Participated · Equity · Jul 2022

Zazuu is a U.K.-based, Africa-focused fintech aggregator that lets customers search, compare and complete remittance transfers across multiple providers. It began as a chatbot in 2020 providing daily remittance rates via Facebook and Telegram and has evolved into a full aggregator listing more than 17 service providers. The platform offers Search and Compare for transfers from Canada, the U.S. and seven European countries, including the U.K., and an in-app Pay with Zazuu checkout currently available to senders in the U.K. and receivers in Nigeria and Ghana. Zazuu reported its user base grew 2.3x in Q1 2022 versus the whole of 2021, though it did not disclose absolute user numbers. The company aims to increase transparency in remittance pricing, lower acquisition costs for providers, and build products addressing migrants’ financial challenges such as access to credit. It plans to use new funding to hire talent and scale its payment and product offerings across additional sender and receiver countries.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2022

AltSchool Africa operates a remote-first online school that upskills non-technical and early-career learners with technical and soft skills and partners with higher institutions to provide diploma certificates. Its one-year software engineering program offers three tracks—frontend, backend, and cloud—with nine months of coursework followed by a three-month internship at local tech companies. Admission requires a home study kit, an assessment with an 85% pass mark for full entry, and the platform also exposes first-semester content for free to those not admitted. More than 8,000 people from 19 countries applied for the cohort starting in April, with strongest interest from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and Botswana. AltSchool currently uses an income-sharing agreement (graduates pay $500 after being hired, payable in installments) but is considering switching to a $20–$50 monthly subscription for the next batch. The company plans to add product, blockchain, and data courses (product modules targeted for Q2) and is exploring B2B partnerships with private schools while building content, technology infrastructure, and an offline/online community model.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2021

Treepz is a Nigerian-based mobility startup offering vehicle rental services for businesses and commuter transport solutions across African markets. Over the past year the company expanded into Uganda, Ghana and now Kenya, where it operates in Nairobi and Mombasa. Treepz raised an additional $1.2 million through strategic investment deals over the last 12 months to support the expansion. Investors in the funding round included GIIG Africa Fund, MoAngels, Roselake VC, Unpopular VC, Goodwater Capital and BKR Capital. Follow-on investments came from existing backers ShockVentures, Winston Limited, Aston Investments and Novum Actus. Treepz has signed corporate and institutional customers such as Twiga Foods, Abacus Schools, OAK House School and Diamond Trust Bank, and appointed Samar Patel as Kenya country manager to drive local growth. Treepz operates three core verticals: Daily Treepz (intracity fixed-route rides with seat reservations and a digital wallet), Travel Treepz (intercity bus aggregation), and corporate bookings. The company has expanded by acquiring operators, including Ghana’s Stabus and Uganda’s Ugabus, the latter giving Treepz access to ~70% of Uganda’s bus operators and around 50,000 customers. Intracity trips are the majority of usage, with customers spending an average of $2–$3 per day. Treepz says its technology functions as an inventory and operations-management system for bus operators, positioning it as a tech partner to drive growth. The company plans to consolidate positions in West and East Africa next year, targeting expansions into Tanzania, Burundi and Ethiopia from its Nigerian base. Treepz has also received strategic capital from Google’s African Investment Fund to support aggressive expansion of its ride-sharing and intercity ticketing services. Plentywaka operates a mobile app connecting users to more than 900 vehicles (cars, vans and buses) through intrastate (Dailywaka) and interstate (Travelwaka) services. Since going live in September 2019 the company says it has acquired over 80,000 users and completed up to half a million rides. The startup has set up its headquarters in Canada while maintaining operations in Nigeria across 21 cities. As part of regional expansion it fully acquired Ghanaian mobility startup Stabus and rebranded it Plentywaka Ghana, bringing an additional 12,000 users and a track record of moving over 100,000 people in Accra. Some of the former Stabus customers include multinationals MTN and GB Foods. Plentywaka plans to launch in Accra on September 16 and aims to replicate expansion in six other African countries within 24 months while raising a Series A to fund that growth. Plentywaka is a bus-booking startup that launched in Lagos in September 2019 and provides scheduled commuter bus services. Since launch it has completed over 100,000 rides across seven routes and amassed more than 40,000 customers. The company is expanding to Abuja, where it plans to launch five routes and offer a week of free travel at launch. Plentywaka raised $300,000 in a pre-seed round to fund that expansion and broader growth. The funding will be used to improve mapping technology on Android and iOS, enhance customer experience, introduce better payment options, and expand into other Nigerian states. The company also operates Staff Bus Solutions and a same-day delivery offering, Logistics by Plentywaka, and is a subsidiary of the newly renamed EMFATO Holdings (formerly CrowdyVest Holdings).