Ghanaian CEO Secures $13M from Investors for Startup Shipping and Logistics Firm

This Ghanaian entrepreneur is helping businesses in Africa expand globally.

Jetstream Africa’s co-founder and CEO, Miishe Addy, secured $13 million dollars in pre-Series-A equity and debt funding for her shipping and logistics firm.

According to Ghana Web, the funding round included investors, such as development finance institution PROPARCO, through the Digital Africa Bridge Fund, and ASC VC, a venture fund founded by executives of the end-to-end visibility platform, Project44.

Nigerian venture capital fund, Octerra, also participated in the funding round, along with Senegal’s Wuri Ventures, Seed9, an association founded by Google alumni, the MBA Fund, the W Fun, and investments from family offices. Alitheia, IDF, and Golden Palm were additional investors in the equity round.

Fintech lender, Cauris, participated in the debt round as the sole investor.

“All of our major investors have investment or operational experience with the problem we’re solving. They are specialists in supply chain technology like ASCVC, which was founded by Project44 executives, or African value chain and logistics portfolio companies like Alitheia, Golden Palm, Octerra, Wuri, and Proparco,” Addy said.

Jetstream provides services to shippers who need to import or export goods from Ghana and Nigeria. The company’s digital platform allows shippers to pay for and track their cargo.

Our CEO @MiisheAddy recently joined other panelists on the @WorldBank's Trade Tips podcast. She highlighted some current challenges in #globaltrade and the solutions we are developing to make it simpler for businesses in #Africa.
Listen here.https://t.co/L6mAsHrLYb #technology

— Jetstream Africa (@JetstreamAfrica) February 15, 2023

“Most businesses in Africa make and sell physical things, and you can’t sell what you can’t move. So logistics is really a centerpiece of the entire commerce equation,” Addy said during the virtual Africa Tech Summit Connects. “There are so many e-commerce websites that are coming up to allow SMEs and everyone else to sell products, but it is the people who are running the cargo on the ground who are solving one of the trickiest bottlenecks.”

During a 2021 interview with CNN, Addy discussed her journey as a woman who pursued a male-dominated industry by launching her technology-enabled logistics company. She shared that she takes pride in making an impact through technology and her contributions in an industry creating things that are of value to people across geographical boundaries.

“I would generally say it’s easier to be an entrepreneur as a woman in Ghana than in other countries. Technology specifically is a little harder in Ghana because there are so few women with engineering backgrounds or who have the capabilities to build an engineering or technology-based business,” Addy said at the time.