IBM Exits 36 African Markets

Khazna Secures $16M 💰 | StarkWare Launches $4M Fund 🔗 | Cauridor Raises $3.5M 🚀

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Good morning and happy weekend!

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Startups Chronicle, proudly presented by Startup Hub Africa 🚀—your go-to resource for all things African startups.

We have a shared destiny, a shared responsibility to save the world from those who attempt to destroy it.- Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Africa’s startup landscape is shifting fast—major acquisitions, strategic exits, and new partnerships are reshaping industries.

Here’s what’s making waves this week:

💼 Major Industry Shifts & Acquisitions

🔹 IBM Exits Direct Operations in 36 African Markets – After 50+ years in Africa, IBM is handing over operations in key markets like Nigeria and Ghana to MIBB, a Midis Group subsidiary. This move comes amid declining consulting revenue (-2%) and infrastructure sales (-8%), though IBM’s software revenue is still growing. What does this mean for Africa’s tech sector? A major shift in enterprise IT services and competition.

🔹 Egypt’s Prepit Acquired by Dsquares—Dsquares, a major loyalty solutions provider, has acquired B2B SaaS loyalty startup Prepit. The deal strengthens Dsquares’ expansion across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. With AI-powered engagement tools, this acquisition is set to redefine customer loyalty programs in the region.

🔹 South African BNPL Fintechs Float & Peach Payments Partner Up—Float, a BNPL startup that enables interest-free payments using existing credit cards, has partnered with Peach Payments, South Africa’s second-largest online payment gateway. The partnership allows thousands of merchants to integrate BNPL into their checkout systems, driving higher conversion rates and flexible payments for consumers.

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💰 Funding & Investment Rounds

🔹 Khazna Secures $16M Pre-Series B – Egyptian fintech Khazna is expanding into Saudi Arabia and applying for a digital banking license in Egypt. The startup serves 50% of Egypt’s smartphone users who lack access to formal financial services.

🔹 Cauridor Raises $3.5M Seed Round—Ivorian fintech Cauridor is expanding its hybrid payments network, which processes $500M+ in total payment volume (TPV) across Francophone Africa. The next stops are Mali and Nigeria.

🔹 Israeli Unicorn StarkWare Launches $4M Blockchain Fund for Africa – StarkWare, valued at $8B, is investing in African blockchain startups, offering up to $150K per startup and potential follow-on funding up to $500K.

🌍 Startups Making Big Moves

🔹 SeamlessHR Targets Nigeria’s $72M Public Sector Market – HR-tech giant SeamlessHR is expanding into government agencies, tapping into a massive new market while competing with global players like SAP, Zoho, and Oracle.

🔥 The Downside: Startup Challenges

🔹 Bento in Crisis: CEO Resigns Amid Controversy – Nigerian HR-tech Bento is in turmoil after CEO Ebun Okubanjo’s abrupt exit, alleged tax fraud, and delayed salaries led to mass employee layoffs.

The African startup scene remains relentless—big wins, bold expansions, and tough lessons are shaping the early tidings of 2025.

📩 What caught your attention this week?

⟹ 🚀 STARTUPS WATCH 🚀 ⟸

Here are the 5 top startups in the African eco-system we think you need to know:

🌟 Name ➜ GreenScooter

🏭️ Industry ➜ Financial Services

📆 Founded ➜ 2016

📍 Location ➜ Gauteng, SA 🇿🇦

💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $200K

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 2-10

👥 Founders

👤 Fezile Dhlamini-Mapela

Green Scooter is Africa’s first all-electric e-hailing platform, providing affordable, eco-friendly last-mile mobility for commuters and businesses. With its Zbee RS & Zbee Cargo electric vehicles, the company offers a cost-effective, zero-emission alternative for urban transport, reshaping how people and goods move in African cities.

