In this week’s deals digest, Fintech led investments in Africa with Kuda’s $10 million investment. In emerging markets, Reliance Retail led the region following a $1.3 billion into the retailer while Chile made another appearance with a $47 million investment in Cementos Bio Bio. Globally, US’ startup Nuro trailed behind Reliance at $500 million.
Top Venture Deals in Africa
Nigerian Fintech raised $10 million from Target Global, Entree Capital, Raffael Johnen founder of Auxmoney and Johan Lorenzen, the founder of Holvi among other investors. Kuda will use this record seed investment to accelerate growth plans and keep up with customer demands.
South Africa’s SwiftVEE, an online livestock auction platform, raised $1.5 million from Subtropico. The platform which uses AI to match livestock buyers and sellers globally will use the funding to expand its platform and reach neighbouring countries including Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
Kenya’s Credit data Marketplace has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Microtaction to launch in Nigeria and open a Lagos office.
Top 3 Venture Deals in Emerging Markets
Reliance Retail raised $1.3 billion from public Investment Fund (PIF) in exchange for a 2.4% equity stake in the retail chain. The investment pushed the value of the platform to $62.4 billion. This is PIF’s second investment in Reliance industries, following an earlier $1.5 billion investment into Reliance Jio Platforms for a 2.32% stake.
India’s XpressBees, a provider of e-commerce fulfillment solutions, raised $110 million from Gaja Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, and Investcorp. The five-year-old logistics startup will use the Series E funds to automate its hubs and sorting centres as well as expand its delivery footprint to cover the whole country.
Grupo Gloria invested $47 million into Chile’s Cementos Bio Bio, a manufacturer of cement, concretes, aggregates, and lime. This was in exchange for a 19.05% interest in the cement maker. It is also Chile’s second reappearance in this deals digest.
Top 3 Venture Deals Globally in this Deals Digest
In the global section of the deals digest, US autonomous delivery startup Nuro received a $500 million investment from T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments, Ballie Gifford, Softbank Vission Fund 1, and Greylock. The Series C funding pushes its valuation past $5 billion to scale to new cities and markets, entering Houston in the near term.
Chineses startup Pony.ai raised 267 million from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, 5Y Capital, ClearVue Partners, Fidelity China Special Situations PLC, and Eight Roads. The funds will primarily drive research and development for the autonomous driving technology solutions company.
Germany’s E-scooter startup Tier raised $250 million from Softbank Vision Fund 2, Mubadala, Northzone, White Star Capital and three other investors. The company will use the new funds to deploy more scooters, launch new products and expand into new cities.
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