Seedstars

Seedstars is an industry-agnostic investment firm dedicated to emerging and frontier markets. We’ve invested across Latam, Africa, MENA, CEE and Asia backing ventures working to solve key societal challenges such as access to financial services, healthcare, education or commerce.

Paul Ark

Venture Partner

Charlie Graham-Brown

Chief Investment Officer and Partner

Michael Weber

Co-Founder

Past deals in East Africa

Jumba

Seed Round in 2023
Jumba is a construction technology platform based in Nairobi, Kenya, established in 2022. The company focuses on streamlining B2B construction material purchases and financing, facilitating transactions between manufacturers and retailers. Jumba's platform enables businesses to order a variety of construction materials, including cement, steel, paint, tiles, plumbing supplies, electrical components, glass, and kitchen and bathroom finishes, with the option to pay later. By connecting small hardware stores with medium-sized retailers in their vicinity, Jumba helps enhance inventory management and negotiates pricing to simplify the supply chain for construction materials across Africa.

Kiri EV

Grant in 2022
Kiri EV r mission is to challenge the status quo of the motor industry across the African continent; one segement at a time.They aim to prove that electric vehicles can and will play a big role in the future of transportation across Kenya and the continent.

Zuri Health

Grant in 2022
Zuri Health is a telemedicine company based in Nairobi, Kenya, established in 2020. It offers affordable and accessible healthcare solutions through a mobile app, website, and SMS services, catering to patients without smartphones and those in rural areas. Users can schedule lab and diagnostic tests, consult with doctors, purchase medications from pharmacies, and arrange home visits with qualified medical professionals. The platform also features an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot to enhance user experience and provide first-level medical consultations. Zuri Health aims to create a universally accessible healthcare experience for all individuals, regardless of their location or resources.

Jumba

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Jumba is a construction technology platform based in Nairobi, Kenya, established in 2022. The company focuses on streamlining B2B construction material purchases and financing, facilitating transactions between manufacturers and retailers. Jumba's platform enables businesses to order a variety of construction materials, including cement, steel, paint, tiles, plumbing supplies, electrical components, glass, and kitchen and bathroom finishes, with the option to pay later. By connecting small hardware stores with medium-sized retailers in their vicinity, Jumba helps enhance inventory management and negotiates pricing to simplify the supply chain for construction materials across Africa.

ZUMI

Venture Round in 2021
ZUMI, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, operates as an online magazine and a retail platform focused on fashion, beauty, food, and living. The company connects wholesalers and retailers within a transparent marketplace, empowering women retailers through technology, logistics, and financial services that facilitate business growth. Customers can place orders via SMS, phone calls, or through ZUMI Agents. ZUMI collects orders from suppliers early each morning, ensuring fast delivery to customers, typically within 18 hours. Payment is made conveniently through mobile money, allowing for a seamless shopping experience.

Mangwee

Grant in 2021
Mangwee is a mobile money transfer platform that aims to enhance financial inclusion, particularly in rural areas of Zambia and Africa, by facilitating a shift towards a cash-light economy. The platform provides a secure, easy-to-use, and affordable payment solution, featuring a range of applications designed to improve the lives of various demographics, including women, farmers, youth, and the economically disadvantaged. In addition to its primary mobile money transfer services, Mangwee offers an electronic wallet aimed at university students, which helps to reduce the costs associated with mobile money transactions and enables users to transfer funds conveniently via their mobile phones at any time and from any location.

Pezesha

Seed Round in 2020
Pezesha is a digital financial marketplace based in Nairobi, Kenya, that connects small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to various financing options, including working capital, float financing, and LPO financing. Founded in 2016, Pezesha aims to enhance access to affordable credit for micro-businesses by leveraging credit and data analytics to link lenders with low-income borrowers. The platform facilitates a shared economy by converging lending and other financial services, thereby enabling underserved SMBs to participate in the formal financial system. Through its innovative approach, Pezesha seeks to empower businesses and improve their growth potential by providing essential financial resources.

ZUMI

Seed Round in 2019
ZUMI, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, operates as an online magazine and a retail platform focused on fashion, beauty, food, and living. The company connects wholesalers and retailers within a transparent marketplace, empowering women retailers through technology, logistics, and financial services that facilitate business growth. Customers can place orders via SMS, phone calls, or through ZUMI Agents. ZUMI collects orders from suppliers early each morning, ensuring fast delivery to customers, typically within 18 hours. Payment is made conveniently through mobile money, allowing for a seamless shopping experience.

Jamii Africa

Seed Round in 2016
Jamii Africa is mobile micro-health insurance for the informal sector. They built a mobile policy management platform that performs 99% of insurance administration activities and formed strategic partnerships with an Insurer/ Jubilee Insurance and a Telecom/ Vodacom Tanzania to enable a cashless facility and utilise the mobile money platforms for premium collection and benefit payouts. Their platform manages the benefit ledger and is integrated to mobile money and insurer systems. Enabling us to cut down administration costs by 99% which results to cheaper premiums affordable to their target market.

iNuka Pap

Seed Round in 2016
iNuka Pap Limited is a Kenyan company founded in 2014 that operates a mobile platform designed to offer instant loans to members of savings and credit co-operatives (SACCOs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs) across Africa. The platform provides users with immediate access to short-term cash advances, which can help address urgent financial needs. In addition to loan services, iNuka Pap also facilitates other consumer services such as prepaid electricity, airtime, and insurance. By enabling members to manage their small cash emergencies conveniently and efficiently, the company aims to enhance financial accessibility for its users.

Jamii Africa

Seed Round in 2013
Jamii Africa is mobile micro-health insurance for the informal sector. They built a mobile policy management platform that performs 99% of insurance administration activities and formed strategic partnerships with an Insurer/ Jubilee Insurance and a Telecom/ Vodacom Tanzania to enable a cashless facility and utilise the mobile money platforms for premium collection and benefit payouts. Their platform manages the benefit ledger and is integrated to mobile money and insurer systems. Enabling us to cut down administration costs by 99% which results to cheaper premiums affordable to their target market.
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