Tibu’s on-demand platform connects its customers with healthcare workers in Kenya in real-time. It also allows its users to store their medical information on their TIBU application.

The startup decentalises primary outpatient care by connecting them with healthcare workers who are equipped with proper medical tools. The healthcare workers visit the person’s home, rather than the patient walking to the nearest hospital or dispensary.

Jason Carmichael, TIBU’s chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder told the media, “Our health workers deploy with our patent-pending health kits to ensure that all services found in a clinic are delivered in the comfort of peoples’ homes, including labs and diagnostics.”

“Patients no longer have to run from one hospital to another to obtain a paper or digital health records. This saves time and money. Each medical consultation has a dedicated records page where all health, lab, diagnosis, prescription, and billing information are securely stored.”

“To push this even further, our team has begun designing and building patient-level analytics to better understand and track health over time. Upon a request, our system automatically triggers the lab courier service and within minutes the sample is collected and delivered to the lab. This process is automated and with standardised pricing.”

Tibu went online in 2019, after receiving funding of around $100,000 from Japan-based, Africa-focused early-stage VC fund Kepple Africa Ventures.

Tibu has also entered into a partnership with Lancet Labs to offer home-based COVID-19 testing in a number of counties of Kenya.

The post Kenyan healthtech Tibu to decentralise primary outpatient care appeared first on International Finance.

Sendy is being supported by Toyota Tsusho Corporation, a trade and investment subsidiary of leading Japanese automotive organisation Toyota.

Being a delivery associate for transporting packages across Kenya, Sendy offers a mobile software tool and web portal that facilitates people and minor businesses to contact drivers and book on-demand or arranged delivery services anytime, any day round the clock.

In its bid to increase its presence in the regions of East Africa, the startup was seeking funding.

Established in 2014 by Don Okoth, Evanson Biwott, Malaika Judd and Meshack Alloys, Sendy provides on-demand door-to-door package delivery services that are based in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya.

Currently boasting of around 50,000 customers, Sendy offers its services to more than 4,000 businesses across the country’s major cities of Thika, Mombasa, Kisumu and of course, Nairobi.

Among the 16 startup firms with which Toyota Tsusho signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last year, Sendy hires more than 60 individuals out of which 50 percent work in the engineering department.

Malaika Judd, one of the co-founders of Sendy, said that the challenge posed by logistics is so big that all efforts are invested in the process of deriving answers to overcome it.

And, she added that companies such as Sendy would benefit a great deal with the advent of e-commerce.

Commenting on the impact that delivery partners such as Sendy are having on the market, Dennis Awori, the chairman of Toyota in East Africa said that the costs of transporting spare parts from one place to another or to a consumer, has reduced by about 35 percent because of Sendy.

The post Toyota-backed Kenyan logistics startup Sendy raises $20mn in Series B funding round appeared first on International Finance.

My-iMali secured the funding from Crossfin, a company that invests in fintech solutions to enable growth for economies in Africa.

The startup allows its customers, who are mostly from the lower-income group, to carry out financial transactions anywhere in the world without paying any monthly fees. It also facilitates businesses with an affordable, safe and convenient channel for salary distribution.

After securing an investment from Crossfin, My-iMali joins the likes of wiGroup, iKhokha, Crossgate and Nobuntu in Crossfin’s fintech focused portfolio.

According to Anton Gaylard, co-founder and chief operating officer at Crossfin, the decision to invest in My-iMali is based on the product, its place in the market and the strength of the team.

Anton Gaylard told the media, “While My-iMali operates locally, for now, there is a clear need for this type of solution in other African countries. We will work closely with the companies in our portfolio to identify and unlock opportunities for growth, both locally and abroad. We have looked at similar solutions in the past, but have rarely seen one that works end-to-end and fills such a clear gap in the South African financial ecosystem.”

He added, “We’re working across the portfolio to establish a cashless economy in Africa that brings more people into the formal economic fold by giving them access to affordable, convenient and value-adding financial services.”

