Paris-based Koolboks closes $2.5M seed round to scale solar refrigeration across Africa
We are very excited at Aruwa Capital Management to have led this investment into Koolboks, a dynamic tech-enabled refrigeration company providing cost-effective cooling to business owners, particularly women, in off-grid areas in Nigeria and globally. In the African continent, the refrigeration penetration rate is currently only at 17% with 770 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa without access to electricity. There are significant amounts of spoilage, particularly in the food and pharmaceutical industries, due to grid instability and lack of power. Koolboks is solving this problem in a very cost-effective manner, by combining the power of two natural forces, the sun, and water, …
Bankly Closes $2million Seed Round
Bankly, a Nigerian FinTech specializing in serving some 47 million plus unbanked/underbanked Nigerians, has just closed a $2million seed round led by Vault. Rising Tide Africa, Vault, Plug and Play Ventures, and Chrysalis Capital all made investments in this round evoked by an alignment of interests to enable the financially underserved. Rising Tide Africa’s key investment focus is investing in early-stage start-ups that are primarily female-owned, female-led or with a gender diverse leadership and management team. Bankly ticked all those boxes, becoming Rising Tide Africa’s 14th investment and 3rd in the African fintech space. “We are delighted to support Tomilola …
OZE, Ghana-based Fintech Startup Raises $700k Seed Round From Investors, Including Rising Tide Africa.
OZÉ raises $700k seed round OZÉ, a Ghana-based fintech startup focused on helping African small businesses grow by digitalizing their operations and providing them with access to affordable capital, closed a $700k Seed Round last week. Rising Tide Africa joined other investors such as Anorak Ventures, Matuca Sarl and existing investors Ingressive Capital and MEST in the round. The fast-growing company will use the funding to grow its team, expand to Nigeria, and promote the newly launched iOS version of its business app. See the press release here. “We are delighted to support OZÉ as it pursues its expansion to Nigeria …
NOVEMBER 2020 DEAL DAY – CALL FOR PITCHES
Rising Tide Africa’s sixth Deal Day event comes up in November 2020. The Deal Day is an event where entrepreneurs are opportune to present their business to potential investors. In light of the above, we are currently open to receiving applications applications from businesses which are female-founded and female-led (gender diverse management teams) profering solutions which are tech enabled. The deadline for submissions of pitches is 9th of October, 2020. Please submit your presentations using this format as only pitches submitted in that format would be reviewed for the Deal Day. All submissions should be made to pitches@risingtideafrica.com. …
COVID-19, Remote Working and Talent Retention
The world of work as we know it is changing forever. As you read this article, it is quite likely that like many of us, you are working from home. While we must grit our teeth and go through COVID19, it’s also important to prepare for a post-COVID 19 world. The crisis has forced many organisations previously unwilling to formally accept working from home as normal business practice, to retrace their steps. I believe having now stepped into this new room, many will decide to spend quite a bit more time here, even after the crisis is over. Indeed, they …
Rising Tide Africa: The All-Female Angel Investors Group Focused on Building Entrepreneur Success Stories
Co-founder of Rising Tide Africa, Yemi Keri recently featured in the ForbesWomen section of the Forbes. She addressed the state of angel investing in Africa, the need for more female investors and the full objective of Rising Tide Africa. Formalizing the efforts of what she believes is an already existing culture of angel investing, will help ease the access of capital to entrepreneurs. “Culturally you are not termed an angel investor, but every so often you assist a family member or a friend. You give them money to start up something or to grow their business. It’s really done informally,” she stated. …
Does the Combination of a Startup CEO Plus a Multi-million Dollar Corporate CEO Result in Better Return on Investment?
There is little debate needed to ascertain that the skills from both an up-and-coming startup CEO combined with the experience of a seasoned CEO from a corporate company would do little to hurt the return on investment of any business. Startup CEOs bring energetic and fresh perspectives on how to maximize profits. They come ripe with innovative ideas and typically have a more comprehensive understanding about how digital technology can foster new opportunities for businesses. On the other hand, if you take the experience of a CEO with — let’s say — 20-plus years of experience in the corporate sector, …
How to Successfully Pitch Your Business Idea in 10 minutes
As a startup, you’re finally presented with the opportunity to pitch your business ideas a group of potential investors or clients. You have documented your ideas and you’re confident your pitch will leave your audience’s mind packed with questions of interest, but you have just ten minutes to wow them. You may be thinking of what tips to take to help you sell your business idea in ten minutes and return home with some good news. Every innovator or entrepreneur will find themselves in this position at one point in their lives, and it is important that you are prepared …
A Call To Be More Involved
If you’ve ever been interested in fixing the gender gap issue women face in our world, being an angel investor and an active one at that, could just be a step in the right direction. Alicia Robb, CEO of Next Wave Impact, recently narrated her encounter with a young female founder at a summit she attended last year. The young lady told her that she had gone to give a presentation at a pitch event and, upon arriving at the meeting, one of the men in the room had asked her to go and fetch coffee for everyone. She also mentioned how …
Exploring The Potential Hidden in our Creative Industry
This month experienced a lot of creative events, so much that it has spurred us to explore the creative sector more closely. At a time in our continent, when our leaders are seeking ways to diversify the economy beyond oil, we believe that the creative industry presents an opportunity for this diversification. The Creative Industry Federation defines the Creative Industry as those industries that have their origin in human creativity, skill, and talent with the potential for wealth and job creation through the exploitation of intellectual property. The creative industry has a wide range of activities (including arts, crafts, design, fashion, film, …
