Led · Equity · Feb 2024

OfferZen is a South African platform for hiring developers, founded in 2015 and launched in 2016. The company links screened, job-seeking developers with openings at more than 2,000 South African and international companies. Its core product is a developer hiring marketplace; the business recently reformatted its model to add a fixed-fee unlimited hiring subscription alongside the standard per-hire fee. The subscription was introduced after a challenging 2023 and a significant number of customers moved to the subscription model over the past year. OfferZen announced staff changes, including co-founder Philip Joubert stepping down as CEO and former VP of marketing Matt Beck taking over. The company says the new funding will support product improvements and major platform updates, including new AI-driven ways for candidates and companies to connect. OfferZen operates an online marketplace where curated software developers sign up as candidates and are made available to companies for permanent roles, staying live for four weeks with guaranteed outreach. The company reports over 100,000 developers and more than 1,000 hiring companies on its platform, with most users in South Africa, the Netherlands, the U.K. and Germany. OfferZen generates revenue via a pay-per-placement model charging a one-off 12.5% fee of the developer’s first salary and an annual subscription product, which accounts for about 40% of its revenue. After expanding from South Africa into the Netherlands in April 2020 via the TryCatch acquisition, the platform saw a 29% increase in placements between Q3 and Q4 of 2020. Prior to this raise the business was bootstrapped by founders Philip Joubert, Malan Joubert and Brett Jones, who founded the company in 2015. The company plans to deepen its European expansion into two more countries and invest the new funding into its tech community as well as operations, product and growth teams.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2022

MoneyFellows digitizes the traditional ROSCA model by letting users form or join savings “circles” through its app and matching savers and borrowers using behavioural data, credit scores, and income tiers. The company typically does not lend from its balance sheet, stepping in only when a circle has an unfilled slot; under 10% of slots are unfilled and only about 7–8% of active slots require the company to supply working capital. MoneyFellows has kept operations lean and says it has reached profitability in Egypt. Since launching in 2016, the platform has grown to over 8.5 million users (up from 4.5 million at the last funding milestone) and the average payout per user has increased from 23,000 EGP to 45,000 EGP. It recently launched a card product for payouts, repayments, and merchant spending, and plans to add investment, payroll, insurance, and remittance products. After nearly a decade refining the model, the company has partnered with over 350 local and regional entities, facilitated more than $50 million in investments, and plans to expand regionally starting with a Morocco launch by year-end. Money Fellows digitizes traditional money circles (ROSCAs), enabling users to join, form and participate in rotating savings groups via its app while applying credit assessments to broaden participant pools. The platform charges a one-time service fee (about 6% for early slots, decreasing for later slots) and generates additional revenue via B2B merchant partnerships and commissions. It sets aside reserves and follows a provisioning schedule to cover defaults and manage credit exposure across different ROSCA slots. The company reports over 4.5 million registered users, with roughly 7% monthly active users and an average payout ticket of about 23,000 EGP (~$1,100); it claims 8x year-over-year growth. Money Fellows also plans to expand its product mix — including buy now pay later, pension products and cards (aiming to earn interchange fees) — and to grow across B2C and B2B segments and into other African and Asian markets. MoneyFellows is a Cairo-based fintech platform that digitises informal rotating savings and credit associations (money circles) to help users manage group lending and savings. Its product includes salary automated deductions, fixed payout dates and a smart scoring system to assess users. The startup says it has over 150,000 active users verified by a user assessment algorithm. MoneyFellows was founded in 2016 by CEO Ahmed Wadi. The company plans to use new investment to expand operations across Egypt and into other African countries and to launch a slate of new products in the coming months. MoneyFellows offers a digital platform that automates and manages informal rotating savings and credit circles with features like salary automated deductions, fixed payout dates and a smart scoring system. Since launching it has grown to over 250,000 registered users and 65,000 monthly active users, with paying users showing 60% month-on-month growth. The company reports having generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue and says over $5 million has circulated through the platform. Current product plans include a software release with new features and user-experience improvements and integration of multiple ewallets and direct debit options via banking partners. MoneyFellows also plans bill-payment and merchant-acceptance features to let users spend credit at merchants. The startup aims to expand across MENA (Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia) and into several African markets (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa) to increase financial inclusion for underserved populations.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

Root offers insurance APIs and a low-code digital insurance platform that sit on top of insurers so businesses and developers can build, integrate and launch insurance products into websites, chatbots and mobile apps. The company began with programmable bank accounts and cards but has since made insurance APIs its core offering. Root primarily targets non-insurance companies (telcos, retailers and banks) and affinity insurance players; clients include Mr Price Money, FinChoice, Telkom, Metropolitan, Sanlam and Guardrisk. Its platform has processed millions of policies and thousands of claims each month. Root generates revenue via subscription licensing fees priced by client size and complexity, and it also handles compliance and customer reach channels for its customers. With the new funding, Root plans to roll out its flexible low-code platform into other markets, particularly Europe, while keeping a large part of its team in South Africa.

