Launch Africa Ventures

Octavia Carbon is a pioneering company based in Kenya that specializes in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology. It designs, builds, and deploys proprietary systems to filter CO2 from the atmosphere, aiming to reverse climate change and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The company uniquely leverages Kenya's geothermal energy and talent to accelerate DAC technology development and lower costs.

Paps is a Senegalese transport and logistics company established in 2016. It specializes in innovative distribution solutions for businesses and merchants, offering real-time delivery scheduling and tracking via its e-commerce platform. Services include secure warehouse storage, insured parcel delivery, cash on delivery management, courier provision, returns management, collection, and periodic reporting.

Meditect is a social enterprise dedicated to digitizing the medicine supply chain in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. Its platform offers pharmacy management software, drug traceability, patient application, and community outreach initiatives, enhancing access to quality medicines and improving healthcare efficiency.

Maad is a rapidly growing B2B marketplace based in Dakar, Senegal, serving Francophone Africa. It offers a tech-driven solution that enables retailers to order products from its one-stop shop and access working capital loans.

The Daily Sale Shop is an online marketplace based in Zimbabwe that provides customers with access to a diverse selection of products. The company is committed to enhancing the shopping experience by offering free nationwide delivery, reliable customer support, and a seamless checkout process. This allows customers to shop conveniently from their homes and receive their orders with ease.

Zanifu is a regulated fintech company that facilitates inventory financing for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Its platform enables MSMEs' supply chains to access working capital, allowing small retailers to procure inventory from suppliers on credit.

Termii is a Lagos-based company founded in 2014 that provides a cross-channel messaging and customer engagement platform tailored for African businesses. The platform facilitates communication with customers through SMS, email, voice, and instant messaging, enabling teams to secure repeat customers via personalized outreach. In addition to messaging services, Termii offers a suite of business applications that address various needs such as digital branding, sales, marketing, customer relationship management, eCommerce, accounting, inventory, and project management. This comprehensive approach allows clients to enhance their business operations and improve customer engagement across multiple channels.

Kredi is a neo bank building Africa's one-stop shop for digital financial services. Kredi is a platform that eliminates all the challenges of using multiple applications and allows users to manage all aspects of their financial lives. We are fully licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. We provide access to digital financial services such as savings, credit, payment, investments, and insurance to all consumers in Nigeria in one place.

ShopMeAway is a cross-border ecommerce and logistics company that connects global brands and distributors with an integrated ecommerce module and a cross-border delivery network to serve underserved markets in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. The platform provides order placement, payments, and delivery capabilities to enable consumers to shop from international websites while helping brands reach new customers. Operational since 2018 in Senegal, the company has expanded to Ivory Coast and has plans to enter Nigeria and Morocco, with longer-term expansion into Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. In 2023, it partnered with Amazon to distribute its full catalog to its client network, demonstrating its ability to scale international distribution.

Edves is a digital infrastructure provider for K-12 schools in Africa that designs AI-powered school and learning management software to automate processes from enrollment to graduation. Its platform supports enrollment, fees payment, online learning, e-books, video tutorials and virtual classrooms, with analytics on student and school performance. The solution is used by more than 1,700 schools across 11 countries, enabling educators, school owners, and government agencies to track performance, identify fee defaulters, generate annual reports, and streamline administrative and learning operations to improve learning outcomes.

Shopstar operates an online shopping platform designed to assist South African businesses in selling products online. The platform offers comprehensive e-commerce tools for creating an online store, a built-in dropshipping network, and professional design and marketing services, enabling local entrepreneurs to expand their customer base.

Founded in 2020, Zuri Health is a Kenyan telemedicine company offering affordable healthcare solutions via apps, websites, and SMS. It facilitates lab tests, doctor consultations, medication delivery, and home visits.

DigsConnect is a leading student accommodation marketplace based in Cape Town, South Africa, established in 2017. The platform facilitates connections between property owners and student tenants, as well as between students seeking roommates. By providing a user-friendly interface, DigsConnect enables students to find affordable and safe accommodation options near educational institutions. The company aims to foster a community where individuals can discover suitable living arrangements while building lasting friendships. With a focus on real-time accommodation searches, DigsConnect is committed to addressing the specific needs of its users, ensuring a streamlined experience in the often challenging process of finding student housing.

Africa Foresight Group Ltd is a consulting firm that operates as a freelancing platform, connecting businesses, investment funds, and development partners with a network of freelance management consultants across Africa. Incorporated in 2016 and based in London, with an additional office in Accra, Ghana, the company specializes in a variety of services, including market entry strategy, organizational transformation, business turnaround, and due diligence support. It also offers expertise in creating pitch decks, conducting employee surveys, and performing market and sector studies. Africa Foresight Group serves diverse industries such as agribusiness, renewable energy, education, health, finance, and fast-moving consumer goods, enabling clients to harness local talent and resources for growth and development.

Elevate Pay is a financial technology company developing a digital banking platform that provides regulated banking services and consumer financial products. The platform enables online account opening, fee-free SDG and USD bank accounts, a free USD Mastercard, and transfers within Sudan as well as free international transfers from several countries, supporting accessible and inclusive financial services.

Carscan develops an augmented reality mobile application that tracks the visible condition of vehicles throughout their lifecycle. Embedded with artificial intelligence, it creates a traceable digital record, facilitating various automotive services while mitigating fraud risks.

