About 88mph
88mph is a venture capital firm founded in 2010. It is primarily based out of Nairobi, Kenya. As of Aug 2021, 88mph has invested in 40 companies. It primarily invests in Seed round in South Africa based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Consumer to Enterprise Applications and Retail. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of pawaPay A lot of funds co-invest with 88mph, with names like MSA Novo sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. 88mph has team of 15 people including 2 partners.Key Metrics
88mph's List of Top Investments
88mph has a portfolio of 40 companies. Their most notable investments are in pawaPay and ApexPeak.Their portfolio spans across Kenya, South Africa, United Kingdom and 4 more locations. They have invested in Consumer, Enterprise Applications, Retail and 17 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Angel and 1 more. Here is the list of top investments by 88mph:Peach Payments provides payment gateway solutions for businesses and merchants. It offers merchants a state-of-the-art payments solution with the product suite which enables them to accept payments across all their channels including their website, mobile site and their mobile apps. It also offers tools for fraud prevention.
Key facts about Peach Payments
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Cape Town (South Africa)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $32M
- Employee Count: 152 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Allan Gray, Launch Africa and 5 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Apr 04, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Mdundo
Mdundo is a music streaming platform for African music. Users can stream songs based on genres and artists and download them. Allows users to create personalized music playlists. The mobile app is available for Android devices. Generates revenue through advertisements, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.
Key facts about Mdundo
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $125K
- Employee Count: 53 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Kepple Africa Ventures and 88mph
- Latest Funding Round: Angel, Aug 27, 2013, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Yum
Online platform for ordering food from local restaurants. Customers can browse restaurants, place an order online, and get it delivered. It has its own delivery team.
Key facts about Yum
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
- Stage: Seed
- Employee Count: 25 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Zephyr Management and 88mph
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, 2013, $*****
4. Hivisasa
Hivisasa is an online county-based newspaper focusing on the mobile web. It claims to be the premier online breaking news provider for every county in Kenya. It offers independent writers to submit their content and the opportunity to get paid if their story gets published. The writers get Sh100 on M-Pesa. Hivisasa covers sports news, entertainment, business, politics and had a section for crime, obituaries, weddings and opinion. The website is currently active in Nakuru, Kiambu, Machakos, Kisii, Nyamira, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Garissa, Mombasa and Kibera.
Key facts about Hivisasa
- Founded Year: 2000
- Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
- Stage: Funding Raised
- Employee Count: 13 as on Apr 30, 2026
- Investors: Novastar Ventures, Omidyar Network and 1 Other
- Latest Funding Round: Unattributed, Jun 2015, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. ApexPeak
ApexPeak is an invoice discounting firm providing capital to small and medium size enterprises. It offers two products: Invoice Pay and Purchase Pay. It provides Invoice Pay to customers who need immediate access to cash in lieu of accounts receivables. Apex Peak extends cash of up to 80% of the receivables' value and charges a fee of 3% of the credit line. It provides Purchase Pay to borrowers who want credit to pay for certain purchases and can payback over a time period of 3-4 months in addition to the fee for the credit. It seeks to invest in trade receivables/payables with targeted annualised returns of 8-15% (net) across multiple trade finance platforms (including its own), geographies and credit risk bands. 100% of all receivables/payables purchased are insured. It raises credit line and investment from accredited investors for the investments. In July 2015 Apex Peak acquired ASYX, a Netherlands-based financial supply chain company.
Key facts about ApexPeak
88mph's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
88mph has invested in 40 companies over the last 16 years, with an average of 0 new investment annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in pawaPay and most recent follow-on round was in ApexPeak.88mph's Investments by Stage
88mph has made 34 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $1.25M, 2 investments in Angel stage with an average round size of $125K and 1 investment in Unattributed stage.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 34 |
Angel | 2 |
Unattributed | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
88mph's Investments by Sector
88mph has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Consumer, Enterprise Applications, Media & Entertainment, Retail and FinTech. Notably, it has invested in 33 Tech companies, 23 Consumer (B2C) companies, 14 Enterprise (B2B) companies and at least 13 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Consumer | 16 |
Enterprise Applications | 11 |
Media & Entertainment | 7 |
Retail | 7 |
FinTech | 6 |
Others | 23 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
88mph's Investments by Geography
88mph has made most investments in Kenya (15), followed by South Africa where it has made 15 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Kenya | 15 |
South Africa | 15 |
United Kingdom | 2 |
India | 1 |
Nigeria | 1 |
Others | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
88mph's recent investments
88mph has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by 88mph:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aug 26, 2021 | United Kingdom | Seed | 5250 | [+2] | |
Feb 15, 2017 | United Kingdom | Seed | 8417 | - | |
Jul 2014 | Kenya | Seed | 3303 | - | |
2014 | South Africa | Seed | 1142 | - | |
2014 | South Africa | Seed | 6966 | - |
Team profile of 88mph
88mph has a team of 15 members including 2 Partners and 12 Principals located in South Africa, United States and 3 more locations. 88mph's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of top team members in 88mph:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Nairobi | - | ||
Partner | Cape Town | - | - | |
Principal | Lekki | - | - | |
Principal | Cape Town | - | ||
Principal | Cape Town | - | - | |
Principal | Cape Town | - | - | |
Principal | Cape Town | - | - | |
Principal | Naples | - | - | |
Principal | - | - | - | |
Principal | - | - | - | |
Principal | - | - | - |
Co-investors of 88mph
Over the past 16 years, 26 investors have co-invested in 88mph's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before 88mph: Start-Up Chile and Gwinnett Innovation Park have invested in rounds before 88mph. There is 1 company where Start-Up Chile has invested before 88mph and 1 company where Gwinnett Innovation Park has invested before 88mph.
- Top Co-investors of 88mph: 3 investors entered a company along with 88mph. These include investors like MSA Novo (1 company).
- Invested after 88mph: A total of 21 investors have invested in 88mph's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Umkhathi Wethu (1 company), Allan Gray (1 company) and Launch Africa (1 company).
Recent News related to 88mph
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PawaPay raises $9M seed backed by MSA, 88mph and Mr Eazi’s Zagadat CapitalTechCrunch+•Aug 26, 2021•pawaPay, Pawapay, 88mph, Vunani and 7 others
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8 organisations that offer start-up capital for new entrepreneurs – Loud Medium BlogWordpress•May 09, 2016•BabyGroup, 88mph
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88mph-backed Bus Ticketing Platform BookNow Closes Funding Round from 10 Angel InvestorsTechMoran•Jul 31, 2014•BookNow, 88mph
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Pet Heaven launches scheduled pet food delivery service - Cape Town International Airport - South AfricaCape-Townairport•Mar 27, 2014•Pet Heaven, 88mph
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Big data, pet food and dating: these are 88mph's 7 chosen SA startups – VentureburnVentureburn•Mar 13, 2014•Pet Heaven, 88mph
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Meet the 10 startups that debuted at 88mph's Demo Day – VentureburnVentureburn•Apr 26, 2013•Adrenaline Hunter, 88mph, ApexPeak
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