Last week (September 1–7, 2025), the African tech ecosystem showed a familiar mix: steady venture activity, policy and infrastructure stories shaping the operating environment, and continued momentum in AI and crypto niches.
Egypt led the biggest funding headlines: an Arabic-speech AI company closed a sizable Series A funding round, an Egyptian fintech raised seed capital, and crypto presales continued to draw large retail allocations.
Meanwhile, fintech infrastructure and government-backed innovation programmes made news — a reminder that startups and policymakers continue to move in parallel as the ecosystem scales.
African tech news highlights
Crypto & web3
- Snorter (Solana): its AI trading-bot presale passed $3.6 million this week (presale milestone, not an institutional VC round). The project’s traction shows how crypto presales and AI-meets-meme-coin tooling still attract sizeable retail capital. Expect more speculative activity in token presales.
Fintech & infrastructure
- Anchor celebrated its third anniversary this week; the payments and banking infrastructure company says it has processed over $2.5B and onboarded 300+ businesses. Stories like this signal the continued maturation of payment rails and infrastructure providers across Africa.
- Oneremit (Nigeria) announced global payment corridors to 100+ countries, improving cross-border payment routes for Nigerian businesses. This is an example of product-led expansion that reduces friction for SMEs and corporates.
Policy, events & ecosystem programs
- NASENI / InnovateNaija (Nigeria) launched a ₦250 million innovation challenge to support youth innovation across states; the programme will award grants to state winners and runs in partnership with ecosystem groups — a sign of stronger public-sector engagement in startup support.
- Events & programmes: Angel Fair Africa, RevUp Africa (Lagos), Itana’s Digital Residency Launchpad and other September events were promoted this week — indicating a busy event calendar that could catalyze dealflow and partnerships in coming weeks.
Key funding rounds (September 1–7, 2025)
Intella: $12.5M Series A (Egypt)
- Sector: Arabic speech/voice AI
- Lead investor(s): Prosus, with participation from 500 Global, Wa’ed Ventures, Hala Ventures, Idrisi Ventures and HearstLab, the investment arm of Hearst Corporation.
- Why it matters: accelerates localisation of voice AI for Arabic-speaking markets and signals investor confidence in language-tech.
Founded in 2021 by Nour AlTaher and Omar Mansour, Intella has become the leading Arabic speech intelligence company, specialising in building Arabic-first AI models to cater to the nuanced needs of enterprise contact centers in the MENA region.
Munify: $3M Seed (Egypt)
- Sector: Fintech (payments/financial services)
- Lead investor(s): Y Combinator, with participation from BYLD and Digital Currency Group.
- Why it matters: continues a trend of early-stage fintech funding in North Africa.
Founded in 2024 by Khalid Ashmawy, Munify is building a cross-border digital bank tailored to Egyptians abroad, which enables instant, low-cost transfers to Egypt, US bank account opening, debit card issuance, and FX tools to hedge against currency volatility.
Snorter presale: $3.6M (project presale, not institutional round)
- Sector: Crypto / AI trading tools (Solana ecosystem)
- Notes: presale traction underscores retail appetite for AI-enabled crypto tools; not a traditional VC round.
Trends to watch (September 1–7, 2025)
- North Africa (Egypt) is hot this week. Two of the largest funding items reported across these outlets were Egypt-based startups (Intella and Munify), suggesting capital continues to flow to North Africa, especially in AI and fintech.
- AI for local languages is emerging as a clear investment focus. Intella’s Series A for Arabic speech tech underscores a bigger pattern: investors are backing AI that solves local-language and localisation problems across the continent.
- Fintech infrastructure keeps scaling. Anchor’s growth and Oneremit’s corridor expansion show investors and builders remain committed to payment rails and cross-border flows — foundation-level work that enables many downstream startups.
- Crypto presales and AI-driven token utilities still attract retail capital. Snorter’s presale milestone demonstrates that, even in a cautious macro environment, niche crypto products — especially those combining AI and trading tooling — can raise meaningful sums quickly from retail investors. Exercise caution: presales carry high risk
- Public & private programme activity is rising. Government-backed competitions (like InnovateNaija) and a busy September events calendar (Angel Fair, RevUp, Gitex-adjacent programming) will likely increase founder visibility and may accelerate deal-making through September.
Noteworthy items / regulatory developments
- Public-sector backing for innovation (Nigeria): NASENI’s ₦250 million InnovateNaija challenge (announced Sept 3) is notable: government-linked programmes that provide grants and visibility can help early-stage founders who lack access to traditional VC.
- Market structure & regulation signals: Stories last week on AI investment dynamics and fintech revenue/levy matters (from these outlets in recent weeks) are reminders that regulatory moves (tax/levies or sector-specific rules) continue to affect startup economics materially. Keep an eye on payments and fintech-related policy shifts.
What this means for founders & investors
- For founders: focus on product-market fit in local languages and payment flows — these are what are attracting capital and partnership interest now. Additionally, utilize the active September event calendar to gain visibility and secure investor introductions.
- For investors: North Africa and language-AI deserve attention; infrastructure plays (payments, cross-border corridors) continue to offer durable upside. Be cautious with crypto presales — high traction can mask elevated risk.
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