The five biggest funding deals in the tech ecosystem in 2022 were dominated by investors from the United States of America and other countries mostly based outside the African continent.
For the local venture capital market, which had played second-fiddle to its foreign counterparts before now, this means no respite as foreign investors in the tech ecosystem continue to be robust. But the local investors’ market was not all quiet in top deals as before. There was significant activity from local investors in 2022 which did not make the top five lists.
The companies that secured the most significant funding tickets include Flutterwave, Interswitch, Moore, TeamApt, and Ventures Platform. Nigerian investors recorded their presence as participants in some of the deals.
Prior to now, foreign investors have led almost 100 percent of the biggest tickets in Nigeria. In recent times local investors have started to increase their stakes in the tech ecosystem. Here’s how the investors dominated.
Flutterwave’s record making $250 million
In February, Nigeria’s fintech unicorn closed a $250 million Series D round. It was temporarily the largest Series D round by an African tech company before Kenyan-based startup Sun King displaced it by closing a $260 million Series D round. Nonetheless, it catapulted Flutterwave to the position of the most valuable startup in Africa with a $3 billion valuation.
Importantly, the funding was led by B Capital Group, a US private equity company. Other participants include Altak Park Capital (US hedge fund), Whake Rock Capital (US venture capital firm), and Lux Capital (US venture capital firm), among others.
Interswitch’s 15% sell-down
In May, Interswitch investors including Helios, Visa, and others decided to sell down 15 percent of their total holdings in the company worth $110 million to Leapfrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital.
Leapfrog Investments is a South African-based private equity firm founded by Andrew Kuper and Jim Roth.
According to the company, the selldown is to expand the investor base and not a loss of confidence by the private equity firm Helios.
Moove’s equity and debt round
Moove, which prides itself on the world’s first mobility fintech, raised $105 million in an oversubscribed Series A2 round consisting of equity and debt.
The funding was led by existing investors, Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital, and the latest. ventures, with participation from new investors including AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, Latitude, and Kreos Capital.
Speedinvest is a Vienna, Austria-based venture capital firm, while Left Lane Capital is a US-based venture capital firm and The latest. ventures is a Dubai-based venture capital firm.
TeamApt’s pre-Series C round
TeamApt’s more than $50 million pre-Series C round in March was led by QED Investors, a U.S. fintech-focused venture capital firm. Existing investors from TeamApt’s Series B last year, Novastar Ventures (co-lead), Light rock, and Bil also participated in this round.
Ventures Platform’s oversubscribed fund
Venture Platform announced in December the final close of its early-stage and intercontinental fund at $46 million, surpassing its initial $40 million target.
The oversubscribed fund sees new participation from global investors cutting across commercial banks, corporates, DFIs, global institutional investors, and High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs). These include Standard Bank (South Africa); International Finance Corporation (IFC); British International Investment; A to Z Impac (US)t; Proparco with FISEA (France); AfricaGrow, a fund of funds backed by BMZ (German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, DEG and Allianz, managed by Allianz Global Investors), and others.