Participated · Equity · May 2021

LifeQ is an Atlanta-based provider of business-grade biometrics and health information derived from wearable devices and sensors. The company generates 24/7 biometrics and near-clinical-grade health information to detect health problems earlier, manage chronic and acute conditions, and support prevention. LifeQ uses these data streams to build health and wellness solutions for consumer, business, and clinical applications and offers GDPR-compliant products. LifeQ’s technology is integrated by wearable-device makers, insurers, reinsurers, health-tech companies, clinicians, researchers, and analytics firms. The company has commercial relationships with device and consumer brands including Samsung, Xiaomi, Fossil Group, Montblanc, Motorola, Suunto, and HannoverRe. LifeQ announced it secured $47M in funding to support its continued product and commercial development.

Participated · Series C · Jul 2019

Bolt is a global shared mobility business operating a suite of services including ride-hailing, scooters and e-bikes, food delivery, grocery delivery, free-floating car-sharing, and corporate mobility. The company serves over 150 million customers across more than 45 countries in Europe and Africa. Bolt aims to accelerate the transition from privately owned cars to shared mobility by offering alternatives for multiple use cases. Financially, Bolt recently closed an inaugural €220 million syndicated revolving credit facility, which was upsized during syndication and oversubscribed. The facility is intended for general corporate purposes and is currently undrawn, and the company has previously raised €2 billion in funding. Bolt's management frames the RCF as a sign of financial maturity and incremental flexibility as it works toward being IPO-ready. Bolt is a transportation and ride‑hailing platform focused on providing reliable, affordable and sustainable mobility services. The company operates across numerous European and African countries and has rapidly gained traction. Bolt is described as a frontrunner in its industry and positions itself to transform urban transportation. In early 2022 Bolt raised a €600 million Series F from investors including Sequoia, Fidelity and D1 Capital. The article presents Bolt as a late‑stage, high‑growth company but does not disclose current operating metrics or valuation. No additional financial details or future product roadmaps were provided in the article. Bolt, founded by Markus Villig in 2013 and based in Tallinn, Estonia, is a mobility platform that provides ride-hailing, micromobility (scooters and electric bikes), and food and package delivery. The company has more than 75 million customers across over 40 countries. Bolt has expanded into grocery delivery with a new service, Bolt Market. It plans to launch Bolt Market in 10 European countries over the next few months, including the Baltics and Central Europe, Sweden, Portugal, Croatia, and Romania. All Bolt rides in Europe are carbon-neutral under its Green Plan. In March 2021 Bolt raised $713M at a $4.75B post-money valuation to boost Bolt Market and accelerate expansion of its mobility and delivery products. Bolt is an on-demand marketplace that transports people, food and other items using cars, scooters and bikes across Europe and Africa. The Tallinn, Estonia–based company, founded in 2013, operates in more than 40 countries and has over 50 million customers and more than 1.5 million drivers, including about 400,000 drivers in 70 African cities. Bolt focuses on expanding in emerging markets and is piloting services aimed at under-represented groups, such as a 'Women Only' ride-hailing service in South Africa. The company is pursuing further expansion in Eastern Europe and Africa, with the article specifically citing Ukraine and Nigeria as target markets. On the financial side, Bolt raised $182 million in December and said its valuation grew with that round, though it declined to disclose the updated valuation. The International Finance Corporation's €20 million investment will support expansion of services and programs to empower women and increase access to affordable mobility in emerging markets. Bolt operates a multi‑vertical mobility platform that includes ride‑hailing, scooters and food delivery. The company has developed in‑app safety features such as an SOS button and has built a 4th‑generation scooter with sensors to detect unsafe riding patterns. Bolt plans to roll out further safety functionality in 2021, including automated trip monitoring using AI and driver face verification. The company intends to use new funding to improve safety and quality across its products while continuing to grow its services in Europe and Africa. As of 2020 Bolt covered 200 cities in 40 countries and reported 50 million users globally; Bolt Food, launched in 2019, is available in 16 countries and 33 cities.