In recent years, Africa has seen a huge growth in investments and funding for startups. The startup funding scene in Africa has presented a blend of promising growth and prudent optimism amid global economic challenges.

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Here are 7 African startups that have made waves in their respective fields and received significant funding:

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1. Jumia: Jumia Group is an e-commerce ecosystem that provides consumers with innovative, convenient, and affordable online goods and services. The company operates in over 10 African countries. Founded in 2012, it has become one of the largest online retailers on the continent and has received up to $1 billion in funding. It was founded by Jeremy Hodara and Sacha Poignonnec, ex-McKinsey consultants along with Tunde Kehinde and Raphael Kofi Afaedor. The company launched in Nigeria in 2012 and expanded to five other countries: Egypt, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya and South Africa.
2. MNT-Halan: MNT-Halan is Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing lender to the unbanked. It was founded by Mounir Nakhla. This fintech startup provides accessible loans and financial services to low-income individuals through their mobile phones, without needing a bank account. It has received $400 million in funding in 2023 and is currently valued at $1 billion.
3. Opay: OPay empowers users and enables them to accomplish more with their money by providing smart financial services. In 2021, the company raised $400 Million in funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which valued the Nigerian mobile payments platform at $2 billion.
4. Flutterwave: Flutterwave makes it easy for people to make and accept payments from customers anywhere in the world. Flutterwave was launched in 2016 by Olugbenga Agboola and Iyin Aboyeji and has raised $484 Million to date. Flutterwave is currently valued at $3 billion.
5. Andela: Andela is an engineering-as-a-service business that helps companies build remote teams quickly and cost-effectively. To date, Andela has raised $381 Million in funding. The company has up to 1,000+ software engineers working as full-time, embedded members of development teams at over 200 leading tech companies.
6. Chipper Cash: Chipper Cash is the largest mobile cross-border money transfer platform in Africa. Chipper Cash has raised $302 Million to date, and though previously valued at $2.2B, it’s valuation was slashed to $1.25B due to the FTX bankruptcy.
7. Paystack: Paystack is a Nigerian fintech company that provides payment solutions for businesses. It was founded by Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi. Paystack was acquired by Stripe in 2020 for $200 Million, making it one of the largest African tech acquisitions to date. Prior to that, the company had raised a total of $11.7M over 3 rounds.

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