Iiwwa customer service representative Dua'a Al-Hawamdeh
- Dutch development bank FMO has mobilised concessional finance via its MASSIF fund on behalf of the Dutch government to help start-up liwwa, offer loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through its digital lending marketplace. FMO will support liwwa on its journey to improve access to finance for entrepreneurs in Jordan and the Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region.
- Sistema Biobolsa has secured working capital to bring biodigesters to smallholder farmers in Mexico. Beneficial Returns offers performance-based incentives to company that meet sales targets. Sistema Biobolsa sells biodigesters that turn agricultural waste into clean energy to smallholder Mexican farmers.
- Investec Asset Management is backing off-grid solar home system provider Mobisol in an additional follow-on deal from its original US$15 million investment.
- Acorn Agri, the investment platform managed by Acorn Private Equity, is looking to merge with JSE-listed Overberg Agri, an agricultural company based in South Africa.
- Private equity-backed video-streaming business, iflix, has agreed to sell a stake in its African business to Kwesé, a sport website that serves sub-Saharan Africa which is operated by Econet Media.
- Indian startup Agricx Lab has secured US$500,000 to quality-check produce of farmers and traders to sell agricultural products via its mobile-based marketplace.
- The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering investing in Inside Capital’s maiden private equity fund, the first close of which at, US$34 million was announced in December 2017 with a mix of regional industrial and family offices funding orchestrated by the development institution joined Triple Jump.
- Goodwell, the Dutch firm has raised a €20 million feeder fund for young African companies, furthering its focus on financial inclusion in Africa and India.
- EIB could extend funding to Verod Capital Management, a Nigerian investment firm that invests equity capital in growth companies across sectors including consumer products, services, manufacturing, agribusiness, financial services, energy, media and technology
- India-based firm Awaaz De has gotten backing from Tribe Impact Capital. The firm offers mobile communications and data collection tools for social enterprises and development organisations. The firm first tested its technology with the Development Support Centre, an non-government organisation, to spread agricultural information to farmers in the state of Gujarat.