Digital financial services startup Marketforce secures Sh4.6b funding

Nairobi based consumer goods and digital financial services platform MarketForce has become the region’s deal of the month after it announced the closing of a Sh4.6 billion Series A round funding.

According to I&M Burbidge Capital East Africa financial review report for February, the funding was led by V8 Capital Partners – a London and Lagos based African-focused investment vehicle - with participation from Ten13 VC, SOSV Select Fund, Vu Ventures, Vastly Valuable Ventures and Uncovered Fund, along with other investors.

This was amid a strong rebound in deal-making in February with 10 announced transactions boasting a total disclosed deal value of Sh9.7 billion ($85.3 million).

This means that other than matching that of January deals, deal activity in February surpasses activity recorded during the same period in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

About 60 per cent of deals were attributable to venture capital investment activity while private equity investments accounted for 20 per cent of activity and the rest being Mergers and acquisitions transactions. The report shows the ICT sector accounted for 50 per cent of all transactions while the financial services, energy, healthcare, logistics, and automotive sectors each had a single entry.

“We continue to record significant market enthusiasm for deal-making and maintain our expectation for a robust transactions environment for the rest of half-year 2022,” noted the report.

“We are, however, watchful of headwinds from global geopolitical movements and the impact expected on the inflation outlook, as well as international capital allocation decisions.” The data shows Kenya in the same period managed to clinch 16 notable deals cementing her position as the region’s financial magnet.