TechNigeria: A weekly digest of what went down in Nigeria’s tech space

ShipBlu, Indicina, Bud Financials, Esusu, Juni, GoMyCode, FLEETCOR. These are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Nigerian digital lending startup, Indicina, on Monday announced securing a seed round of $3 million led by Target Global.

Also, Swedish eCommerce FinTech, Juni, closed $206 million in a Series B and venture debt funding round, going on to be the largest raiser for the week.

Let’s get into details.

During the week, global corporate payments company, FLEETCOR Technologies, announced the acquisition of a UK-based cross-border payments provider, Global Reach Group.

FLEETCOR Technologies chairman and chief executive officer, Ron Clarke, on Friday confirmed the acquisition in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria.

FLEETCOR Technologies, according to local media, helps businesses spend less by providing innovative solutions that enable and control expense-related purchasing and payment processes.

In another news, Tunisian edtech startup, GoMyCode, secured $8M Series A funding co-led by AfricInvest, through its Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF), and French-based development finance institution, Proparco.

The Chief Executive Officer of GoMyCode, Yahya Bouhlel, confirmed the development in a statement on Thursday.

According to Yahya Bouhlel, the latest raiser will help expand further into drive countries like South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Saudi Arabia.

More on fund raiser, Africa and North America-focused EnvironmentTech Startup, Virridy, during the week, raised a $5.5m Series A funding round to accelerate the growth and development of technology.

Virridy founder and CEO, Dr. Evan Thomas, Thursday, in a media release confirmed that the latest funding.

The round was led by Accord Capital, with participation from existing investors FHI 360, Cleo Capital, Reverent Rock, Save Earth, and VertueLab.

Being the biggest raiser for the week, Swedish eCommerce FinTech, Juni, closed $206 million in a Series B and venture debt funding round led by Mubadala Capital.

Juni Co-Founder and CEO, Samir El-Sabini, confirmed the latest funding round in a statement on Thursday, noting that the round saw participation from EQT Ventures, Felix Capital, Cherry Ventures, and Partners of DST Global.

The Göteborg-based fintech company offers a banking app and platform for e-commerce and online marketing entrepreneurs.

A significant win for Africa during the week was American business magazine, Forbes, including two African-owned startups, Chipper Cash and Esusu, among 2022 Edition of Forbes Fintech 50.

The latest Forbes Fintech 50 winners were confirmed on the Forbes official website on Wednesday.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that Chipper Cash was founded by two Africans, Uganda’s Ham Serunjogi and Ghana’s Maijid Moujaled while Esusu provides rent reporting, property management analytics, and rental assistance unlocking financial access for renters and property owners.

Meanwhile, AI-based open banking platform, Bud Financials, during the week secured $80M Series B funding to expand into two more countries.

Ed Maslaveckas, the CEO and co-founder, confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday, noting that the fund will be used for R&D and expanding into new markets.

Read also: TechNigeria: A weekly digest of what went down in Nigeria’s tech space

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the Series B round was led by Bellis Phantom Holdco ltd, and saw participation from SEI investments Outward VC and others.

In Egypt, health insurance startup, Nice Deer, raised $1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by DisrupTech Ventures.

Mustafa Medhat, CEO of Nice Deer confirmed the latest funding on Tuesday.

The Cairo-based startup bridges the gap between health care providers, and companies by facilitating insurance and repayment of insurance claims.

Nigerian digital lending startup, Indicina, on Monday announced securing a seed round of $3 million led by Target Global.

Chief Executive Officer, Yvonne Johnson, confirmed the latest funding in a statement made available to journalists.

The seed round saw participation from Greycroft and RV Ventures while the firm’s partner Ricardo Schäefer will join Indicina’s board.

Lastly, ecommerce shipping experience platform in Egypt, ShipBlu, partnered with location technology company, what3words.

ShipBlu, in a statement on Monday, noted that the partnership will enable shoppers to provide their what3words address in English or Arabic at checkout through the ShipBlu integration.

What3words, which is a proprietary geocode system, is designed to identify any location with a resolution of about 3 meters.

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