Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
Madica, a structured investment programme for pre-seed African startups, has announced five new investments. The move marks the programme’s first entry into Algeria and Cameroon, while also strengthening its presence in Nigeria and Egypt.
Emmanuel Adegboye, Head of Madica, said, “At Madica, we’ve always believed that exceptional founders can be found in every corner of Africa, yet access to early-stage capital remains heavily concentrated in a handful of ecosystems. By making our first investments in Algeria and Cameroon, we’re continuing to prove that world-class businesses can emerge from markets that have historically been overlooked by venture capital.”
The five startups span four markets and cover sectors from HR technology and financial services to semiconductors and the circular economy:
Talenteo
HQ: Algeria
Founder(s): Louai Djaffer and Tarik Metnani
Founding year: 2022
Talenteo is an HR management platform helping medium-sized businesses across Francophone Africa digitise their human resources processes. Talenteo, a member of the Emploitic group with over a decade of experience in HR solutions, has garnered the trust of more than 3,000 companies to help them find top talent and modernize their HR practices. With over 7,000 users, the company has claimed to have transformed how organisations recruit and manage their teams.
Paysika
HQ: Cameroon
Founder(s): Roger Nengwe and Stezen Bisselou
Founding year: 2020
Paysika is a digital neobank offering consumers and SMEs across Central Africa virtual and physical payment cards for international transactions.
ChipMango
HQ: Nigeria
Founder(s): Ola Fadiran and Jovan Andjelich
Founding year: 2022
ChipMango is a semiconductor technology company that uses AI to tackle the industry’s talent shortage. They provide training and hands-on engineering development linked to semiconductor design, verification, edge AI, and smart hardware. A few days back, the company also raised $1.9 million in a round led by Atlantica Ventures, an investor backing the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
Delta Oil
HQ: Egypt
Founder(s): Serag Moussa
Founded year: 2018
Delta Oil is an Egyptian waste oil management startup in the clean and AgTech sectors. The company collects used cooking oil from households, providing a convenient pickup service for safe disposal. Delta Oil aims to create a sustainable biodiesel industry by supplying used cooking oil as a feedstock for biodiesel production.
Bekia
HQ: Egypt
Founder(s): Alaa Afifi
Founded year: 2019
Bekia is a platform paying households and businesses for recyclable waste and supplying it to industrial buyers. Every collection is recorded: supplier, weight, grade, payment. At the end of October, Bekia will launch Bekia Next, which turns that data into verified CO₂-avoidance certificates for corporate clients using established international carbon accounting methodology. It is the first thing Bekia sells as a subscription rather than a service. The company has raised a $765k Seed round to deepen its consumer app and launch its first B2B software product.
Roger Nengwe, co-founder and CEO of Paysika, said, “We’re building the financial infrastructure allowing banking services that are more accessible, practical and inclusive for consumers and businesses across Central Africa. With Madica’s support, we’re well-positioned to accelerate our growth and scale our impact across the region.”
Alongside the up to $200k in funding, each startup joins Madica’s 18-month programme, which includes:
- Patient, long-term capital.
- Hands-on mentorship and executive coaching.
- Fully funded founder immersion trips.
- Access to Madica’s global investor network.
Louai Djaffer, co-founder and CEO of Talenteo, added, “Too often, founders in markets like ours have to work twice as hard to access the capital and networks needed to grow. Madica looked beyond our geography and backed our ambition. Their support gives us the confidence, connections and expertise to accelerate our growth and deliver modern HR technology to businesses across Francophone Africa.”
Madica was launched in 2022 to close gaps in Africa’s early-stage funding market by backing founders in markets that venture capital has largely overlooked.
The sector-agnostic, pre-seed programme is affiliated with Flourish Ventures, an early-stage FinTech investor. Madica pairs long-term capital with company-building support, giving founders access to resources, expertise and networks to build competitive businesses.
Flourish Ventures is an $850 million global early-stage venture firm that backs entrepreneurs transforming financial systems for the better.
Flourish’s global portfolio spans over 100 companies across the U.S. and emerging markets. Current investments include unicorns such as Alloy, Flutterwave, Kin, Neon, and Unit, alongside frontier innovators such as Akua, Brico, Crossmint, Fuse, Reserv, Spade, Stitch, Swap, and Vidyut.
