LicenceCo to host MultiChoice SA business

Bonjour,

Victoria from Techpoint here,

Here’s what I’ve got for you today:

LicenceCo to host MultiChoice SA business
LoveCash is bringing SA’s informal sector on the blockchain
Suplyd bags $2M to fix Egypt’s $10B restaurant market

LicenceCo to host MultiChoice SA business

MultiChoice is finally revealing how it plans to restructure its South African business to meet local regulations and smooth the path for its takeover by France’s Canal+. The announcement comes just 10 days after the Competition Tribunal gave the deal the green light.

Because South African law caps foreign ownership in licensed broadcasters at 20% (for now), MultiChoice is creating a special local structure called LicenceCo. The structure will ensure that control remains in South African hands, at least on paper, even though foreign interest could legally increase to 49% in future, though no one knows when that law might change.

MultiChoice’s pay-TV business in South Africa will be carved out and become its own company. It’ll be owned mostly by black South African investors and groups. These include Phuthuma Nathi, the MultiChoice Workers Trust, and new investment groups tied to business leaders like Sipho Maseko and Sonja De Bruyn.

To make this shift happen, all parties signed new agreements, including subscription, repurchase, and shareholders’ agreements. When all is said and done, MultiChoice will retain a 20% voting stake in the new structure and a 49% economic interest. The rest will be spread across the new investors, using a mix of share classes that gradually convert to full shares as loans are paid off.

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There’s also money moving around. MultiChoice South Africa will soon declare a R1.375-billion extraordinary dividend. R343.75 million of which will go to Phuthuma Nathi shareholders. That’s only after the new structure is in place, though.

At the end of the day, MultiChoice will give up 26% of its economic interest in LicenceCo and 15% in Orbicom, its signal distribution arm. Phuthuma Nathi’s stake in Orbicom will rise to 40%. It’s a major shift and a clear signal that Canal+ and MultiChoice are gearing up for a deeper partnership in the long term.

LovCash is bringing SA’s informal sector on the blockchain

Costas Constantinou, founder of LoveCash

South Africa’s FMCG market moves over $10 billion in goods every month, yet most manufacturers have no clue how their products actually perform once they leave the warehouse. That’s the gap LovCash is stepping into.

Started by Costas Constantinou in 2018, LovCash is on a mission to help manufacturers finally “see” what happens between the wholesaler and the informal trader, and ultimately the consumer. Think of it as Google Analytics, but for small shops and street vendors in African townships.

The startup already works with over 3,700 informal retailers and has signed deals with nine of South Africa’s biggest FMCG wholesalers. Their mobile app is built for spaza shops and cash-based traders who rarely use digital tools. With it, retailers log what they buy, what they sell, how much they charge, and what their customers are asking for.

That data doesn’t just sit in the cloud. It’s stored on Lisk’s layer-2 blockchain, which means it’s verifiable, secure, and shareable without compromising sensitive details about each trader. This makes it super valuable for manufacturers who’ve never had access to that level of market intel before.

Essentially, LovCash isn’t just digitising for the hype. Constantinou says many informal traders still deal 100% in cash, which actually makes business 4% more expensive due to fraud risks, transport inefficiencies, and manual errors. His pitch: solve that pain, not just toss them an app.

LovCash has grown over 275% in the last five months and isn’t slowing down. Want to find out more, including how the company is building for the world? Read Bolu’s latest here for Techpoint Africa.

Suplyd bags $2M to fix Egypt’s $10B restaurant market

Suplyd, a Cairo-based startup helping restaurants manage their supplies digitally, just bagged $2 million in a pre-Series A round. It’s a big step for the company, which is now aiming to grow beyond logistics into becoming a full-on operating system for restaurants.

The funding round was led by pan-African VC firm 4DX Ventures, with support from Egypt’s Camel Ventures, Plus VC, Seedstars, and others. This is not their first cash injection. Suplyd previously raised $1.6 million in a 2022 pre-seed round.

Founded by Gohar Said, Suplyd makes it easier for small and mid-sized restaurants to order supplies, replacing the old-school system of calling multiple vendors with a streamlined digital platform. Right now, it serves over 5,000 restaurants in Egypt’s massive $10 billion Hotel, Restaurant, and Café (HORECA) market.

The company has grown nearly 20x in both users and transaction volume since its last raise. Now, it wants to be more than a procurement tool. While details are still under wraps, the plan is to build new tools for managing restaurant operations and possibly roll out higher-margin services like software and financial products.

“What started as a bold idea is now powering thousands of restaurants every day,” said Suplyd the CEO. Investors are betting on that momentum. “Their early traction, supplier network, and diversified revenue gave us conviction,” added Peter Orth of 4DX Ventures.

Next up, Suplyd plans to double down on product development and grow across Egypt. By leveraging its current customer base, the company hopes to launch new features seamlessly and give restaurant operators more visibility into their operations with real-time data and insights.

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