Top Pipeline

Wuri Ventures Access Fund 2022 Q1

Wuri Ventures is active in evaluating investment opportunities across the African region. We have spoken directly with 42 startups during the period from 13 countries across 14 sectors. Of the startups 52% had women in the founding team and 67% had founders with African origins. Below is a list of investment opportunities we are taking a closer look at.

Company

Background

Highlights

Founder: Gbenro Dara (2x founder, marketplace startup acquired)

Sector: Fintech- Digital Insurance

Description: Insurance APIs

Stage: Seed (deck)

Geography: Nigeria

News: Vanguard

Round size: $3 million

Valuation: $4 million post-money (Recent Round)

  • Market size: Large and untapped digital insurance market - Africa (TAM $68Bn, auto SOM $5.5Bn); Nigeria(TAM $3Bn, auto SOM $150M)
  • Problem: manual, inefficient, insurance
  • Solution: automated claims, underwriting analytics, embedded insurance APIs
  • Traction: 200 dealers, 4k claims processed, downloads of autocheck with 200% MoM growth
  • Co-Investors: EchoVC, SAO Capital, FIAT Ventures

Founder: Tunji Andrews

Sector: Fintech - pensions

Description: Micro-Pensions

Stage: Seed (deck)

Geography: Nigeria

News: Arise Interview

Round size: $1 million

Valuation: $8 million post-money

  • Market size: $3Bn micro-pensions SOM in Nigeria
  • Problem: 75% of NIgerian labor market(59million people) is informal with no retirement services
  • Solution: Web and mobile apps providing micropensions, microloans, micro investments, microsavings, microinsurance
  • Traction: 18k savers growing 33% MoM; $2 per week savings on average;
  • Co-Investors: Techstars UK, Babs Ogundeyi (Kuda Bank)

Founder: Desmond Koney (2x founder)

Sector: AgriTech

Description: Exporting food to Global Corporates (Asia, Europe, USA) through a digital farming marketplace

Stage: Series A (deck)

Geography: Ghana

News: AgFunder NetWork

Round size: $8 million

Valuation: TBD

  • Market size: Africa crops value ($192.8Bn); value of target crops (TAM $19.7Bn)
  • Problem: Farmers lack access to premium markets, industries face unpredictable supplies, middlemen inefficiencies
  • Solution: One marketplace platform (providing insurance suppliers, certification, logistics) accessible on app, web, tablets
  • Technology: Data protocols for demand forecasts, satellite &IoT monitoring, Agronomy Advisory, escrow payments & quality controls
  • Traction: $9m GMV & $2.8m Revenues in 2021; $15m in Purchase Orders; 3,952 Farmers farming 15k acres; 271 buyers purchasing 42k megatonnes; 40% MoM user growth
  • Co-Investors: Ceniarth, Ingressive Capital, EchoVC, Village Capital

Founder: Moustapha Ndoye (Senior PM @Wave-unicorn, 3x co-founder)

Sector: Logistics - Trucking

Description: Logistics company for booking trucks

Stage: Pre-Seed (deck)

Geography: Senegal

News:

Round size: $100k

Valuation: $1 million post-money

  • Market: Senegal (2000+ trucks daily, 600k
  • Problem: Shippers (difficult access to truck owners, no tracking, no coverage); Truck owners(lose 40% to brokers, no financing)
  • Solution: Connect shippers and carriers with integrated web platform and mobile app)
  • Traction: 100 trucks on platform
  • Co-Investors: Angels
  • Wuri Ventures Fellows Program

Founder: Fatu Fall (Forbes 30u30, 2x founder, Harvard)

Sector: AgriTech

Description: Urban Hydroponic Gardening DIY Network

Stage: Pre-Seed (deck)

Geography: Senegal

News:

Round size: $400k

Valuation: $3 million post-money

  • Market: $3,2Bn TAM, $356M SAM in Sahel Region
  • Problem: Only 4-6 productive months in year, 80% of food is imported, 52% of produce rot in transport
  • Solution: Pioneers in Hydroponics in Africa; 4-7x more production in same space; predictable output year-round; 80% water savings; no pesticides; only 3% product loss
  • Technology: MVP established in 7 months with 100% local materials (including software and hardware, automation, light intensity control);
  • Traction: Each greenhouse creates $30k US EBIT, high margin business model (100% markup for raw produce, 400-600% markup for processed); large early adoption in Senegal (2 e-commerce groceries, 70 high end restaurants, 40 high-end hotels, 5 health markets)
  • Co-Investors: I&P (Potential)

Founder: Sayo Folawiyo (LSE, Bain & Co., Microtraction, Pave Investments)

Sector: JobsTech

Description: Marketplace for handyman home services in South Africa

Stage: Seed (deck)

Geography: South Africa

News:Knife, Allan Gray, invest in Kanuda

Round size: $2 milion

Valuation: $5.5 million Pre-money

  • Market size: $4Bn in South Africa alone; 80% of homeowners prefer small business owners for home repairs; substantial B2B market
  • Problem: Marketplace - Home owners struggled to find trusted handymen; independent providers relied on word of mouth marketing
  • Solution: Full-service operating system(marketplace) with algorithmic matching of single home and large businesses to independent service providers- OS and app provide payments, training, insurance, CRM, vetting and verification
  • Traction: 9400 Professionals and 5400 Active Customers over 100 categories
  • Co-Investors: Knife Capital, Allan Gray