Here are top deals, fundraisings that happened in 2020

Despite the global pandemic which caused chaos of economic activities, the year 2020, was a sweet one for Nigerian companies to raise capital whether via debt financing, seed funding or private equity deals.

As at October 2020, Nigerian startups have raised funding equivalent to more than 17 percent of the over $1 billion funds raised in the continent, according to data gathered by Startup list Africa on the African Startup.

Although second to Kenya in terms of total deal size, however, Africa’s largest economy led in terms of deal counts in the continent, sustaining it as a top destination for investors keen on investing in startups.

In terms of top 10 investment destinations by total deal size, Kenya topped the chart with $194 million, Nigeria ($170 million), South Africa ($156 million), Egypt ($116 million), and Ghana ($56 million); while in terms of top 10 investment destination by deal count, Nigeria came first with 46 deals.

This is followed by South Africa (32), Egypt (24), Kenya (23), and Ghana (11), the data shows.

Sectors such as financial services, healthcare/pharma, logistics, renewable energy, cryptocurrency and agriculture, have continued to be the cynosure of all eyes for investors; and this year was no different.

Data published by Techpoint Africa showed that as at June 2020, start-ups in Nigeria have raised $83.72 million in funding, almost doubling the amount of $42.3 million raised in the same period last year.

Similarly, data published by a state-funded agency, the National Bureau of Statistics, also gives insight on how Nigeria has fared in terms of attracting direct inflows.

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A total of $777.63 million came in via direct investment into Nigeria in the year through September, up by 14.8 percent compared with the 677.09 million dollars in “sticky flows” recorded the same period in 2019.

About 99 percent of these funds were in private equity deals, NBS data shows.

While the above data tracked by these different agencies may vary depending on the methodology used in collating the data, one striking message is the fact that 2020 was an appealing one for start-ups as well as companies in Africa’s largest economy in terms of fundraising and foreign direct investments.

This was driven by investors’ bullish sentiments towards Nigeria given its huge population size and large market, as well as the fact that direct investments are long term in nature as opposed to portfolio investments which are largely short-term in nature and are susceptible to short-term macroeconomic challenges.

Being West Africa’s leading business newspaper, providing insights into economic issues as well as the movement of deals and money, BusinessDay tracked a couple of notable investments and fundraising that made the news in the year.

Bolt ($180 million)

Estonian ride-hailing and scooter firm Bolt ended the year 2020 with a bang. The company in December 2020, announced a $180 million Series D round led by D1 Capital Partners, as it looks to ramp up business in 2021

Founded in 2013, Bolt is a transportation company which provides ride-hailing, micro-mobility, and food delivery services to over 50M users in 40+ countries, from Europe to Africa.

Although Bolt is a global brand, a significant majority of its African market is in Nigeria. So a significant amount of the latest funding is expected to be invested into the Nigerian business.

According to the company, the funds will be used to develop driver face verification and use machine learning to prevent potential incidents.

Bitfxt ($15 million)

Nigerian crypto-trading startup Bitfxt raised a $15 million Series A funding round for infrastructural expansion and the development of new products.

The Lagos-based Bitfxt allows users to buy and sell digital currencies in real-time but now plans to expand more widely into the blockchain space after raising funding.

The $15 million Series A round comes from a Uk-based syndicate of hedge funds as well as British firm Payitup Clearinghouse, which will now act as a clearinghouse for Bitfxt across Africa and Europe through its affiliates and networks for immediate settlements.

Flutterwave ($35 million)

Flutterwave is a payment technology company focused on helping banks and businesses provide seamless and secure payment experiences for their customers.

The startup is one of the fastest-growing payments companies in the world. It has processed close to $2 billion in payments and 25 million transactions across over 33 African countries.

This year, Flutterwave raised $35 million to expand its operation across Africa. In total, it has raised over $65M in funding across 11 rounds by 23 known investors such as Ycombinator Continuity Fund and Greycroft.

Lumos ($35 million)

Lumos is a clean energy company which is a leading provider of high-quality solar home systems and which hopes to make them accessible to Africans.

By offering Solar Power as a Service, Lumos offers homes and small businesses a simple and affordable way to pay for electricity in small instalments using their mobile phones.

This year, Lumos raised $35 million to accelerate the spread of its electrification solutions in Nigeria. In total, it has raised over $212M in funding across 5 rounds by 7 known investors such as the United States International Development Finance Corporation.

Aella ($10 million)

Nigerian lending startup Aella Credit has raised a $10 million debt financing round to help it launch new products and expand into additional markets.

Founded in 2015 by Akin Jones and Akanbi Wale, Aella Credit underwrites loans with a proprietary algorithm and is focused on Nigeria and the Philippines.

Infracredit ($27 million)

Infracredit is a Nigerian startup which guarantees the credit quality of debt instruments (mainly in the form of bonds) issued to finance infrastructure assets in Nigeria.

This year, the startup raised $27 million in an investment round led by Infraco Africa to unlock more infrastructure investments that will stimulate economic growth and market development.

Accelerex ($20 million)

Global Accelerex Limited is a financial technology company focused on delivering digital payment solutions and services to customers across the sub-Saharan African region.

Founded in 2008, the startup which ranked as the Number 1 Payment Terminal Service Provider in Nigeria in 2018 and 2019, supports 95 percent of Nigerian banks and over 90,000 Merchants across the 36 states in the country.

This year, the company has raised $20 million in a funding round led by African Capital Alliance.

Autochek ($3.4 million)

Nigerian startup, Autochek raised a $3.4 million pre-seed round co-led by Tlcom Capital and 4DX ventures in a bid to digitize Africa’s automotive sector. It plans to use the fund to expand its operations and geographic scope.

Currently, the firm has over 20,000 unique vehicles as well as more than 12,000 dealers and private sellers and operates only in Nigeria and Ghana. It plans to start operations in Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Algeria.

Kuda Bank ($10 million)

Kuda, a startup out of Nigeria that operates a popular mobile-first challenger bank for consumers and (soon) small businesses, raised $10 million — the biggest seed round ever to be raised in Africa.

The funding was on the back of strong demand for its services and its ambitions — according to CEO Babs Ogundeyi — to become the go-to bank not just for those living on the continent, but for the African diaspora.