Africa Internet Group, which owns e-commerce company Jumia and nine other e-ventures in Africa, has raised $83 million from AXA Insurance, in exchange for 8% in equity. Africa Internet Group will use the new funds to support its business model of expanding ecommerce services across Africa’s main economies, TechCrunch reports. Africa Internet Group is owned by Rocket Internet and also includes the hotel platform Jovago, fashion site Zando, Everjobs, real estate startup Lamudi, and EasyTaxi.
Hired, a job marketplace for technology talent, has raised $40 million in funding led by Lumia Capital. The company has now raised more than $70 million since it was founded in 2012. The company allows companies to bid for individuals in a curated candidate pool. “In addition to this new round, we’re kicking off the year with a series of strategic acquisitions that will help us accelerate our international expansion and advance the technology that powers our marketplace. On the international front, we’ve already seen a strong appetite for Hired in markets around the world, and we’ll be hitting the gas pedal on expanding into new cities and countries,” Hired CEO, Mehul Patel wrote in a blog post.
Indian logistics startup Xpressbees has raised $8 million in funding from SAIF Partners and Vertex Ventures, the Times of India reports. Xpressbees is the logistics arm of the ecommerce portal FirstCry, which focuses on baby and maternity products. Vertex Ventures and SAIF Partners are both investors in FirstCry. India’s online retail market is expected to increase to $36 billion during 2016-2017, according to a report by Goldman Sachs.
Marketing technology company Amperity has closed a $9 million Series A funding round led by Madrona Venture Group. Several angel investors also participated in the latest round. “Advances in machine learning and cloud infrastructure are making it possible to finally solve one of the biggest challenges faced by both marketing and IT organizations,” said Kabir Shahani, co-founder and CEO of Amperity. “We are thrilled to pursue an opportunity of this magnitude, with the support of great investors and entrepreneurs who have built some of the most notable companies in tech.”