INFOGRAPHIC: Startup Funding in Africa & the Middle East — Week 51, 2025
Here are the venture funding activities we tracked in the Middle East and African region this week – including Premialab, Sun King, Nawah Scientific, Völz, Ezeebit, Kayko, Relik, and iVoiceUp.
Big cheques are still being written this week across the funding scene in Africa and the Middle Eat. From quantitative finance in the UAE to off-grid solar in Africa and crypto payments in Southern Africa, this week’s funding activity shows capital flowing toward businesses that already have traction and a clear path to scale.
At the top of the list is UAE-headquartered Premialab, which pulled in a hefty $220 million growth investment led by KKR, with continued backing from Balderton. Premialab provides data, analytics, and risk management tools for quantitative investors, and the size of the round signals strong confidence in infrastructure businesses that sit quietly behind global financial markets but are critical to how capital is managed.
Next comes Sun King, the Kenya-based off-grid solar company operating across 11 African countries. The company secured $40 million in equity financing from sustainable investment platform Lightrock. The funding will support the rollout of decentralised energy systems across Africa and Asia, while also backing new product development. It’s another reminder that climate and energy infrastructure remains one of the most bankable long-term bets on the continent.
In Egypt, Nawah Scientific closed a $23 million Series A round, combining equity and debt, as it marks a decade since launch. The deep-tech and life sciences company specialises in scientific and industrial testing services, and the round reflects growing demand for high-quality local research and testing infrastructure in emerging markets.
Further down the list, Algerian travel-tech startup Völz raised about $5 million (600 million Algerian dinars), in a round led by Tell Group and Groupe Industriel Babahoum Algérie (GIBA). Founded in 2022, Völz has built an online travel agency designed specifically for Algeria’s market realities, allowing customers to book international flights while paying in local currency, a practical solution to a very real constraint.
In Southern Africa, Ezeebit, a South Africa-based and FSCA-regulated stablecoin and crypto payment infrastructure company, closed a $2.05 million seed round. The funding will go toward product development, merchant adoption in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria, and deeper partnerships with banks, payment service providers, and telcos.
Rwanda’s startup scene also made the list with Kigali-based fintech Kayko, which raised $1.2 million in seed funding. The company is focused on digitising informal small businesses and building the data rails needed for formal lending. Backers include Burrow Capital, LuxDev, Hanga Ignite, and develoPPP Ventures.
Two UAE-linked startups also closed early-stage rounds. Relik, a UAE-based company, secured seed funding with participation from KBW Ventures, Naatt Holding, Fort Holding, and Ayman Sejiny. Meanwhile, iVoiceUp, an AI-powered whistleblowing and ethics case management platform, raised an investment round led by A15 to expand across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Taken together, the deals tell a consistent story. Investors are backing companies that solve real operational problems, whether in finance, energy, compliance, travel, or payments, and that already understand their local markets. The money may be more selective, but it’s clearly still moving toward businesses built for durability rather than hype.