Amitruck is a mobile and web-based trucking logistics platform based in Nairobi, Kenya, founded in 2018. It connects cargo owners with transporters, enabling users to book deliveries via its online platform and access a driver app to coordinate with drivers. The platform supports real-time shipment tracking, instant quotes, and proximity-based truck availability, delivering end-to-end visibility and streamlined communication throughout the delivery process.

Zanifu is a regulated fintech company that facilitates inventory financing for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Its platform enables MSMEs' supply chains to access working capital, allowing small retailers to procure inventory from suppliers on credit.

Numida Technologies is a digital financial institution based in Kampala, Uganda, founded in 2015. The company specializes in serving micro- and small businesses in East Africa by offering application software that helps these enterprises maintain up-to-date digital financial records. Numida's proprietary credit scoring system enables it to provide unsecured growth and working capital loans to businesses, which not only results in high portfolio yields but also significantly impacts the livelihoods of borrowers. The platform aims to lower risks and costs for lending institutions, leading to improved lending terms for borrowers and fostering a thriving small business sector that creates employment, increases tax revenues, and enhances living standards for entrepreneurs and their staff.

Maad is a rapidly growing B2B marketplace based in Dakar, Senegal, serving Francophone Africa. It offers a tech-driven solution that enables retailers to order products from its one-stop shop and access working capital loans.

Kwara GmbH is a technology company that specializes in developing a digital banking platform tailored for savings and credit co-operative societies (SACCOs). Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with an additional office in Nairobi, Kenya, Kwara aims to modernize credit unions by providing a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The platform facilitates loan application servicing and approval for members, while also offering integration services, customer support, real-time financial tracking, and compliance assistance. Kwara's offerings include Kwara Pronto, a tool for managing loans. Currently, the company serves over 200 SACCOs across Kenya, South Africa, and the Philippines, enabling these financial institutions to enhance their operations and improve access to formal financial services.

Yobante Express is a logistics technology company transforming cross-border and last-mile parcel delivery in Africa. It offers full traceability, exceptional customer support, and a resilient network of relay points and independent carriers for fast, affordable, and reliable deliveries with minimal merchandise loss or damage.

Edves is a digital infrastructure provider for K-12 schools in Africa that designs AI-powered school and learning management software to automate processes from enrollment to graduation. Its platform supports enrollment, fees payment, online learning, e-books, video tutorials and virtual classrooms, with analytics on student and school performance. The solution is used by more than 1,700 schools across 11 countries, enabling educators, school owners, and government agencies to track performance, identify fee defaulters, generate annual reports, and streamline administrative and learning operations to improve learning outcomes.

Founded in Nigeria in 2017, Releaf operates as an online marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of various agricultural products such as cassava, palm oil, ginger, cashew nuts, fish, maize, cocoa, kola nuts, yam, and sesame seeds. It also provides extension services to smallholders, acts as a buyer for their products, and converts raw materials into factory-grade inputs.

OmniRetail is a B2B e-commerce platform founded in 2019, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. It aims to digitize the consumer goods supply chain from manufacturers through distributors to retailers, improving reliability, visibility, and financial capabilities.

Founded in 2018, MarketForce is a technology company based in the US, Kenya, and Nigeria. It operates an asset-light business model, providing a comprehensive B2B commerce and fintech platform, 'RejaReja', empowering African merchants to digitize their inventory sourcing, ordering, payments, and access financing. The platform also enables merchants to resell digital financial services like airtime and bill payments. MarketForce is operational in five Sub-Saharan African markets, serving over 200,000 merchants and 50 consumer brands.

Rivy is making it easier to finance small and medium sized businesses in Africa. There is a need for financing of $158 bn for SMEs in Nigeria alone. To start, Rivy o helps SMEs access and spend lender capital effectively. During their first full operational year in 2020, the Rivy o co--founders leveraged their domain expertise and founding experience to beat their 2020 goal by 50%.

Founded in 2016, Pawame develops off-grid solar home systems for households in sub-Saharan Africa. Its solar kits include panels, LED lights, switches, flashlights, radios, phone chargers, and a pay-as-you-go mobile money platform. The company uses data from its platform to provide additional services like electrical appliances, micro-insurance, education loans, and remote health services.

Alpha Direct is an Africa-focused Insurtech company headquartered in Botswana. It leverages cloud technology, big data, and AI to deliver innovative insurance products tailored for Africa's growing consumer market.

Trove Technologies Limited operates an online platform designed to facilitate investment in a range of securities, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies. Based in Lekki, Nigeria, Trove aims to simplify the investment process for beginners by providing an accessible application that allows users to easily find and select investment opportunities. The platform features a user-friendly KYC process, brokerage services, and a personalized news feed related to the assets traded. Trove enables investors to participate in both local and international markets, offering access to Nigerian stocks, government bonds, and a selection of cryptocurrency assets. Through its seamless approach to micro-investing, Trove empowers users to engage with the financial markets with ease.

Founded in 2020, Ramani is a software company based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It specializes in developing applications for sales teams to track inventory, register customers, and record sales transactions in real-time.

WellaHealth is a startup focused on improving healthcare access for low-income individuals and families in Nigeria. The company has developed a digital triage bot that provides guidance based on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control guidelines, allowing users to log their health responses for potential follow-up by public health authorities. In addition to this innovative tool, WellaHealth offers micro-health insurance plans that target prevalent diseases, providing affordable coverage for treatments and medications. Their platform connects users to a network of pharmacies and healthcare professionals, enabling them to manage their health needs without facing significant financial strain.