Seedstars Africa Ventures closes investment from French PE firm. 2 other things and a trivia

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today.

1. Seedstars Africa Ventures closes investment from French PE firm

Switzerland-based company Seedstars, through its Africa Ventures arm, has announced receiving a new investment from French private equity firm LBO France.

The new raiser is aimed towards Seedstar’s US$100 million fund for early-stage African tech startups.

The Switzerland-based company is focused on entrepreneurial development in emerging markets, partnering with Paris-based VC firm, First Growth Ventures.

According to the equity firm, the fund will focus on financing innovative companies operating in Sub-Saharan Africa in seed and Series A rounds.

On portfolios managed by Seedstars, the firm has closed a third investment in an agri-tech company after previous deals in education and connectivity.

Today, it has invested up to US$2 million, and describes itself as a missing link between accelerators and later-stage funds.

Tech Trivia: When was the first artificial satellite launched into space?

A. October 1940
B. January 1940
C. October 1957
D. January 1957

Answer: See end of post.

2. Villgro Africa disburses $170k funding in 4 health-focused startups

African impact investor, Villgro Africa, has disbursed $170k in funding to four health-focused startups.

Before now, the company was an India-based Villgro Innovations Foundation.
After expansion to Africa in 2017, the firm launched in Kenya.

In 2020, the firm rebranded as Villgro Africa to expand across the continent in a bid to support more e-health startups.

Two of the newly funded startups are Kenya-based DawaPay and Damu-Sasa.

DawaPay is a digital platform that partners with pharmaceutical manufacturers in promoting last-mile distribution of affordable essential medicines and laboratory consumables while Damu-Sasa provides a cloud-based, end-to-end blood services information management system to support the sourcing of blood, managing inventory and transfusion processes.

The two other startups include Ethiopian startup Simbona, and Ugandan company Wekebere.

READ ALSO: Africa Startup Initiative Programme unveils new cohort. 2 other things and a trivia

3. Harambee Youth Accelerator acquires talent hiring app Giraffe

Youth employment accelerator, Harambee, has acquired South Africa-based mobile recruitment platform Giraffe.

According to Harambee, Giraffe’s existing base of job seekers and employers will join the initiative over the month of June as its direct services transfer to Harambee.

The startup was founded in 2015 as an automated job search and matching platform focused on entry and mid-level skill sets.

Giraffe’s mobile app helps job seekers create CVs on their smartphones for free, take educational courses and apply for jobs, and is zero-rated on all major networks.

Speaking on the development, Giraffe’s CEO, Anish Shivdasani, expressed his excitement over the acquisition.

He said: “We are thrilled to be integrating our platform with Harambee as part of the SA Youth initiative, which is by far the largest ever coordinated effort to tackle the scourge of youth unemployment in SA. Together with Harambee, Giraffe will be able to impact far more young people and businesses than we could have done alone.”

Tech Trivia Answer: 1957

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviets launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into space.

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