This post is a delayed version of Techpoint Digest, a week-daily newsletter that rounds up major happenings in African tech. You can start receiving it hours before everyone else if you subscribe now
Good day,
Today I’m discussing:
- Float’s $17m seed to power small businesses
- Asaak’s raise to support asset financing
Float wants to power small businesses in Africa
If you follow our newsletter closely, you probably observed how much I was fascinated by the number of funding startups are securing to improve small and medium scale business activities in Africa. Be it bookkeeping, logistics and eCommerce, to a total overhaul of their operations, 2021’s numbers showed these startups meant business.
This year, the trend has not stopped. Float, a Ghanaian fintech has raised $17 million seed to help, you guessed it, power small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The round was a mix of $7 million equity led by Tiger Global and Jam Fund, and $10 million debt led by Carius.
With slight tweaks to their approach, you’ll find the likes of Brass, Kippa, Alerzo, Capiter, Sabi, and Payhippo playing in this space.
Micro-lending platforms are waxing strong, but SME lending still remains a difficult nut to crack in Africa and really generous estimates in Nigeria put the gap at $28 billion. These SMEs account for the bulk of employment in nearly every continent and contribute a huge chunk…
