• Norebase

  Led · Seed · May 2022

  Norebase provides a platform and plug‑and‑play Incorporation API that lets founders and businesses incorporate in multiple African countries and the U.S. within minutes or expand to new locations in about a week. Its services include incorporation, bank‑account openings, virtual mailing addresses, and trademark/IP registration, with upsells tied to regulatory and compliance needs. The company launched in September 2021 and says its incorporation service currently covers Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mauritius and Burkina Faso. Norebase reports nine partners for its API and claims 100% month‑on‑month growth in transaction volumes and 40% month‑on‑month revenue growth over the last six months. Clients named in the article include Brass, Nestcoin, Edenlife, Orda, Sudo Africa, GetEquity, Workpay, Kloudcommerce and Patricia. The startup competes with at least one Lagos‑based firm, Sidebrief, and plans to continue product development and hiring to scale.

• EMTECH

  Participated · Seed · Mar 2022

  EMTECH provides software, data and services that connect central banks to other regulators and financial services providers, with platforms that power regulatory data exchange, compliance, supervision, currency issuance and currency movement. Its offerings focus on digital cash, regulatory sandboxes, compliance, accelerating payments and settlement times, and driving financial inclusion. The company is founded and led by Carmelle Cadet, a former IBM Blockchain executive. EMTECH aims to help central banks modernize payments systems, enhance supervisory capabilities, and develop infrastructure needed for tokenization and central bank digital currency. As part of a strategic partnership, Accenture will integrate EMTECH products into its core banking transformation services and EMTECH will join Accenture Ventures' Project Spotlight. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Emtech develops central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure and a CBDC Innovation Kit aimed at fintech platforms and financial service providers. The firm announced the launch of its CBDC Innovation Kit last month and says it will support experimentation with virtual-currency solutions backed by reserve banks. Emtech is continuing development of its CBDC technology stack alongside its Regtech offerings and plans to launch an initial version of a CBDC platform in late 2023, according to founder Carmelle Cadet. The company is headquartered in New York. Financially, Emtech announced a $4 million investment led by Matrix Partners India and said the latest round brings total investments to $10 million. The round included contributions from BTN, Equity Alliance, LoftyInc Capital and Vested and joins existing backers Noemis Ventures, Octerra Capital and 500 Global. Emtech provides a digital regulatory platform that includes an innovator’s center and a regulatory sandbox to help fintechs prepare, test, and integrate with multiple regulators. The platform supports pre-market technical integration via regulatory reporting APIs, live reporting of data, and cross-regulator collaboration to enable cross-border innovation and financial inclusion. After a pilot in Ghana, Emtech signed five agreements with central banks across Africa and the Caribbean and has moved into production. The startup raised $4 million in seed funding from a group of investors to support that expansion. Founder and CEO Carmelle Cadet launched the company in 2019 and says Emtech plans to be working with at least 10 central banks by the end of the year. Emtech also plans to introduce a CBDC platform for regulators, partnering with Hedera Hashgraph to build a high-performance, energy-efficient solution.

• AnKa

  Participated · Series A · Jan 2022

  ANKA, previously Afrikrea, operates an all-in-one e-commerce SaaS launched in 2021 to support sellers and complement its marketplace. The company began as an online marketplace in 2016 and has recorded 250% year-on-year growth since launch. ANKA’s platform has sellers from 47 of 54 African countries, has facilitated over $35 million in transactions across 174 countries, and records over 700,000 visits per month; the majority of customers are in Europe and North America. More than 80% of its sellers are women, who have grown revenue by about 50% on average since joining. The company plans to use new funding to build out mobile infrastructure, expand product development and operations across new verticals, and to boost hiring across product, sales, and finance while recruiting remote developers. The raise brings its total funding to $8.1 million.

• Shuttlers

  Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

  Shuttlers operates a bus‑sharing platform focused on corporate commutes and individual riders, offering scheduled routes, live bus tracking, optimal routing, digital payments and ride schedules. Launched by CEO Damilola Olokesusi in 2016, the Lagos‑based company runs nearly 260 buses across about 300 routes in Lagos and Abuja and serves 80+ corporate clients. It sells over 9,000 tickets daily, claims 70,000 users (about half have ridden), and reports 3 million B2B trips to date. The startup has three payment plans for companies and individuals, with fares ranging from N850 (~$1.96) to N1300 (~$2.60). Shuttlers says it has cut commuters’ carbon footprints by 85% (about 4 million pounds of CO2) and processed over $1M in transactions prior to its seed. The company plans to build infrastructure to scale its mass transit business, expand into five more Nigerian cities next year, and ramp up hiring in sales, marketing and customer support. Shuttlers operates an app-based platform that lets commuters book seats on scheduled bus routes, offering live bus tracking, optimal routing, digital payments and a subscription feature for recurring rides. The company sells B2B2C, B2B and B2C plans, supplying employers with shared staff transport as well as individual ticketing. Shuttlers claims commuters pay up to 80% less than other ride-hailing services and highlights environmental benefits from reducing cars on the road. Since launching (app revamp in 2019) it reports over 10,000 users, 100+ buses across 30+ routes and 300 stops, more than 2 million trips and over 6,000 tickets sold daily. The founder says the business is profitable while raising this seed round. Shuttlers is planning rapid expansion across Nigeria and into West Africa and Ghana, and has already begun operations in Abuja and acquired a similar player in Ghana.

• Releaf

  Led · Seed · Sep 2021

  Releaf combines proprietary hardware and software — including the Kraken palm-nut de-sheller, the SALT sourcing and logistics application, and the Site geospatial mapping tool — to localize processing and connect smallholder farmers to FMCG manufacturers. The company is focused initially on Nigeria's oil palm industry, placing processing capacity closer to farms to increase quality and reduce logistics costs. Kraken delivers 27–30% higher extraction yields and enables production of palm oil with about 95% purity versus an industry standard of 88%. Since launching its first Kraken prototype in January 2021, Releaf has processed more than 10,000 tons of palm nuts, grown monthly revenue at an average rate of 25%, and secured over $75 million in bookings. Releaf works with leading FMCG manufacturers including Presco and PZ Cussons and provides farmers with training and support on sustainable land management via SALT. The company aims to scale operations and expand into other crops to support climate-adaptive supply chains across Africa. Releaf builds proprietary hardware and software to decentralize food processing for smallholder palm-oil farmers, including Kraken, a patent-pending nut-cracking machine. The company buys palm kernel nuts from farmers, uses Kraken to crack and crush kernels into vegetable oil, and sells finished oil to FMCG processors and local manufacturers in Nigeria’s South South region. Releaf’s software platform connects to over 2,000 smallholder farmers who have supplied more than 10 million kilograms of palm kernel nuts, and Kraken has processed roughly 500 tonnes of palm nuts to date. The startup says its oil yields a lower free fatty acid (FFA) level—about 3.5% versus an industry standard near 5%—which it expects to monetize over time to improve margins. Releaf plans geographic expansion across West Africa rather than broad crop diversification, though it may consider intercropping or adjacent oilseed crops like soybeans or groundnuts. The company will use the seed capital to develop and deploy technology to farmers, while grant funding will provide working capital financing; internal trials reportedly increased smallholder incomes three- to fivefold.

No current team members are available.