The Capital Quest | African startups NowNow, Bitmama, BusyMed, 5 Quarters get VC cheques

Six-year-old Nigerian fintech NowNow has raised $13 million in a seed funding round led by Dubai-based venture capital firm NeoVision Ventures, India-based DLF Family Office and Shadi Abdulhadi.

NowNow, founded by Indian-origin executives Sahir Berry and Mahesh Nair, will use the money to roll out its services across Africa.

NowNow started as a mobile wallet five years ago but has evolved to become an embedded finance platform. Its key offering allows Nigerians to access financial services like sending and receiving money and paying bills.

The startup is getting into NFC-enabled technology and is undergoing a pilot with small business clients. On the B2B side, it is targeting 5,000 SMEs with its business-in-a-box solution, including the NFC-enabled tech, by the end of 2022.

The fintech is also aiming to grow its retail consumer base five-fold to a million by December. Besides Nigeria, it has set eyes on Angola and Liberia.

Bitmama

Crypto exchange Bitmama, which raised pre-seed funding of $350,000 last October to expand across Africa, has scooped up a pre-seed extension of $1.65 million, closing the round at $2 million. The extension round was led by Unicorn Growth Capital and Launch Africa.

Adaverse, Flori Ventures, Tekedia Capital, GreenHouse Capital, ODBA, Five35 Ventures, Chrysalis Capital, Enrich Africa, Thrive Africa, Angellist Ventures and angel investors also participated.

San Francisco-based Flori Ventures had led the previous round with Nigeria-based VCs, Emergence Capital and Fedha Capital, besides a string of other angels and VCs who had chipped in last year.

Founded in 2019 by Ruth Iselema, Bitmama is one of the prominent crypto exchanges in West Africa—especially Nigeria and Ghana.

It enables the exchange and sale of cryptocurrencies and cross-border payments transactions. Its cross-border payment option, Changera, allows users to send and receive money internationally, purchase airtime and data, and pay utility bills.

BusyMed

South African healthtech startup BusyMed has raised an undisclosed amount in a new round of investment from E4E Africa.

Led by Mpathi Jezile, the four-year-old venture provides a digital aggregator platform with access to products sold by independent pharmacies, which can be delivered to home swiftly. It had previously raised capital from LionPride two years ago.

The startup is looking to bring more pharmacies in its network.

5 Quarters

Egypt-based edtech 5 Quarters has raised an undisclosed seed round from a Saudi angel investor. Founded in 2016 by Mohamed Salah and Noha Emad, 5 Quarters offers healthcare professionals online courses to improve their skills.

The startup plans to use the money raised to fuel its expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, as well as add new services for medical professionals.

The firm claims it has served over 15,000 customers to date in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, UAE, Tunisia and Jordan.

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