Category: Success Stories

Solar car start-up Bako Motors drives sustainable future

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Bako Motors, a pioneering Tunisian-German solar car start-up, is making waves in the sustainable transportation sector with their innovative approach to urban mobility. Founded in 2021, the company has gained international recognition for its eco-friendly solutions, most notably the Bako B1 electric tricycle. Now, on the cusp of a ground-breaking revelation, Bako Motors tells Ventureburn it is gearing up to unveil their second model, set to further revolutionise last-mile delivery and introduce an innovative passenger option. The Bako B1, the company’s first venture into sustainable mobility, has been a game-changer…

Tunisian Hatem Sellami uses artificial intelligence and data science to optimise promotions

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A computer scientist, he has extensive experience in predictive analysis. His company Cognira helps retailers and wholesalers to better manage and optimise their promotions. Hatem Sellami is a Tunisian computer scientist who graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995 with a doctorate in computer engineering, and from the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business in 1996 with a master’s degree in finance and technology management. He is a co-founder and the CEO of Cognira. Founded in 2015, Cognira is a US-based company that provides retailers and wholesalers with…

GBarena to acquire Tunisian gaming startup Galactech for USD 15 mn

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GBarena will acquire Tunisian gaming startup Galactech in a USD 15 mn share swap that will boost the Egyptian e-sport platform’s presence in the MENA region, it said in a statement. How much of GBarena Galactech will own is unclear: A company representative declined to disclose the details of the agreement when we reached out yesterday, saying the information is confidential. More acquisitions in the pipeline: GBarena plans to make several more acquisitions in the tech and gaming industry later this year, the company told us. The company is focused…

BioNTech acquires Tunisian-born and UK-based AI startup InstaDeep for £562M

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German-based biotech company BioNTech SE is set to acquire InstaDeep, a Tunis-born and U.K.-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup, for up to £562 million (~$680 million) in its largest deal yet. Per Financial Times, the German vaccine maker intends to use InstaDeep’s machine learning to “improve its drug discovery process, including developing personalised treatments tailored to a patient’s cancer.” BioNTech is said to pay £362 million — a mix of cash and an undisclosed amount of BioNTech shares — upfront. The remaining £200 million is dependent on how InstaDeep performs in…

Yassir pulls in $150M for its super app, led by Bond

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Yassir, an African super app platform that offers on-demand services such as ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, and payments, has raised $150 million in Series B funding, five times what it raised in its previous priced round last November.  The investment was led by Bond, the growth-stage firm that Mary Meeker spun out of Kleiner Perkins in 2018. Other investors in the growth round include DN Capital, Dorsal Capital, Quiet Capital, Stanford Alumni Ventures and Y Combinator via its Continuity Fund, among other strategic investors.  The African startup, first launched in Algeria,…

Tunisian ‘Cure Bionics,’ chosen to receive funding from pan-African ‘Investing in Innovation’ program.

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Cure Bionics, a Tunisian startup that creates bionic arms (prostheses) using 3D printing technology, has been chosen to receive funding from the pan-African Investing in Innovation (i3) programme, supported by the Gates Foundation, along with 29 other top African startups that have an impact on the healthcare supply chain. The business is also creating therapeutic applications for persons with disabilities utilizing immersive technologies, enabling them to receive care without having to visit a clinic. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded i3 program seeks to invest in the most promising African…

Drinking water-Technology: Tunisian start-up partners with NGO to provide 570 students with drinking water in northwest Tunisia

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Tunisian start-up “Kumulus Water” has provided assistance to a school deprived of drinking water in Makhtar in the region of Siliana (north-west of Tunisia) through a technical solution “Kumulus 1”, designed to generate water from the ambient air. It came to support its expertise in water technology, the efforts of the Tunisian NGO “WallahWeCan”, which campaigns for the improvement of living conditions of students in schools and educational environments in Tunisia, especially in disadvantaged areas. Thanks to atmospheric water generators, each producing 20 to 30 litres of healthy drinking water…

Blue Jay Communication knowledge partner for Africa Fintech Summit

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Leila Ben Hassen Founder & CEO of Blue Jay Communication announced on Social media that her agency is assigned to be a Knowledge Partner of Africa Fintech Summit 2022 due to be held on April 21. Leila Ben Hassen has more than 15 years’ experience working in communications, business development and media in Africa. She established Blue Jay Communication in December 2017, as a ground-breaking communications agency specialising in Africa and driven by a clear objective: to accelerate change and help foster new opportunities for Africa’s vibrant youth. Leila Ben…

InstaDeep raises $100 million from the world’s largest investors

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Tunisian startup InstaDeep announced, January 25, 2022, that it has raised $100 million and closed a Series B round that was led by DeepTech investment firm Alpha Intelligence Capital, accompanied by CDIB. Investors in this round include some of the world’s largest investors, namely BioNTech, Chimera Abu Dhabi, Deutsche Bahn Digital Ventures, Google, G42 and Synergy. “We are very happy with the calibre of investors. We want to show them that we are truly trustworthy and that we can work together to change the world,” said Zohra Slim, co-founder of…

BioNTech and InstaDeep Successfully Tested Early Warning System to Detect Potential High-Risk SARS-CoV-2 Variants

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Tunisian artificial intelligence company InstaDeep and German biotech firm BioNTech have developed an early warning system to detect potential high-risk variants of the Coronavirus, according to a joint statement published Tuesday by the two companies on their websites. According to the statement, the early warning system uses a combination of artificial intelligence and structural modelling of the Spike protein to detect and monitor high-risk variants of the SARS-CoV2 virus, identifying more than 90 % of these variants within two months of their receipt from the World Health Organization. This system…