Local VC firms and startups are finding partners in and out of the country: Chip designer Pearl Semiconductor lined up USD 4.5 mn from local and regional investors and Acasia Ventures has made an investment in Senegal.

PEARL SEMICONDUCTOR USD 4.5 MN FUNDING ROUND-

Local, regional investors back Egypt-founded chip designer: Pearl Semicon ductor has raised USD 4.5 mn from local and regional VC firms in a recent funding round. Egypt-headquartered regional VC Sawari Ventures, UAE-based Shorooq Partners, Hong Kong’s QBN Capital, and several angel investors all participated in the round, Shorooq said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The statement did not disclose how the fresh influx capital will be used.

Pearl is a part of a small but important local chip design sector: Founded in 2020 as a spinoff from local chip firm Si-Ware Systems, the startup specializes in timing integrated circuits and reference clocks, which are used in automobiles, 5G networks, cloud computing, and other applications. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Pearl’s products are designed in its R&D centers in Egypt and Malaysia and then outsourced to be manufactured in either Taiwan or Malaysia. The company received initial financial backing from Sawari and Si-Ware.

ACASIA IN SENEGAL-

Acasia invests in Senegalese market intel startup: Egyptian VC firm Acasia Ventu res has led a pre-seed funding round in Senegalese FMCG intelligence platform Lengo alongside Ventures Platform, it said in a statement last week.Acasia — the VC arm of the local investment outfit formerly known as Cairo Angels — made an undisclosed investment in the company, alongside P1 Ventures, Launch Africa, Voltron Capital, and several angel investors. The size of the funding round wasn’t disclosed. Lengo: Established in 2022, Lengo is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup that operates an AI-driven intelligence platform for African consumer goods companies. The platform connects FMCG companies to retailers and maintains an up-to-date sales database that is also sold to international companies interested in investing in Africa.

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