2021 was a crucial year for both venture capitalists as well as African technological startup companies. Re-opening businesses and returning to normal life, people could continue to follow the routines that they developed during lockdowns. Because of the shift in consumer preferences, Africa had one of the most technologically advanced industries.
As African technology continues to grow and grow, it’s not a surprise. Additionally, the market is set to see a tech boom because the percentage of Africa’s youth population is growing steadily.
The list of tech startups in Nigeria fast-growing companies to keep an eye on in 2022 was derived by the investment rounds of last year.
Kippa
Kennedy Ekezie, Duke Ekezie, and Jephthah Uche went back to the drawing board after their previous venture failed to identify a viable business opportunity in Nigeria. The trio then set out on a tour of the market to gain a better understanding of the issues that micro-business owners in Nigeria face. They found a major problem that they could solve after their investigation: bookkeeping. The issue was resolved in February 2021 , with the introduction of Kippa which is a user-friendly software for managing finances for small-business owners. In just a few months of expansion, Kippa attracted thousands of users and also raised $3.2 millions in seed capital by 2021. The question of how much it can grow in 2022 is logical.
Releaf
Releaf is an agritech firm established in the year 2017 by Ikenna Nzewi as well as Uzoma Ayogu, is aiming to improve the industrialization of oil palm processing in Africa and boost production. Its Kraken machine, created by a mission-driven agritech company that was created to speed up palmnut processing and decrease the amount of waste. Releaf also supports environmentally-friendly farming practices.
Safeboda
The ride-hailing service with two wheels of the Ugandan company was established in the year 2018 and then launched an app that is nifty in the year 2019. Uganda and Nigeria currently serve over 1 million customers with transport, parcel delivery, groceries and food as well as savings, payments as well as other services for financial. Around 25,000 drivers work for the organisation and have delivered more than 40 million parcels in both the US as well as the UK.
TymeBank
Utilizing a hybrid approach that combines digital banking and physical service centers this technology-driven startup in Nigeria is helping to increase the process of financial inclusion. The Pick n Pay and Boxer locations across the country offer kiosks to customers who can register for this service (more than 80percent).
Twiga foods
Utilizing technology to create food supply chains as well as retailers’ distribution systems across Africa, Twiga Foods has been doing this since 2014. The technology-driven startup in Nigeria utilizes an online, cashless, B2B platform that connects farmers and sellers. However, it’s been difficult to keep the quality of the products purchased from the smallholder farmers of Twiga.
Wave
After it raised 200 million through Series A funding last year, the mobile money service that is based within the United States and Senegal made headlines. It was one of the unicorns in Francophone Africa, with a value of $1.7 billion following this funding round.
In 2014, the co-founders of the company founded it because they were dissatisfied with the challenges and costs involved in paying money into Africa via North America. The technology-driven startup in Nigeria was established in the year 2018 by the co-founders following having sold Sendwave to WorldRemit in the year 2017. The business, which has been in existence for two years, is said to be the top Senegal mobile money provider and has over half Senegal’s adult customers.
Chooya
Following the previous technology startups in Nigeria failing, Igwe Uguru founded Chooya, an online search engine that has transformed into Africa’s equivalent of TikTok for online shopping. Customers can recommend products and even earn a commission for their recommendations is among the distinctive characteristics of the Chooya platform.
When Chooya was awarded the Entrepreneurship World Cup, with the cash prize in the amount of $955,000, the market boomed. Since since then, the market has seen an impressive increase in the number of businesses joining the platform. It was founded by a group of entrepreneurs in Aba, Nigeria, the Aba-based company plans expansion to additional African cities by 2022, beginning with Nigeria.
Edukoya
Former Google Nigeria CEO Honey Ogundeyi started Edukoya in May 2021 after being fired. Edukoya has many useful features specifically targeted at Nigerian Secondary school pupils. A database of questions that are based on data, steps-by-step answers, a custom performance tracking system, as well as the ability to provide 24/7 exam preparation and homework tutoring are only some of the options available. In the course of a few months of beta testing the program, 96 percent of students who utilized Edukoya scored higher on their tests.
Minly
Creators from all over the Middle East and North Africa are able to use Mainly, an Egyptian-based platform that allows them to establish real, intimate relationships with their fans. Mainly was able to raise a seed round of $3.6 million in the last year.
From musicians and artists to social media celebrities and professional athletes such as Egyptian soccer player Mahmoud Trezeguet (who is a player with Premier League club Aston Villa) Mainly has a loyal audience of over 100,000 users since it was launched at the end of 2020.
Payday
In order to “create PayPal for Africa,” Payday has raised initial seed capital amount of one million dollars in the month of October 2021. The company was also the very first Rwandan company to be accepted to the Techstars Toronto Accelerator Program in the same month.
Favour Ori Favour Ori, a Rwandan fintech company, introduced this service on 2021, and is helping Africans transfer money and also receive it all over the world. Payday had over 5 000 users within its first three weeks of operation, the majority of them were recommended by family and friends. It also handled $1.4 million worth of transactions.
TalentQL’s AltSchool
A lot of people in Africa are enthusiastic about learning digital skills, however there’s not many resources to learn about these skills. This is why, in October 2021, TalentQL launched AltSchool. AltSchool is a technology startup located in Nigeria which will start with classes in April 2022. It is designed for those who wish to master the fundamentals of software engineering to prepare for a job within the industry.
Stitch
Since the Seed round, which was announced in the month of February 20, 2021, Stitch has secured an extension of $2 million to accelerate development, introduce its solution, and expand the size of its Nigerian workforce.
Through Stitch’s data service developers are able to connect their apps to customers’ bank accounts which allows them to share their balances and transaction history and verify their identities and pay directly through their apps. Millions of dollars of fees were processed by Stitch since its inception along with Chipper Cash, Paystack, Franc, Sanlam, Yoco and Flexclub as among its customers who are regulars.
