In 2019, more than 60 start-ups on the African continent, have raised above $1 million in funding.
Notably, the year has, also, witnessed some exciting acquisitions, where some of them are the first of its kind.
Unusual startup acquisitions, also, happened, as an older company, got acquired by a younger start-up.
Some of the startup acquisitions have been within the same country, while others have been across borders.
Here are some of the notable startup acquisitions, in 2019:
OneFi Acquired Amplify
The Lagos-based fintech platform that offers online lending OneFi, bought over Amplify, for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition of the Nigerian payment solution company, took place, in the first quarter of 2019, precisely, in March.
The move saw all of Amplify’s client and team, taking over, by OneFi.
With the recent investment in the fintech space, OneFi has, certainly, placed itself, in a pole position, in acquiring the start-up.
DPO Group Acquired PayFast
The Kenya-based company, acquired PayEast, a South African payment service provider.
The acquisition, which took place, around July, was more of a share and cash deal, as Jonathan Smit, the Managing Director of PayFast, also, joined the ranks of DPO Group.
Founded in 2007, the South African-based platform, employs the use of a “facilitator model”, to execute its payment process, done alongside bank’s partnership.
Following its acquisition, DPO Group, has integrated PayFast, into its services.
This allows all its previous users, across the board, to execute their transactions, in more than 15 African countries on the continent, on a platform.
PayFast is, not the first South African start-up to be acquired, by a Kenyan company, in 2017, DPO Group, acquired PayGate, through private equity investment.
RiseUp Acquired MENAbytes
In August, RiseUp acquired MENAbytes, a top technology publication platform and regional start-up.
The acquisition, also, extended to another of MENAbytes’ platform, trackMENA.
Zubair Naeem Paracha, the founder of MENAbytes, however, joined RiseUp, after the company acquired her start-up, to continue leading Menabytes and trackMENA.
RiseUp is an Egyptian platform that, organises entrepreneurship events, in the MENA, (the Middle East & North Africa region).
MENAbytes was, until its acquisition, the foremost start-up media organization, with hundreds of thousands of page viewers per month, throughout the region of North Africa and the Middle East.
MENAbytes recent expansion has seen it, cover Pakistan and despite its acquisition, it has been allowed autonomy, on its editorial.
Co-creation Hub Acquired iHub
The Nigerian technology hub, Co-creation Hub, acquired a co tech hub in Kenya, iHub, for an undisclosed fee.
The acquisition, which took place in September, would see the iHub’s team, become part of CcHUB’s wider central support and strategy network, nevertheless, it retained its name and senior management structure.
Following iHub’s acquisition, CcHUB will now make key hires, in innovation consulting, people management, program management and community support.
It looks to strengthen its pan-African network and mobilise its far-reaching resources, network and relationships, to accelerate the growth of technology, innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.
An industry, first, for the African tech hub community, the acquisition of East Africa’s, most prolific and reputable technology centre is, the next step for CcHUB.
It continues its mission, to connect entrepreneurs, technologists and public bodies, across the continent.
RiseUp Acquired StarterHub
Just, not more than two months, after RiseUp acquired MENAbytes., it has gone ahead to add Egyptian StarterHub, into its ranks.
The hub is an online start-up community that, modelled its structure, after Facebook, with the aim of assisting founders in the MENA region, by getting them connected, to business resources and offline mentorship.
With this acquisition, StarterHub gets rebranded, as RiseUp Connect, to ensure that, stakeholders in the start-up ecosystem, are engaged with each other.
BRCK Acquires Surf
This took place in February this year, when BRCK, one of the largest public WiFi networks in Sub-Saharan Africa, a Kenyan-based company, acquired Surf, a local WiFi provider.
BRCK, a hardware and connectivity start-up, was designed for harsh environments, with limited connectivity and power.
Following its acquisition, it has extended its reach, to cover more than 2000 hotspots, in Kenya and Rwanda, serving a community of, half a million users, per month.
MPharma Acquired Haltons
Ghana’s MPharma, bought the second largest pharmacy chain, in Kenya, Haltons.
MPharna is a health start-up that, manages drug inventories, for pharmacies and their suppliers.
The acquisition, has seen MPharma, take over the control of the 20 Haltons stores. This deal was reported to be valued, at under $5 million that came, from the Series B investment, of over $9 Million, secured by MPharma.
Whilst MPharma took control of the business, the top management executives, retained a stake in the business.
Featured Image: pharmaceutical-journal
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