Ghana Innovation Journal
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Hubtel hits GHS 160 billion transaction value milestone in 2023.
Ghana’s supper app Hubtel hit a GHS 160 billion (~$13.2 billion) in transactions in 2023, as revealed by CEO Alex Bram in a New Year message to the public. In addition to the impressive total processed value, Bram said the company also nearly tripled staff strength, growing from about 200 at the beginning of the year to a vibrant
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GIJ Newsletter #1: 2023 in Review | $65 million in funding for Ghanaian Startups
Hello Friends, Welcome to our first newsletter for 2024. Since the year is relatively new with few activities to journal, this edition will provide a teaser to our upcoming annual Ghana Startup and Innovation Ecosystem Report. Gold Rush Ghanaian startups raised $65.5 million in equity and debt across 36 publicly disclosed deals. This represents a
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2023 Archives.
MinoHealth AI, Aurum Institute, and Degas Ghana secure grants to catalyze equitable artificial Intelligence use. The Gates Foundation has awarded two Ghana-based startups and a healthcare research organization grants for the Grand Challenges on Catalyzing Equitable Artificial Intelligence Use initiative. The initiative will make three-month grants of $100,000 to support projects to build tools using
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Investor Profile with Hannah Bertilla Acquah, CEO of the Ghana Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
With over two decades of professional experience as an economist, consultant and entrepreneur working across four continents – Africa, Asia, EU/UK, and USA – Hannah Acquah’s professional experience spans business consulting and investment advisory with development finance and development agencies such as Acumen, USAID, UNFPA and GIZ. She worked with Deloitte and Touché and in
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Maka, the fashion and beauty e-commerce platform, raises $2.65 million to deepen its presence in Ghana and Nigeria.
Maka, the fashion and beauty e-commerce platform, has successfully raised $2.65 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pan-African venture capital firms 4DX Ventures and Janngo Capital. Other notable investors include Palm Drive Capital, Jonathan Shipman (angel investor, EVP founder, and Twitch founding member), and executives from the delivery platform Wolt. Founded by Diana Owusu-Kyereko in
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One Plan and Swoove selected for the 2023 Techstars Lagos Accelerator.
Techstars, Africa’s most active startup investor, has announced its second cohort of 12 companies to participate in its pan-African accelerator program in partnership with Lagos-based innovation program ARM Labs. Two Ghanaian companies, One Plan and Swoove, are among the selected companies. One Plan helps workers in Africa’s informal economy create affordable financial plans, making it easier to start a
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Ghana FinTech Association President joins the African Fintech Network board.
The President of Ghana FinTech and Payments Association, Martin Kwame Awagah, has been appointed by the Africa Fintech Network as a Board Member from 2023 to 2026. In addition to Mr Awagah, the African Fintech Network also welcomed a cohort of 16 new Board of Directors from the various member associations across the continent. His
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7 startups secure € 700,000 from the develoPPP Ventures programme to scale their operations.
Seven startups have secured € 100,000 each as part of the first Ghana cohort of the develoPPP Ventures funding programme. With startup funding in Ghana plummeting by 80% in 2023, such interventions are critical to filling the finance gap. Being implemented by Innohub, develoPPP Ventures is a growth funding program by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation
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3Farmate Robotics bags undisclosed angel investment to fuel the expansion of its precision AI-powered electric robots.
The Ghanaian agritech company, 3Farmate Robotics, has secured an investment from a Silicon Valley investor through the Africa AI ecosystem builder, Alliance4ai.org. Alliance4ai is an AI organization that empowers innovators to tackle its most critical challenges. 3Farmate helps farmers leverage cutting-edge robotics and artificial intelligence to carry out farm operations at reduced costs swiftly. The
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Koa secures $15 million Series B round to scale up cocoa upcycling.
The Swiss-Ghanaian startup has closed a series B round of $15 million to finance its growth. This comes on the back of the startup’s recent inauguration of the largest cocoa fruit factory in Africa. The equity financing enables Koa to scale its operations, develop new cocoa fruit products, and grow its marketing and distribution activities.