Author: Kaluka wanjala

Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) has announced its 3rd cohort of 7 growth-stage companies working to transform pharmacy services on the continent. Sponsored by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics (a subsidiary of the Kühne Foundation), Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, the three-year program will empower innovators to improve patient access to healthcare across Africa and scale their impact.  The selected startups offer powerful, tech-enabled solutions that strengthen pharmacy services across Africa, ranging from inventory management, product protection, last-mile delivery, AI-powered prescription refills, embedded financing, and cloud-based pharmacy systems. These companies are reimagining how medicines…

Kofa, the tech energy company and end-to-end ecosystem enabler, has announced the close of an $8.1 million pre-Series A funding round. The investment, comprising $3.25 million in equity, $4.315 million in debt, and $590,000 in grants, will fuel the company’s expansion and supercharge its AI-powered battery-swapping network, delivering reliable, clean energy solutions to urban Africa, starting in Ghana and Kenya. The round was co-led by E3 Capital, one of Africa’s largest early-stage climate-tech venture capital funds, and Injaro Investment Adrvisors. ShellFoundation contributed to the raise through catalytic debt and grant, co-funded with the UK Government through its Transforming Energy Access…

At the launch event for Cohort 8 of the Women in Tech programmme, a collaboration between Standard Chartered Bank and iBizAfrica at Strathmore University, there was no shortage of inspiration. Held earlier today at Standard Chartered’s head office in Nairobi, the event brought together founders, mentors, and partners with a shared goal: empowering women-led startups that are using technology to create real, measurable impact. Dr. Joseph Sevilla, Director at iLabAfrica and iBizAfrica, reflected on the journey so far. He recalled how the idea of the incubator emerged from a simple, pressing need to give young innovators, often overlooked due to…

Kijani Supplies, a sustainable logistics and supply chain tech company, has been awarded a Silver Badge in the “Local Sourcing” category at the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards 2025, held in Cape Town. This award recognizes Kijani’s leadership in local sourcing, one of the critical pillars of responsible tourism. Being a venture of Purple Elephant Ventures (PEV), Kijani is part of an ecosystem of regenerative tourism startups that are reimagining the future of travel and hospitality across Africa. “This recognition is a powerful validation of the mission that drives us every day,” said Mwangi Muriuki, CEO, at Kijani Supplies. “We…

OmniRetail, the Nigerian B2B commerce platform, has raised $20 million in a Series A equity round. This round was led by Norwegian development finance institution Norfund and Timon Capital with the participation of Ventures Platform, Aruwa Capital, Goodwell Investments (via Alitheia Capital), and Flour Mills of Nigeria. OmniRetail will use part of the funding to expand its operations across Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast. “This investment validates our asset-light, technology-driven approach to transforming Africa’s FMCG sector during challenging economic times. Our team is ready to accelerate innovation that delivers real value to customers while reshaping industry standards,” the company said. …

Nairobi-based EV distributor, MojaEV Kenya, has announced plans to start assembling its electric vehicles locally from August according to Bloomberg. At the moment, MojaEV imports fully built units from China. Initially, the company plans to assemble the vehicles at Mombasa-based Associated Vehicle Assemblers Ltd. before building its own factory that will also put together battery and solar components. With the factory in Kenya, MojaEV will be able to export its vehicles to several African Markets. “We have contracts in place. All the original equipment manufacturers are in agreement with us, they will give us the expertise we need to build…

At the recent Safaricom Spark Accelerator Demo Day, Kenyan startup Nobuk took the stage sharing their mission to bring order to the chaos of community finances across Africa. Co-founded by Elvis Bando, Nobuk is a payments reconciliation platform made to help groups from apartment associations to chamas and welfare clubs automate their collections, manage records and generate shareable reports. “We’re building the financial operating system for Africa’s 50 million communities,” said Bando during his presentation. “Today, record-keeping for these groups is messy and unreliable. Nobuk wants to fix that.” The Problem: Community Finances Are a Mess Across Africa, millions of…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced the availability of AWS Wavelength in Senegal in partnership with Sonatel, an affiliate of Orange. This is the first Wavelength Zone in Sub-Saharan Africa and the second Wavelength Zone in Africa. The first AWS Wavelength Zone in Africa was launched in Morocco in February this year.   AWS Wavelength enables developers to build applications that require edge computing infrastructure to deliver low latency to mobile devices and end users or increase the resiliency of their existing edge applications. Wavelength deploys standard AWS compute and storage services to the edge of communications service providers’ (CSP) networks.…

Westcon-Comstor has announced that its Cisco-focused Comstor arm has launched a managed SOC (Security Operations Centre) offering that enables partners to tap into the fast-growing cybersecurity services market while avoiding the cost and complexity of building their own solution.  Powered by Cisco XDR (Extended Detection and Response) and created in response to partner demand, the white-labelled Comstor solution allows partners across EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) to quickly and easily launch a SOC offering under their own brand. It’s the first managed SOC offering launched by Westcon-Comstor and the first to utilise Cisco XDR. Establishing a SOC involves significant…

The organisers of the Connected Africa Summit have announced the official call for entries for the 2025 Connected ICT Innovation Awards, inviting tech innovators across the continent to submit their groundbreaking solutions. The awards will recognise outstanding achievements in four key categories: AgriTech, GreenTech, Creative Economy, and AI & Cybersecurity for Business and Government. To qualify, applicants must have a registered company, an active product or service in use for at least six months, and serve African end-users either directly or via partners. Winners will be honoured at the 13th annual Connected Africa Summit, scheduled for May 26 – 29, 2025, at Diamonds Leisure Beach…