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GetEquity hits profitability | Twiga Foods acquires 3 local players | Crossfin invests in DigiSquad
Gitonga Mwaura
April 28, 2025
In partnership with
Good morning and happy Monday! 🌞
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Startups Chronicle by Startup Hub Africa 🚀 — your quick, powerful pulse on Africa’s startup scene.
P.S. Testing out this Monday morning drop — a fast shot of startup news to kickstart your week.
Hit reply and let me know: Should we make this a habit? 👍👎
Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin!
As venture capital flows cool and market realities bite harder, African startups are showing their true colors — adapting, innovating, and charging ahead. 🚀
💼 Nigeria’s GetEquity has officially hit profitability after pivoting to local debt investments, proving that sustainable growth often beats flashy expansion.
💸 Meanwhile, Flutterwave is scaling new heights by joining the Circle Payment Network, unlocking faster, cheaper cross-border payments for African businesses using stablecoins.
🌾 And in a bold move to reshape food distribution, Twiga Foods acquired three FMCG distributors as it pivots into a full-service retail platform in Kenya.
Attention AI enthusiasts: This podcast is for you.
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No theory, no fluff – just tactical, actionable insights from those leading the charge.
🛒 In Rwanda, IZI Electric is taking the EV battle to the highways with its new long-range Impala E30 electric bus, promising savings and reliability to fleet operators across East Africa.
🏦 South Africa’s DigiSquad secured a boost from Crossfin, strengthening its mission to bring digital financial solutions to underserved African communities.
🔄 Kenya’s Central Bank is shaking up lending practices by scrapping opaque risk-based loan pricing — a big step toward fairer credit access for SMEs and households.
Africa's startup ecosystem continues to adapt and evolve across sectors, from fintech to mobility to agriculture, not by chasing hype, but by building durable, impactful solutions.
⟹ 🚀 STARTUPS WATCH 🚀 ⟸
Here are the 5 top startups in the African eco-system we think you need to know:
 | 🌟 Name ➜ Hollydesk 🏭️ Industry ➜ FinTech 📆 Founded ➜ 2020 📍 Location ➜ Cairo, Egypt 🇪🇬 💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $1M 🧑🤝🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 2 - 10 👥 Founders
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Hollydesk is a SaaS platform helping SMEs manage daily expenses, accounts payable, and employee reimbursements all in one place. By digitizing the full spending process—from receipt uploads to real-time approvals—Hollydesk eliminates manual workflows, reduces paperwork, and gives finance teams instant visibility into company spend.
Trusted by 3,000+ businesses, Hollydesk enables faster reimbursements, smarter budgeting, and scalable cash flow support with no setup fees or hidden costs. With real-time syncing and mobile-first tools, companies can save up to 9 working days per month and take full control over their financial operations. 🧾⚡
 | 🌟 Name ➜ Busha 🏭️ Industry ➜ Financial Services 📆 Founded ➜ 2018 📍 Location ➜ Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬 💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $4M 🧑🤝🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 1-10 👥 Founders
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Busha is a digital asset platform helping Nigerians buy, sell, invest, and spend cryptocurrencies seamlessly. Licensed by Nigeria’s SEC, Busha offers a user-friendly exchange supporting 45+ digital assets, instant trades, scheduled buys, and limit orders — all while prioritizing transparency, security, and 24/7 human support.
With over 800,000 verified users and 8 million+ trades executed, Busha empowers users to grow their portfolios through Busha Earn (up to 7.5% APY), spend digital assets on airtime and shopping, and manage their finances easily via mobile apps. As one of Africa’s pioneering regulated exchanges, Busha is redefining safe and simple crypto finance. 🚀
 | 🌟 Name ➜ OZÉ 🏭️ Industry ➜ FinTech 📆 Founded ➜ 2018 📍 Location ➜ Accra, Ghana 🇬🇭 💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $3M 🧑🤝🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 11-50 👥 Founders
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OZÉ is a mobile-first platform helping African small businesses grow smarter by combining bookkeeping, invoicing, inventory management, and online sales into one app. Trusted by over 150,000 businesses, OZÉ empowers entrepreneurs to track their operations, make data-driven decisions, and seamlessly access no-collateral loans directly from their phones.
