African startups are making significant progress. In this context, the digital economy platform FollowICT highlights the top startup news across Africa over the past week.
Nigeria’s Terra Industries Raises $18 Million, Bringing Extended Seed Round to $52 Million
Nigerian defense technology startup Terra Industries has raised an additional $18 million, bringing the total value of its extended seed round to $52 million. The company plans to use the new capital to expand its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate its international expansion beyond the African market. The latest funding follows $11.7 million raised in January 2026 and another $22 million secured in February.
The round included participation from existing investors 8VC and SV Angel, alongside new backers Norleo Space Investments and Grant Gordon. Terra says it currently has $100 million in active contracts, highlighting growing demand for its autonomous defense and infrastructure protection technologies.
Part of the new funding will be directed toward expanding production capacity across Africa. Terra is preparing to open Pax-2, a 34,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Ghana, in late 2026. The company says the facility will become Africa’s largest drone factory and complement its existing Pax-1 facility in Nigeria, with a target of reaching annual production capacity of 50,000 units by 2028.
Alongside its manufacturing expansion, Terra is opening its first international corporate office in London to gain access to global talent and financial markets. The company develops aerial drones, interceptors and unmanned ground vehicles connected through its proprietary ArtemisOS command-and-control platform. Terra is increasingly targeting emerging markets across the Gulf, South America and South Asia as part of its broader Global South strategy.
South Africa’s Jem HR Raises $8.4 Million in Series A to Expand Workforce Management Platform
South African startup Jem HR, a WhatsApp-based human resources platform, has raised $8.4 million in a Series A funding round led by Quona Capital. The company plans to use the funding to expand its product offering and develop its platform into a comprehensive workforce management solution. Jem is currently used by more than 200 companies and serves around 250,000 frontline workers.
Founded in 2019 as SmartWage and rebranded as Jem HR in 2022, the company initially focused on giving employees instant access to a percentage of wages they had already earned. It later expanded into broader HR digitization, helping companies manage time-consuming processes while giving frontline employees access to workplace services through WhatsApp.
Employees can use the platform to receive company-wide communications, access payslips, request leave and use financial wellness services. Jem is also expanding into areas including time and attendance, credit scoring and employee assistance programs, while products such as rostering and learning management are currently in beta.
The funding round also included University Technology Fund, E4E, Next176/FutureGrowth, and several prominent angel investors. Jem aims to become a single workforce management platform that replaces the multiple disconnected systems companies often use to manage frontline employees, while leveraging WhatsApp as a direct channel for communication and employee services.
Kenya’s WorkKE Builds Digital Marketplace Connecting Businesses With Skilled Professionals
Kenyan startup WorkKE is building a digital work ecosystem that connects businesses with skilled professionals through a secure online marketplace. The platform targets SMEs, startups, corporates, NGOs and individuals, enabling them to hire freelancers, consultants and project-based professionals more quickly and efficiently.
Founded in 2025 by Kennedy Mokaya Asiago, WorkKE was created after the company identified a gap between African professionals looking for trusted digital work opportunities and businesses struggling to find suitable talent for specific projects. The startup believes traditional recruitment processes can be expensive and time-consuming, particularly for companies that need specialized skills on a project basis.
WorkKE has expanded beyond its core marketplace to include WorkKE Academy, which provides digital skills training, as well as AI-powered business tools, digital products and employer solutions. The broader ecosystem is designed to make digital work and hiring more accessible to both professionals and businesses across Africa.
The company is positioning itself as more than a freelancer marketplace by building an integrated digital work ecosystem around recruitment, skills development and business services. WorkKE’s mission is to make digital work more accessible to African professionals while helping businesses find trusted talent faster and at a lower cost as demand for project-based and specialized skills continues to grow.
Nigeria’s Saly AI Surpasses 20,000 Users and $1.1 Million in Transaction Volume
Nigerian fintech startup Saly AI has surpassed 20,000 users and processed more than ₦1.5 billion, equivalent to approximately $1.1 million, in transaction volume. The company is expanding its conversational financial services across WhatsApp and Telegram, allowing users to access financial products without relying on multiple standalone applications.
Through conversational commands, users can send and receive money, pay bills, manage financial activities, purchase digital services and initiate cross-border transactions. Saly is also expanding into virtual dollar cards and crypto-backed card experiences, broadening its offering beyond domestic payments.
The company is simultaneously developing Saly Chain, a Layer 3 blockchain infrastructure built on Base. The initiative forms part of Saly’s broader strategy to combine everyday financial services with an underlying technology infrastructure capable of supporting multiple financial products and transactions.
According to Williams Peter, co-founder of SalyPay, surpassing 20,000 users and ₦1.5 billion in transaction volume demonstrates that customers are using the platform for real financial activities. The company aims to build financial infrastructure that allows users to interact with multiple services through platforms they already use every day, particularly WhatsApp and Telegram.
Convergence Partners Leads Undisclosed Series C Funding Round in African Fintech Yellow
Convergence Partners has led an undisclosed Series C funding round in Yellow, an African fintech focused on financing smartphones and off-grid solar products. The company plans to use the new capital to expand its operations across Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
The funding builds on an existing relationship between Convergence Partners and Yellow, which has now served more than one million customers. Yellow aims to reach 10 million customers by 2030 by expanding access to internet-enabled devices and energy solutions, particularly in markets where upfront costs remain a barrier for households and small businesses.
Yellow’s business model allows customers to finance smartphones and solar equipment through asset-backed credit, enabling them to spread payments over time instead of paying the full cost upfront. The company also uses AI-enabled credit assessment to evaluate customers seeking financing and determine their ability to repay.
Founded in Malawi in 2018 by Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart, Yellow initially focused on solar energy before expanding into smartphone financing. The company now employs more than 200 people and plans to use the new funding to scale its financing model across additional African markets while increasing access to connectivity and clean energy.
Digital African Woman Partners With LEAP Africa to Support Women Entrepreneurs
Belgium-based social enterprise Digital African Woman (DAW) has partnered with LEAP Africa to expand market access and business support for women entrepreneurs across Africa. The partnership coincides with the official launch of the DAW Marketplace and was announced during the fifth edition of LEAP Africa’s Leadership Accelerator Programme (LAP) Physical Bootcamp in Nairobi.
The collaboration connects LEAP Africa’s leadership development programs with Digital African Woman’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Through the partnership, participants can gain access to broader business networks, potential customers and commercial opportunities after completing their training.
The initiative seeks to address a common challenge facing entrepreneurship and leadership programs: support often ends when a workshop or training program concludes. DAW and LEAP Africa aim to create a longer-term pathway connecting skills development with market access, mentorship and business networks.
Through the DAW Marketplace, the organizations aim to increase the visibility of women-led businesses and create opportunities to connect entrepreneurs with new customers and commercial partners. Digital African Woman believes that sustained business communities can help women entrepreneurs turn training and knowledge into concrete market opportunities rather than limiting support to short-term programs and events.