Beyond mobility, Green Scooter designs and manufactures its electric powertrain components, including battery packs and energy management systems, ensuring high performance and efficiency. With a vision to lead Africa’s clean mobility revolution, the startup is driving innovation in sustainable transportation while making EV adoption more accessible across the continent. 🌍🔋

🌟 Name ➜ TradeBuza

🏭️ Industry ➜ AgTech

📆 Founded ➜ 2017

📍 Location ➜ Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬

💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $10K

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 11-50

👥 Founders

👤 Nonso Eze
👤 Opeyemi Kufoniyi

TradeBuza is revolutionizing agriculture by providing data-driven infrastructure for agribusinesses, financial institutions, and government organizations to streamline out-grower schemes and commodities trade. By digitizing farm management, credit risk assessments, and payment processing, TradeBuza enhances efficiency, transparency, and financial access for smallholder farmers.

With real-time field monitoring, automated payments, and seamless data management, TradeBuza empowers agribusinesses and cooperatives to optimize production and scale trade operations. By leveraging technology and smart analytics, the startup is bridging the gap between farmers, buyers, and financial institutions, driving sustainable agricultural growth across Africa. 🚜🌾

🌟 Name ➜ KudiBooks

🏭️ Industry ➜ Accounting

📆 Founded ➜ 2021

📍 Location ➜ Kigali, Rwanda 🇷🇼

💰️ Funding Raised ➜ Undisclosed

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 2-10

👥 Founders

👤 Mariam Muganga
👤 Ikuzwe Christian
👤 Jean Pierre Lionçeau

KudiBooks is a cloud-based accounting and payments platform designed for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa. Built for non-finance professionals, KudiBooks simplifies bookkeeping, invoicing, tax tracking, and financial reporting—helping businesses automate workflows, reduce errors, and get paid faster.

With integrated online payments, seamless MoMo Pay and bank connections, and automated reconciliation, KudiBooks acts as a virtual accountant, empowering SMEs to streamline operations and make data-driven decisions. By providing affordable, easy-to-use financial tools, KudiBooks is reshaping how African businesses manage and scale their finances with confidence.📊💰

🌟 Name ➜ Cape AI

🏭️ Industry ➜ AI

📆 Founded ➜ 2015

📍 Location ➜ Western Cape, SA 🇿🇦

💰️ Funding Raised ➜ Undisclosed

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 11 - 50

👥 Founders

👤 Pieter Boon

Cape AI is a South African AI company specializing in machine learning, NLP, and computer vision to help businesses make smarter, data-driven decisions. Founded in 2019 by Pieter Boon and Adit Mehta, the company has delivered 25+ projects and launched four ventures, including Enlabeler and Autoscriber.

With expertise in cloud engineering and AI modeling, Cape AI builds scalable AI solutions while driving AI for good initiatives. Committed to People, Planet, and Profit, the team is shaping the future of intelligent automation. 🤖🚀

🌟 Name ➜ Cryptyd Inc

🏭️ Industry ➜ Gaming

📆 Founded ➜ 2015

📍 Location ➜ Alexandria, Egypt 🇪🇬

💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $180K

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 11 - 50

👥 Founders

👤 Ahmed Alaa
👤 Amera Ahmed

Cryptyd Inc. is an Egypt-based gaming studio specializing in game development, 2D/3D art, and localization for the MENA region. Founded in 2015, the company is backed by Cairo Angels and was incubated at AUC Venture Lab. With a presence in Egypt and the U.S., Cryptyd aims to be the leading game development studio in the Middle East, crafting immersive experiences with captivating graphics and intuitive gameplay.

A Google Play Indie Accelerator graduate, Cryptyd has developed hit titles like Baloot Quest, Havoc Edge, and Masameer Baloot. With expertise in game design, narrative development, and technical artistry, the studio continues to push boundaries in the gaming industry. 🎮🔥

⟹ 💼 💰️ VENTURE CAPITAL WATCH 💼 💰️ ⟸

The African venture capital landscape continues to evolve with multi-million-dollar investments, new funds targeting key sectors, and strategic acquisitions reshaping industries.

