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.
– Flutterwave raises Series E funding at $3.2bn valuation; Ripple participates
Nigerian payments unicorn Flutterwave has raised a Series E round of funding that values it at US$3.2 billion, with leading global blockchain-based finance company Ripple one of its new investors.
Launched in 2016, Flutterwave builds modern payments technology and infrastructure for Africa to enable people and businesses to connect with the global economy. Its solution enables banks and merchants to replace multiple payment integrations with one simple API, which enables processing of any form of payment anywhere in Africa. To date, the company has processed over US$40 billion in payments and enabled more than 1 billion unique transactions.
The company, which earlier this year secured a Nigerian banking license, is one of Africa’s few tech unicorns, with a valuation exceeding US$3 billion, and has now bolstered that valuation with an undisclosed Series E round that prices Flutterwave at US$3.2 billion. Its US$250 million Series D round was raised back in 2022.
– Payaza set to launch eCommerce platform, ShopAza, across African markets
For many small businesses in Nigeria, being online still means having a catalogue of pictures on WhatsApp Business and receiving orders via Instagram DMs. There’s no cart, no checkout, and customers often have to ask for prices, which can create friction in the sales cycle.
That gap between having a product to sell and having an actual digital storefront to sell it from is what Payaza Africa is stepping into on Thursday, June 18, 2026, with the official launch of ShopAza, a cloud-based e-commerce platform. The company is positioning it as an all-in-one alternative for merchants who want a branded online store, inventory tracking, and payment collection without having to stitch together five different tools.
The launch will take place in Lagos, Nigeria. It will feature a keynote address by Taiwo Adeeko, Payaza’s Global Head of Operations, a live platform demonstration, and a panel discussion on building scalable e-commerce businesses across Africa.
The buying and selling that takes place via WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook rather than official websites is estimated to reach $33 billion in 2026, growing at roughly 13% a year, according to a recent market intelligence report. Millions of people have built informal businesses on platforms that were never designed to be storefronts. As a result, these businesses face similar growth barriers, including a distorted checkout flow, manual order tracking, payment disputes, and poor customer data management.
ShopAza, set to launch in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, alongside North America and Europe, from day one, will support merchants across several business environments and varied currencies. Multi-currency support matters as African merchants acquire customers in the diaspora, and if ShopAza’s payment rails genuinely make that easier than the alternatives, that’s a real differentiator.
– Holocene Closes USD 3 M Climate Tech Fund For Southern Africa
Climate-focused venture capital firm Holocene has announced the final close of its USD 3 M Holocene Ventures Fund I (HVF1), described as Southern Africa’s first dedicated high-growth climate tech fund.
Founded by Josh Romisher, Holocene invests in early-stage climate technology startups across the region, combining capital with hands-on operational support. Over the past 18 months, HVF1 has backed 10 startups, helped create more than 500 jobs, achieved a 2x markup on invested capital, and attracted USD 8.00 in follow-on funding for every USD 1.00 invested.
Portfolio companies include FARO, a circular economy startup, South African e-mobility company ScootHero, and Ugandan EV infrastructure provider Yongeza. With the fund now fully closed, Holocene will focus on scaling portfolio companies and driving long-term climate and financial returns.
– Launch Africa Returns $2.5 Million to Investors After 11 Startup Exits Across Africa
Pan-African venture capital firm Launch Africa Ventures has made its first cash distribution to investors in its Launch Africa Seed Fund I, returning approximately $2.5 million, equivalent to about 7% of paid-in capital.
The payout follows 11 successful exits from the fund’s portfolio, marking an important milestone for one of Africa’s most active early-stage investors.
The exits were completed across seven sectors, six countries and five regions of the continent, highlighting the growing maturity and geographic breadth of Africa’s technology startup ecosystem.
Launch Africa said the realised returns from the transactions reached as high as five times invested capital in some cases, while several exits generated returns exceeding two times the original investment.
– Tyms AI Launches AI Platform to Help Businesses Run Operations Smarter
Tyms AI today announced the launch of its human-first AI platform, built to help medium and enterprise businesses run their operations faster and smarter. The platform combines AI software and intelligent agents that handle day-to-day work across finance, sales, marketing, customer service, compliance, and more, freeing teams to focus on the judgment-driven work that drives business outcomes.
Tyms is designed around a single principle: people, not AI, bring the wisdom, judgment, and taste that move businesses forward. Where most AI products position the technology as a replacement for human workers, Tyms positions it as the engine that removes repetitive work and accelerates teams toward their goals.
“Our mission is to empower humanity to do its best work,” said Allan Rwakatungu, co-founder and CEO of Tyms AI. “I’m an entrepreneur from a developing country, and I believe business is the catalyst for progress. We built Tyms to help businesses around the world do their best work, with AI handling the drudgery and humans focused on the work that actually matters.”
Rwakatungu brings more than two decades in technology to Tyms. He was a software engineer and architect on MTN’s Mobile Money platform, founded mBet, the Ugandan startup that became betPawa, one of Africa’s largest sports-betting companies, and founded Xente, a pioneering licensed fintech that serves thousands of corporate customers and processes millions of dollars in payments.