Nigerian Trade Tech Firm Norebase Raises $1M in Pre-Seed Round

Norebase, a Nigeria-based trade technology firm, announced Wednesday (May 4) it had secured $1 million in a pre-seed funding round.

Based in Lagos, Nigeria, Norebase describes its goal as a platform that lets businesses “start, scale and operate in any African country.

“Norebase is building a future where starting a business or expanding a business in any African country is as simple as clicking a single button, and we are deliberately building the single digital infrastructure and technology tools that will power trade across the continent,” Tola Onayemi, CEO of Norebase, said in the release.

The company said the funding will boost its plans to create “a plug-and-play company incorporation technology,” widen its trademark registration technology stack, strengthen its existing team and develop more research-led solutions.

Norebase has also rolled out Norebase Incorporation API, an application programming interface service that lets other companies provide incorporation services to their customers through their websites. Norebase API lets these companies offer customers a form, which is then transmitted to Norebase to register a business on the customer’s behalf.

Founded in 2021, Norebase says its goal is to encourage prosperity across Africa at a time when the continent’s GDP is projected to reach $29 trillion over the next three decades.

See also: Venture Capital Firms Invested Record $5.2B in African Startups in 2021

A recent report by African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) noted that VC firms injected a record $5.2 billion into African startup firms in 2021, a nearly fivefold increase from the year before, when funding dipped due to COVID-19.

“African startups raised more in 2021 alone than the preceding seven years combined,” according to AVCA, which aims to promote private investment in Africa. The financial sector made up 60% of last year’s VC investments by value and nearly one-third of the deals by volume last year.

The report found that Nigeria had the highest level of VC investment in Africa in 2021, ahead of South Africa. Most of Africa’s VC deals came from early-stage funding rounds, although late-stage funding also increased substantially in 2021, including a nearly fortyfold increase in money raised in Series C financing efforts.