Ventures Platform, Africa’s leading seed-stage fund, has announced the $64 million first close of its second fund, VP Pan-African fund II, aimed at deepening seed investments, catalysing Series A rounds, and driving its pan-African expansion to power the continent’s next tech wave. The fund is targeting a final close of $75 million.

As part of efforts to strengthen the partnership between the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) and the Republic of Congo, and to advance preparations for the Bank Group's Annual Meetings scheduled to take place in the capital Brazzaville in May 2026, a high-level delegation from the Bank visited the country from 26 to 28 October 2025.

Seven in ten (69%) of Londoners are planning on investing in the next year as they seek higher returns than are on offer through cash savings, according to research from new personalised wealth management platform, Stratiphy.

Stream, the Saudi-born platform streamlining modern billing and payments for businesses in the MENA region; starting with Saudi Arabia, has announced a $4M seed funding to scale its mission to remove friction from getting paid. The round was led by early-stage investment firm Outliers VC and amassed a strong investor base, adding to a cap table that includes BYLD Ventures and prominent angel investors such as Abdullah Elyas, Co-founder of Careem.

Finkr, a next-generation consultancy dedicated to reshaping the fintech landscape through visionary strategy and capital access, today announced it acted as lead adviser to Finspot, securing a €25 million debt facility from Fasanara Capital, supporting the deal from initial outreach through completion.

Grasp, the Swedish AI startup automating investment banking and management consulting work using multi-agent systems, today announces it has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from existing investor Yanno Capital. Grasp also announces the opening of its first international office in London, in line with increasing worldwide demand for its product. The company currently employs 25 people in Stockholm and London.

Zempler, a digital bank serving start-ups and microbusinesses, has today announced a new partnership with iwoca, one of Europe’s leading SME lenders, to expand its SME offering and make business lending more accessible.

OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has participated in a club loan to specialist care provider, Kisimul Group.

Velents.ai, a rising startup specializing in enterprise AI solutions, has closed a $1.5 million funding round as it unveils Agent.sa, the first fully integrated Arabic-speaking AI employee designed for companies across the Middle East.

Grasshopper, the client-first, full service digital bank, today announced several key lending developments, including the rollout of its Innovator Term Loan, a new unsecured loan offering built to power growth for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the innovation economy. The launch of the term loan reflects Grasshopper’s commitment to helping entrepreneurs scale, combining speed, flexibility and transparency in a digital experience.

The Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association (PIMFA), the trade association representing wealth managers and financial advisers across the UK, has called on the Government to prioritise stability, fairness and long-term planning in its forthcoming Autumn Budget.

M2 Capital Limited, the proprietary investment arm of M2 Group, a UAE-headquartered conglomerate with a diversified portfolio in digital asset solutions, has announced a $21 million strategic investment in the Nasdaq-listed AVAX One Digital Asset Treasury (DAT), which is focused on AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche ecosystem. This investment reflects M2 Capital’s long-term strategy to bridge global blockchain innovation with the growing appetite for compliant digital assets in the MENA region.

Bizcap, together with its US affiliate NewCo Capital Group, is proud to announce that it has acquired 8fig and that it has become part of the Bizcap Group, marking a major step in the fintech company’s global expansion and leadership in technology-led business funding.

Firenze, the lending innovator redefining Lombard lending, has today announced a partnership with Parmenion.

Crescent Enterprises today announced an investment programme of AED 250 million to scale CE-Creates, its venture-building platform. The fresh capital, combined with new leadership, marks a major expansion of CE-Creates’ role as a builder and scaler of high-growth, impact-driven startups from the UAE to the world.