The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Feb 2024

Mamamoni operates a female agent network that distributes PoS devices and digital financial services to underserved communities. The company focuses on training and equipping young women with digital jobs and skills to reduce financial exclusion. Mamamoni’s recent initiative targets unemployed women aged 18–35, aiming to create over 2,000 agent jobs. The business collaborates with partners such as VFD Microfinance Bank to supply resources that help agents sustain their businesses and power transactions. Mamamoni is actively expanding the Mamamoni Female Agent Network and is promoting applications for aspiring agents to join its waitlist. Contact and more information are available on the company website and via the team email provided in the announcement.

Participated · Debt Financing · Nov 2023

Shekel Mobility operates a B2B marketplace and mobility fintech that helps auto dealers find inventory, access financing and sell cars across Africa. Its flagship product, Shekel Credit, provides dealers with loans covering up to 70% of vehicle costs (dealers typically contribute 30%), with credit limits up to $200,000 and typical vehicle loans in the $5,000–$20,000 range. The company reports a 0% default rate on its credit product and has powered more than $56 million in transactions, supporting over 1,400 auto dealers and ~7,000 cars to date. Shekel says its ARR is slightly over $2 million and plans to use the new funding to quadruple ARR ahead of a next priced round. The startup is building additional offerings, including Shekel Business to digitize informal trading processes for dealers, plus more digital tools and physical infrastructure to reduce dealership operating costs. Founders Benjamen Oladokun and Sanmi Olukanmi previously built and exited Eazypapers Technologies, and the team aims to create the largest auto-dealer ecosystem with a $10 billion annual transaction target by 2025. Shekel Mobility is a fintech neobank and trading platform offering a simplified financing and operating system for auto dealers in Africa. Dealers pre-approved by the platform provide at least 30% of a vehicle’s value and Shekel disburses the remaining 70% after vetting; purchased vehicles are housed in approved car lots. Since launching operations in January 2022 the company has enrolled over 1,000 dealers and powered more than $19 million in transactions; it has financed about 3,500 vehicles worth roughly $20 million and processes over $2 million in transactions monthly. The company reports a 0% default rate tied to its credit model and says onboarding has enabled dealers to triple sales and grow inventory. Shekel was selected for Y Combinator’s Winter 2023 batch. Planned moves include owning car lot(s) in the coming months and prioritizing additional debt funding to scale across Africa and other emerging markets.