Here’s a detailed look at this week’s biggest funding moves:

🚀 New VC Funds & Startup Investments

🔹 Foundation Ventures Secures $25M for Egypt’s Startup Ecosystem – Cairo-based Foundation Ventures has announced the first close of its $25M fund, dedicated to scaling early-stage and growth-stage startups in Egypt. The fund has attracted backing from the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund (EAEF), MSMEDA, and Onsi Sawiris, signaling strong institutional support for Egypt’s growing tech sector.

🔹 StarkWare Launches $4M Blockchain Investment Fund for Africa – Israeli blockchain giant StarkWare, valued at $8B, has unveiled a $4M fund to support pre-seed and seed-stage blockchain startups across Africa. Early-stage projects will receive grants of up to $150K, while high-growth startups building on StarkNet can secure follow-on investments of $500K+. With Africa’s crypto adoption accelerating amid forecasts of $6.7T in business and consumer spending by 2030, blockchain investments are on the rise.

🔹 i3 Initiative Injects $1.6M into 15 African Healthtech Startups – Amidst a decline in African healthtech funding (which accounted for only 6.5% of total VC activity in 2024), the Gates Foundation-backed Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) is stepping up with $50K equity-free grants for 10 early-stage startups and up to $225K each for five additional growth-stage ventures. The program has already backed 60 startups across 16 African nations, creating over 150 strategic connections with healthcare organizations.

🔹 Cauridor Raises $3.5M to Expand Payment Infrastructure in Francophone Africa – Ivorian fintech Cauridor, which operates a network of 25,000+ payment agents across Guinea, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, has raised $3.5M in seed funding. The startup processed $500M in transactions in 2024 and is now expanding into Mali and Nigeria, with plans to integrate blockchain technology to enhance cross-border settlements.

🔹 Khazna Secures $16M Pre-Series B to Enter Saudi Arabia – Egyptian fintech Khazna, which started as an earned wage access provider and evolved into a multi-product fintech, has raised $16M to fuel its digital banking expansion in Egypt and support its entry into the Saudi Arabian market. The company’s backers include SANAD Fund for MSME, Aljazira Capital, Khwarizmi Ventures, Quona Capital, and Speedinvest.

🔹 Tunisian Fintech EasyBank Raises $370K to Support Global Growth – AI-powered digital banking startup EasyBank has secured $370K to expand into the Middle East, North Africa, and France. The startup aims to streamline loan access and advisory services using AI-driven financial solutions.

📈 Strategic Acquisitions & Market Moves

🔹 Egypt’s Dsquares Acquires B2B Loyalty Startup Prepit – Egyptian loyalty solutions giant Dsquares, which operates across banking, telecom, FMCG, and retail, has acquired B2B SaaS loyalty platform Prepit for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will bolster AI-powered customer engagement solutions across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE, as demand for gamified loyalty programs surges in the region.

African startups continue to secure significant VC backing, with fintech, blockchain, and healthtech standing out as key sectors attracting funding. As 2025 unfolds, the push for regional expansion, blockchain integration, and deepening investor confidence is positioning African startups for sustained growth and global competitiveness.

👀 This week’s featured investor is NuState Capital. 👀

NuState Capital is a Johannesburg-based private equity and venture capital firm backing high-growth businesses across Africa. Founded in 2015, the firm invests in education, healthcare, energy, water, financial services, safety, and real estate, with a strong focus on businesses driving positive social impact while delivering exceptional returns.

With a long-term investment strategy, NuState Capital partners with scalable, cash-generative businesses that need expansion capital, business development expertise, and mentorship. Unlike traditional VCs, NuState has no predefined exit strategy, allowing them to support companies for the long haul.

💡 Portfolio Highlights:

✔ Little Ashford – A leading private preschool network driving early childhood education.
✔ BrightBlack Energy – Delivering sustainable, renewable energy solutions to commercial clients.
✔ Rubicon – Advancing transformative technology solutions in emerging markets.
✔ Nurture – A private healthcare provider specializing in acute, sub-acute, and rehabilitation care.

NuState Capital is actively scaling Africa’s next generation of businesses, combining financial resources with strategic expertise, industry networks, and operational support to unlock growth.

🌍 Explore their portfolio and investment approach on SHA! 💰