The Flip

"The money that is still investing in Africa today is often money that has a different job" - Laurin Nabuko Hainy,  CEO and Founder of FairMoney.

Y Combinator's Michael Seibel on finding product market fit.

“If you feel like you’ve still got the fight in you, you should continue…”

Do African fintechs have reliability issues? It becomes a clear problem at scale. A payments company with 85% reliability has 15 failed transactions when they're doing 100 transactions a day. But when they're doing 10,000 transactions a day, that's 1,500 failed transactions! When NALA's Benjamin Fernandes says payments are 1% built in Africa, he's envisioning a continent where these problems are solved reliably and at scale.

This is Kiaan Pillay. He's built Stitch into one of South Africa's best places to work by prioritizing a single, powerful trait when hiring: "How open are you to being part of a community?" Here's Stitch's story (and how they hire top talent using 2 surprising tactics):

This is Kiaan Pillay. He's built Stitch into one of South Africa's best places to work by prioritizing a single, powerful trait when hiring: "How open are you to being part of a community?" Here's Stitch's story (and how they hire top talent using 2 surprising tactics):

What is Africa's comparative advantage?

With over $18 million in equity, and debt deals. African startups raised about 11% less last week. Here’s the funding tracker for Week 39 (September 23rd - 29th, 2024): 5. KWIKS Kwiks connects companies with top freelance headhunters through its AI-driven recruitment platform. - Amount raised: $827,000 - Lead investor: Azur Innovation Management (AIM) - Location: Morocco - Type of investment: Equity funding 4. RDG Collective RDG Collective provides pay-as-you-go off-grid solar solutions to underserved households in Zambia. - Amount raised: $1.25M - Lead investor: Acumen's H2R initiative.  - Location: Zambia - Type of investment: Debt funding 3. Yellow Yellow Malawi distributes off-grid solar home systems to expand energy access across Malawi. - Amount raised: $2M - Lead investor: Acumen's H2R initiative - Location: Malawi - Type of investment: Debt funding 2. Kofa Kofa Technologies provides affordable and reliable clean energy through portable battery solutions in Ghana. - Amount raised: $5M - Lead investor: Shell Foundation - Location: Ghana - Type of investment: Debt funding 1. Zeno Zeno aims to transform Africa’s energy and transport landscape with swappable battery technology for electric motorbikes. Amount raised: $9.5M Lead investor: Lowercarbon Capital Location: East Africa Type of investment: Equity funding Additionally, Tespire LLC recently raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding to accelerate its growth and expand the adoption of its data-driven educational solutions. This investment will support the startup in acquiring more schools and enhancing access to quality education for young learners across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. --- Want more insights and stories from entrepreneurs around the continent to help make building easier? Subscribe to our newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dFw3dXe

Can Africa’s youth solve its own problems? In Africa, 60% of the population is under the age of 25. And for generations, poor economic policies and governance have failed to meet the needs of African youth. So the prevailing sentiment is, “even if it's not working at the government level, we will solve our own problems.” What changes would you like to see at the government level across Africa to help create a brighter future for its young population?

Can Africa’s youth solve its own problems? In Africa, 60% of the population is under the age of 25. And for generations, poor economic policies and governance have failed to meet the needs of African youth. So the prevailing sentiment is, “even if it's not working at the government level, we will solve our own problems.” What changes would you like to see at the government level across Africa to help create a brighter future for its young population?