For lenders, OZÉ offers a dedicated portal that aggregates business transaction data with alternative data sources to generate real-time credit scores, helping banks and microfinance institutions source and manage SME loans more profitably. By bridging the gap between small businesses and financial institutions, OZÉ is building the future of SME finance in Africa. 📈📱
 | 🌟 Name ➜ Floatpays 🏭️ Industry ➜ Financial Services 📆 Founded ➜ 2019 📍 Location ➜ Western Cape, SA 🇿🇦 💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $4M 🧑🤝🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 2 - 10 👥 Founders
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Floatpays is an employee benefits and financial wellness platform helping African employers offer powerful solutions like earned wage access, automated savings, pension-backed home loans, rewards, and financial education—all through one easy-to-integrate system. Designed to boost employee engagement, reduce financial stress, and drive long-term well-being, Floatpays delivers impact with zero cost to employers.
Trusted by leading companies across South Africa, Floatpays has helped users increase savings, reduce credit reliance, and take control of their financial futures. Fully regulated and accredited, Floatpays is reshaping how businesses support their people’s financial health—seamlessly, securely, and sustainably. 💸🏡
 | 🌟 Name ➜ Zeew 🏭️ Industry ➜ Blockchain 📆 Founded ➜ 2017 📍 Location ➜ Cairo, Egypt 🇪🇬 💰️ Funding Raised ➜ $800K 🧑🤝🧑 No. Of Employees ➜ 11 - 50 👥 Founders
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Zeew powers on-demand delivery businesses with a fully white-label platform built for food, grocery, pharmacy, and services marketplaces. Launched in 2017 and now operating in over 100 countries, Zeew offers startups, chains, and marketplaces the ability to launch AI-driven ordering and delivery apps in just 7 days—no coding required, fully customizable, and zero commissions.
Trusted by brands like Orion Foods (OLM Foods) and Menu2Go, Zeew combines fast deployment, real-time insights, and one-on-one support to help clients scale from MVP to millions. From startup to enterprise, Zeew equips businesses with the tech backbone to compete fiercely and grow sustainably in the booming delivery economy. 🚚📦
⟹ 💼 💰️ VENTURE CAPITAL WATCH 💼 💰️ ⟸
🔹 Crossfin made a strategic investment in Johannesburg-based DigiSquad, a fintech delivering cloud-based payment solutions for underserved markets. DigiSquad’s platform, DigiEngine, recently secured a key national contract as an Eskom vending agent, validating its readiness to scale public sector fintech offerings — a growing focus among African impact investors.
🔹 Visa expanded its Africa fintech footprint with equity stakes in Tunisia’s Konnect and Morocco’s PayTic after their accelerator graduation. Specializing in payments infrastructure and backend operations, both startups align with Visa’s $1B financial inclusion strategy and reflect the rising investor focus on North Africa’s scalable fintech opportunities.
🔹 GetEquity reached profitability after pivoting from startup equity syndication to local debt investments, partnering with asset managers like ARM. Since 2024, it has processed ₦500M+ ($310K) in debt transactions, growing 10% monthly. Now targeting $1M ARR, GetEquity is building secondary markets and investment-backed credit products, shelving expansion plans (e.g., Kenya) in favor of deepening vertical growth.
👀 This Week’s Featured Investor: Sanari Capital 👀
Sanari Capital is a Johannesburg-based private equity firm specializing in growth-stage investments across Africa, with a focus on founder-run, owner-managed, and family-owned businesses ready to scale regionally and globally.
A proudly women-led and majority black-owned firm, Sanari emphasizes digital and human enablement to unlock business potential and build “Sustainable, Scalable, and Saleable” (“3S”) companies. The firm recently closed its R1.5 billion ($80M) Sanari 3S Growth Fund, backing medium-sized businesses across tech, education, energy, data, and distribution sectors.
Beyond capital, Sanari partners with management teams to enhance operational strength, drive inclusive growth, and deliver superior investor returns—aligned with ESG principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
📌 Visit Sanari Capital’s profile on SHA.
⟹ 📺️ MEDIA WATCH 📺️ ⟸
Here are the 5 key things in the news this week that you need to know:
Kenyan agri-tech company Twiga Foods acquires 3 local FMCG companies - Disrupt Africa
GetEquity hits profitability after shift to local debt investments - Techcabal
SA’s Peach Payments, Happy Pay partner to expand BNPL for merchants - Disrupt Africa
Crossfin invests in South Africa’s DigiSquad to expand digital payments in underserved markets - Techcabal
Visa Invests in Tunisia’s Konnect, Morocco’s PayTic after 3rd accelerator programme - Techcabal
And that’s your weekly dosage of the African startup ecosystem! Have a lovely week ahead!
Gitonga, the Stoic Founder at StartupHub.Africa 🚀
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