it was attempting to disrupt.
“I spoke to 100 investors at least since the beginning of the year. I have exhausted my options. Am just not able anymore to raise money, it’s impossible,” the CEO says.
According to sources, Kune was seeking an additional 400 million Kenyan shillings ($3.5M) to improve its production capacity and extend into further regions of Kenya. The managing director informed Business Daily that the $1 Million (about KES 100Million) was utilised to expand production capacity, build research skills, and strengthen delivery.
“I looked for some companies to buy Kune. I spoke to the CEO of Java, ArtCaffe, Nas Servair, Bidco, and several others, no company is interested to buy Kune,” the CEO told the devastated employees. “We don’t sell enough meals every day…We are still a niche product and so was unable to find an acquirer. Which I was trying to do to prevent you from losing your jobs and other investors from losing their money and the company.”
Kune’s Pre-seed Fundraising Was Marred By Controversies
Kenyans were angered by unsavoury remarks made by Robin Reecht on the occasion of the company’s successful pre-seed investment round one year ago. Robin stated in an interview with the American technology news outlet TechCrunch:
“After three days of coming into Kenya, I asked where I can get great food at a cheap price, and everybody tell me it’s impossible. It’s impossible because either you go to the street and you eat street food, which is really cheap but with not-so-good quality, or you order on Uber Eats, Glovo or Jumia, where you get quality but you have to pay at least $10.”
Kenyans equated the views of the founder of the yet-to-be-launched startup to the common “white saviour” mentality and “white privilege” that many Western, white people have whenever they land on the African continent.
This story here reminds me of an article written by medium which pointed out : 1) white tech start up are 50,000% more likely to get funded in kenya than the USA. 2)65% of founders were from the USA. 3) 65% of this expatriates tech founders had lived here for 0 yrs before… https://t.co/UeUj5AmDidpic.twitter.com/Em1JRyDbHU
— Natasha W Parrish (@NatashaWParrish) June 18, 2021
Adding to Wanjiru’s concerns, is Aleya Kassam who marveled at the ease of access to funds by Reecht, based on a three-week “research” timeframe, as well as what problem Reetch was trying to tackle.
Dude came to Kenya in November. Started this company in December. And by June has already been given 1 million dollar investment
Reecht believes that many things at Kune should have been done differently, and better. However, he believes that the upcoming months will provide his crew time to reflect on Kune’s failure, and he hopes to discuss it at the appropriate time.
In the interim, it would be prudent for Kune to liquidate its assets.
“If you know anyone who could be interested to acquire Kune’s IP or Assets, please reach out by PM,” Reecht said.
In Summary, Here’s What Kune Food Did While It Existed
Kune, founded by CEO Robin Reecht in December 2020, provided freshly prepared, ready-to-eat meals. After a preliminary test in early 2021, the business debuted its freshly prepared meals and on-demand delivery service in August, 2021 serving Nairobi’s working and middle classes
Kune Food shuts down Kune Food shuts down Kune Food shuts down Kune Food shuts down
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
