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Welcome to Madica's March Roundup.
In March, we marked International Women's Month with an honest look at what supporting female founders actually requires. We also share teasers on three new portfolio companies we've backed, updates from across the portfolio, and the launch of our new guidebook for African founders navigating pre-seed fundraising.
And what you've heard is true: we're heading to Morocco this April.
Read on for the highlights…
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First Look: 2026 Investments |
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Next week, we'll be announcing a new set of investments. Ahead of the official reveals, here's a sneak peek at three of the companies we've backed. |
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An agri-tech company in Tanzania, building the logistics backbone for fresh produce distribution, connecting thousands of smallholder farmers to urban markets, with real revenue and profitability to show for it.
A health-tech company operating across Nigeria and Kenya, unlocking Africa's clinical data for global precision medicine, partnering with hospitals and research institutions to enable the next generation of biotech and diagnostics innovation.
A legal-tech company building an AI-powered search engine that aggregates African laws and caselaw into a single, unified platform
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ToumAI secures a grant from the GSMA Innovation Fund |
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ToumAI has secured a grant from the GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI, supported by the UK FCDO. The funding will support the development of a voice interface operating in local dialects of Maghrebi Arabic and Berber languages, designed to run on budget smartphones and function offline. The solution targets rural communities in Morocco, addressing language, literacy, and connectivity barriers to digital access. |
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Pixii Motors has been named Boldest Mobility Startup at the BOLD Awards 2026 |
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Pixii Motors has been named Boldest Mobility Startup at the BOLD Awards 2026 in Barcelona, a recognition that reflects the team's commitment to redefining smart e-mobility. The award was presented in partnership with Barcelona & Partners, with the BOLD Awards team. |
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The Newform Applied Biotech Centre at South Ormsby Estate in Lincolnshire, UK has launched |
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This is a regenerative organic estate focused on soil health and biodiversity. The centre will concentrate on plant cell cultivation and the development of high-value natural compounds from crops like rosemary, sage, and berries, with applications across food, nutrition, and agriculture. Through R&D partnerships with manufacturers and consumer health brands, Newform is building scalable biological production platforms for next-generation ingredients. |
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We're going to be at GITEX 2026! |
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This April, Madica is bringing our portfolio founders to Morocco for our annual Immersion Trip. This is a week-long programme running from 6 to 13 April. The trip is built around deep collaboration: founders engaging with mentors, ecosystem leaders, and global investors in a setting designed to push thinking, sharpen strategy, and build the kind of relationships that actually move companies forward. |
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This year, we're anchoring the trip around GITEX Africa, taking place in Marrakech from 7 to 9 April. This is one of the continent's most significant stages for tech, investment, and innovation. Alongside the conference, our founders will be going deeper: working sessions, peer exchange, and access to a network that spans the continent and beyond. This year's retreat is being co-organised with V3factory, and we're excited about what that brings to the programme.
If you're an investor who wants to connect with our portfolio companies, or a founder building for Africa who wants to share what you're building, come find us in Morocco. Reach out and let's make it happen.
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| Connect with Us! |
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This International Women's Month, we went beyond the usual celebration, drawing directly on the experiences of female founders in our portfolio. The article makes an economic, not a moral, case for funding women, examines the structural frictions that explain the gap and centres the voices of founders building for markets the formal economy has long ignored.
Read the full piece here.
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We recently launched a free guidebook series built specifically for African founders navigating the pre-seed stage. Across four chapters, the guide covers fundraising myths vs. realities, when raising venture capital is actually the right move, how to manage local and global investor expectations, and practical toolkits for assessing fundraising readiness.
Access the guidebook here.
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Deals of the Month (March Deals Tracker) |
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Moniepoint, a Nigerian business-banking unicorn, has completed its acquisition of a 78% stake in Kenya’s Sumac Microfinance Bank, ending a multi-year effort by the Nigerian fintech to secure a foothold in East Africa’s largest economy.
The transaction reflects a broader shift in the African fintech landscape: from pure-play payments to licensed banking and consolidation. By securing a majority stake in a 20-year-old institution, Moniepoint gains the regulatory infrastructure needed to deploy its high-velocity lending model to Kenya’s small and medium -sized enterprises (SMEs). |
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| Read More |
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UK-based software provider Klipboard has acquired South African sales operations platform Skynamo.
Skynamo’s platform provides field sales teams with tools to plan routes, build orders, access real-time product and pricing data, and manage financial visibility and sales intelligence in one cloud-based environment. The platform supports nearly 1,000 businesses and facilitates over $70 million in monthly order value, according to company data. The partnership enhances Skynamo’s ability to integrate more deeply with ERP and business management systems. |
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| Read More |
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Insights on the Africa Tech Scene |
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March reminded us why representation in venture capital has to be more than a talking point. It has to show up in the cheques written and the companies backed. From portfolio milestones to new resources for founders navigating the pre-seed landscape, this month reflected the kind of work we're here to do. Stay connected, keep building, and we'll see you in April with more updates from across the portfolio.
If you know a startup that's making waves, send them our way! Let’s work together to foster a diverse and transformative community shaping the future of innovation in Africa. |
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