In this issue of the Weekly Deals Digest, Nigeria and South Africa compete for the top place in the number of deals in the continent. In Nigeria, Big Cabal Media raised an undisclosed investment, whereas Airsmat, a drone data management company raised $0.1 million.
India dominated the emerging market scene with four investment deals amounting to over $263 million. Colombia made a debut in the weekly deals digest with Rappi’s $156 million funding.
READ ALSO: Weekly Deals Digest; Sep 9th – Sep 15th
US and China continue to rule the global scene both in the number and volumes of investment. Insurance Carrier Lloyd’s put the UK on our digest map, raising an investment of $500 million led by Blackstone and Fairfax Financial Holdings.
Top venture Deals in Africa.
Rwanda’s Kasha, a multicategory retailer of women’s products, raised $1 million in a Serie A funding round from the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC), as part of the development bank’s $3.6 billion disbursements to advance development in emerging markets.
Nigeria’s Airsmat, an AI-enabled software provider for drone data management raised $0.1 million seed funding from Zetogon. The company will use the funds to support the launch of its flagship product SmatCrows, which will debut in October in Nigeria and launch in Q2 2021 in other African countries.
Platform Capital (Capital) invested in Big Cabal Media, the parent company of TechCabal, Zikoko and Cabal Creative Studio. The investment will help BCM reach more countries in Africa through its digital media publications.
Syked, an online mental health solutions platform for students, employers and the public raised an undisclosed amount from HaloCare to scale operations across the country.
Top Deals in Emerging Markets.
India’s Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), an online platform focused on mutual funds investment raised $90.6 million from Smallcap World, Singapore Government, Nomura Financial Advisors and five other investors.
Flipkart, an online marketplace for multicategory products, raised $62.8 million from Tencent. The investment pushes Tencent’s stake in the company to 5.34% valued at $1.21 billion post-money. Walmart remains the largest shareholder in the company with 81.87% shareholding.
Colombia’s Rappi, an on-demand delivery service for multicategory retailer, raised $156 million from investors.
Brazil’s Acesso Digital, a facial authentication based access control company access raised $107 million from General Atlantic and Softbank. The company will use the proceeds to expand its business through acquisitions.
Top Venture Deals Globally
China’s WM Motor, a developer of AI-enabled electric cars, received an investment of $1.6 billion in a Series D round by SIG, Baidu and SAIC Motors. The EV builder will use the funding for smart technology research and development, brand building, digital marketing and channel expansion.
Lineage Logistics, an American warehousing and logistics company raised $1.6 billion from OPTrust, Cohen and Steers, Oxford Properties and two other investors. The cold chain giant will use the funding for mergers and acquisitions, and tech investment.
Finally, UK’s Lloyd’s of London, an insurance carrier raised $500 million, which will back the company’s algorithm for automated underwriting, policy evaluation, and offering quotes. The investment came from Blackstone Group Inc. and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
Click here to read the full weekly deals digest report for the week.
