Africa Internet Group, an e-commerce platform and parent company of Jumia, has raised $85 million in new funding from telecoms company Orange. Last month AIG raised $326 million at a valuation exceeding $1 billion, making it the first unicorn in Africa. “We are thrilled by Orange’s equity investment and are eager to translate our strategic partnership into unique offers for our customers. Jumia and our other online consumer services give millions of African consumers an opportunity to access and transact with local companies in a new and very convenient way. With Orange’s support and expertise, combined with that of our existing long-standing shareholders, we will be able to further improve our service offerings and the customer experience while continuing to invest in our infrastructure,” said Sacha Poignonnec and Jeremy Hodara, founders and co-CEOs of Jumia and Africa Internet Group.
Persado, a cognitive content generation platform, has closed a $30 million Series C funding round led by Goldman Sachs. All previous investors Bain Capital Ventures, StarVest Partners, American Express Ventures and Citi Ventures participated. “Persado is revolutionizing how organizations communicate by propelling creativity into the data-driven age, arming brands with ‘smart content’ that resonates with any audience, every time, and inspires them to act,” said Alex Vratskides, CEO and co-founder of Persado. “This latest round of funding will enable us to continue investing in distribution and product development. It will also accelerate our expansion into more digital channels and potentially other sectors beyond marketing, such as pharmaceutical adherence, fitness and personal motivation, civic engagement, human resources and more.”
Feelunique.com, a U.K.-based online retailer of beauty products, has raised $28.4 million in funding from Palamon Capital Partners and two other investors. Joel Palix, CEO of Feelunique, said: “We are delighted that Palamon have increased their financial commitment alongside two new co-investors at this very exciting time for the business. Our financial results show the strength of the brand in the UK and with strong consumer demand for our unrivalled brand portfolio coming from all corners of the world, it is clear that the business has expansive growth potential. We look to the future with confidence as Feelunique leads with its universal and diverse approach to beauty – one without boundaries.”