Earlier in the month of September, My-iMali also raised around $1.6 million through a crowdfunding campaign. According to reports, the fund is being used by the startup to expand its business.

The post African fintech My-iMali raises funds to increase customer base appeared first on International Finance.

Swvl is a transportation startup currently headquartered in Dubai. 

Swvl  will launch its services in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the company announced in a statement. Pakistan and Uganda are Swvl’s significant international markets, the media said. 

It operates buses via an app where customers can reserve seats and pay for the transport service. The startup will expand into Manila in the first half of next year — and is also considering  Dar es Salaam and Abidjan.

This year, the startup entered seven new cities — and is targeting up to 20 big cities next year. 

The startup expanded into Nigeria six months ago and operates 12 lines in Lagos through its mobile app.  It seems that the local community has embraced the app but faces competition from ride-hailing company Little.

Little launched its services in less than two weeks before Swvl established its presence in Nairobi.

It closed at a valuation of $100 million in November last year. It has raised close to $80 million to date. Swvl said it is one of the biggest funding rounds in the MENA. 

“We will also continue developing world-class technology that solves the daily struggle of commuting in emerging markets. This round is the biggest round of funding for a tech startup in Egypt and one of the biggest Series B rounds ever raised in the MENA region,” Co-founder and CEO Mostafa Kandil told the media.

The post Egyptian startup Swvl eyes global expansion after funding appeared first on International Finance.

Chipper Cash plans to expand beyond its current operations in  Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda in the coming year. The African fintech startup also plans to foray into the global remittance market for Sub Saharan Africa which is estimated to be worth at least $38 billion.

Chipper Cash is based in San Francisco with offices in Ghana and Nairobi. It offers no-fee, peer-to-peer cross border mobile money payments in Africa. According to its CEO, Chipper Cash has processed 250,000 transactions for more than 70,000 active users.

The African fintech startup was founded by Ugandan CEO Ham Serunjogi with Majid Moujaled, a Ghanian. Liquid 2 Ventures was founded by US football legend Joe Montana, who took a personal interest in investing in the Africa growth story.

Chipper Cash plans to use revenues from Chipper Checkout and income from payment volume float to support its no-fee mobile money business, TechCrunch reported. According to Serunjogi the fact that Chipper Cash settles money transfers across Africa in real time is a key value proposition for the African fintech startup.

Africa has a number of mobile money products including Kenya’s M-Pesa, MTN’s Mobile Money in Ghana and Tigo Pesa in Tanzania. However, mobile money transfers across product platforms, currencies, and borders are difficult to execute due to issues with interoperability.

The post African payments fintech startup Chipper Cash raises $2.4 mn appeared first on International Finance.

Jumia’s remaining two founders are of French origin—Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec. According to media firm Weetracker, which targets startup funding in Africa, African startups raised $726 million in 458 deals in 2018.

Even impact investing funding is skewed in favour of Western founders. According to the funding records of Global Impact Investing Network, just over 50% of the funding raised by African startups were those with Western or ethnic European founders.

Abdul Karim Mohamed, a Canadian Somali development worker who focuses on the African startup scenario told German publication DW that “ Entrepreneurs from Western Europe and North America have an upper hand when it comes to accessing capital and local entrepreneurs often get overlooked.”

Local entrepreneurs are often limited by the reach of their networks. In addition, the governments and established African entrepreneurs have barely warmed up to the idea of startup funding. Most investors see startup investing as too risky.

But the success of Jumia’s IPO could change investor perceptions about African startups. Already French drinks major Pernod Ricard holds a 5.1 stake in Jumia. Mastercard has agreed to buy $56 million worth Jumia stock in a private placement at the time of the IPO. Jumia’s largest shareholder is African telecom operator MTN with 30% followed by Rocket Internet.

The post As Jumia lists on NYSE, African startup founders find capital hard to get appeared first on International Finance.