NewGen, a tech gaming startup and MooMe, an agritech startup have secured seed funding from the newly established Maxula Seed Fund which came into being to support innovative, early-stage Tunisian startups with high growth potential across a range of impactful sectors. NewGen, a gaming startup founded in May 2019 by Seifeddine Ben Hamouda, and agri-tech startup MooMe, a decision-making system for farmers are Maxula’s first clients.
Raouf Aouadi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Maxula Seed Fund.
Created by asset management company Maxula Gestion, the fund has raised capital from insurance company MAE and the Arab Tunisian Bank (ATB), and wants to back companies with innovation at the heart of their business models.
“The Maxula Seed Fund was created by Maxula Gestion as part of a synergy with our portfolio of investments. Our objective is to offer both financing to startups to develop their activity and new ideas to the companies which constitute our portfolio of participations in order to try to allow them to create new markets,” said Raouf Aouadi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Maxula Seed Fund.
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
MAXULA Gestion, manager and distributor of the Startup Maxula Seed Fund, has announced a new investment in Startup MooMe, a decision-making system for farmers. This is the fund’s third investment after those made in Startups NewGen (specializing in the development of Video games) and NextGen (specializing in the development of educational mobile applications). The exact amount involved in this round of funding was not disclosed.
Ahmed Ben Achballah, Founder and CEO, MooMe
With this investment, MooMe will create synergies with the company Nour Agricole specializing in the manufacture of cattle feed, in order to support thousands of cattle breeders and also help veterinarians to better manage their projects.
Why The Investor Invested
Recall that Startup Maxula Seed Fund, to which the insurance company MAE (Mutuelle Assurance de l’Enseignement) and the Arab Tunisian Bank (ATB) are subscribed, mainly intervenes to help promoters of startups to exploit invention patents, to complete the technical and economic study of the project as well as to develop the technological process of the product before the marketing phase, and finally to complete the financing scheme.
The fund which obtained the authorization and the visa of Tunisia’s Financial Market Council (CMF) respectively on November 21 and December 19, 2018, aims to carry out transactions in capital or quasi-capital with a perspective of value creation over a medium / long term horizon.
Its objective is to invest in startups based in Tunisia whose economic model has a strong innovative dimension, particularly technological. The activity of these startups must be with high growth potential and not having exceeded eight years following the year of incorporation.
Investing in MooMe is therefore one of the ways of fulfilling the fund’s vision.
In Tunisia, Agritech is only in its infancy. But, particularly for investors interested in the country, it appears to have great potential. More than EUR 10 million was raised in 2020 by the Tunisian-French startup NextProtein, which produces food from fly larvae. One of the investors, Khaled Helioui, sees this success as a boost for the remainder of the tech ecosystem, which should concentrate on focus on quality rather than quantity.
“It’s no coincidence that one of the startups that raised the most funds in the country is in the agritech sector,” Helioui says. “The issues that [agritech] addresses, such as the risk of famine or lack of water, are increasingly prevalent.”
Founded by 36-year-old Ahmed Achballah, MooMe is a platform which allows diary farmers to follow all types of data coming from dairy cows thanks to a smart collar. This analysis provides farmers with key information such as adequate time to inseminate cows or their health status.
“The most important thing for a farmer is to know when to do artificial insemination,” says Achballah. “This data allows us to alert the person in advance.”
Black collars have replaced the bells on animals’ necks on the farms in Tunisia’s northwest where he tested his product. The data that is translated into algorithms and spreadsheets in Tunis is collected by MooMe boxes installed in barns and then sent back to the platform to which the farmer has access.
In Tunisia, the average age of most farmers is 50. And so, instead of directly pitching his product to the farmers themselves, Achballah often speaks first to their children, who tend to be more open to new technologies. He has a great deal of interaction with veterinarians as well. The MooMe cow collars sell for 62 euros or so. For monthly subscription bundles, consumers often pay.
MooMe is the winner of the Tunisia Agritech Challenge 2019 among 240 projects.
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
