Carscan, a South African augmented reality app, has raised a $1.3 million follow-on funding round worth to help it further expand operations. Carscan is an augmented reality (AR) app with embedded artificial intelligence (AI) that creates an accurate, reliable, agnostic, complete, and traceable digital record of a car. The platform helps…
Author: AdeO
Transtura, a Nigerian ride-hailing startup, has acquired WazoMoney, a fintech startup that provides simplified payment solutions. The acquisition will enable Transtura to launch its payment and marketplace solutions for the mobility sector. Launched in October 2021 by Vincent Adeoba, Transtura commenced full-scale operations in October 2021, launching its shared mobility…
MainOne, the leading provider of connectivity solutions for businesses in West Africa, is empowering enterprises to adopt Cloud technology by connecting businesses across the region directly and privately to public cloud service providers. The MainOne Cloud Connect service ensures direct, secure, and reliable network connectivity between enterprise data centers…
Wema Bank has opened applications for the third edition of Hackathon, its creative platforms for tech and innovation enthusiasts, dubbed Hackaholics 3.0. According to the bank, the Hackathon provides tech enthusiasts and innovators with a unique platform to unleash their creativity, exhibit innovative solutions that will battle some inherent societal…
Reliance Health, an emerging markets-focused digital healthcare provider, has completed a $40M Series B funding round led by General Atlantic. The series A round saw participation from Partech, Picus Capital, Tencent Exploration, AAIC (Asia Africa Investment and Consulting), P1 Ventures, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, Arvantis Social Foundation Impact Investment, and…
Facebook has experienced its first quarterly decline of daily users in 18 years. The company revealed in its latest financial results that it lost one million daily users, dropping to 1.929 billion in the three months leading to December, from 1.93 billion at the end of its previous quarter. Facebook rebranded as…
Lami, Kenya’s insurance technology company, has acquired Bluewave Insurance Agency, a Kenyan-based insurtech startup that leverages mobile technology to reach the underserved population tapping into Africa’s insurance gap. With this acquisition, Lami aims to continue its mission towards democratizing insurance products and services for low-income Africans by providing them with…
GIG Logistics, the leading provider of last-mile delivery solutions in West Africa, has launched a version of its propriety delivery app ‘GIGGo’ with a crypto wallet. The crypto wallet will be released in beta phases to 2,000 users and progress to 8,000-10,000 users within two weeks before finally being released…
The Rwanda Innovation Fund has announced its latest investment in Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (MAX), the largest vehicle subscription platform for low-to-zero emission vehicles in Africa. MAX is disrupting Africa’s transportation sector through smart, sustainable technologies, with both the drivers and the planet’s needs at its heart. The RIF is…
Nestcoin, a company building, operating, and investing in web3 applications, announces that it has raised $6.45 million in pre-seed capital. This new funding will enable the company to expand its global operations and invest in building products that will help accelerate crypto adoption and financial freedom for people in frontier…
Kenya-based digital trucking logistics startup Amitruck has announced today that it has secured $4m in a seed funding round that had the participation of investors from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. The fundraising was led by Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV), a San Francisco-based venture capital…
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced a deal to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion. After the deal closes, Bungie will be “an independent subsidiary” of SIE run by a board of directors consisting of current CEO and chairman Pete Parsons and the rest of the studio’s current management team. Sony…
OPay, the fintech one-stop mobile-based platform for payment and collection services in Egypt and Africa, has won the ‘Best New Point-Of-Sale Payment Service Provider,’ award from ‘The Global Economics’ institution. The announcement took place in a ceremony held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where Mr. Mahmoud khedr, the…
The Norrsken Foundation has launched Norrsken22 Africa Tech Growth Fund, which has held its first close at $110 million. The fund is dedicated to delivering top quartile returns, and will drive strong, positive impact across Africa. The Norrsken Foundation, founded by Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth, has partnered with investment teams…
YouTube has revealed the names of African creators who have been selected to join a global cohort of 135 from around the world, in its flagship #YouTubeBlack Voices Fund initiative. The fund focuses on investing in Black creators from around the world who are telling fresh and authentic stories. While…
Reported fraud across the financial services industry in Africa has spiked however, Eva Crouwel, head of financial crime at Luno, says that while financial crime is on the rise, there has been a decline in illicit crypto transactions according to the foremost blockchain analysis company Chainalysis. “The 2020 UN Report…
Brimore, an Egyptian social commerce startup, has secured a $25 million Series A round co-led by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Endure Capital. Other investors include fintech giant Fawry, Flourish, Endeavor Catalyst Fund. Existing investors who participated in its $800,000 seed round and $3.5 million Series A, such as Algebra Ventures (led both rounds),…
New research from Strategy Analytics has revealed that global smartphone shipments fell -3% YoY to 365 million units in Q4 2021. Meanwhile, full-year smartphone shipments rose +5% YoY to 1.36 billion units in 2021. Apple iPhone topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 22% share in Q4 2021 and Samsung…
TallOrder, a fintech developer of cloud-based point of sale (POS) solutions for the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market, has raised R47 million (US$3.085m) in additional Series A funding which takes the total funds raised since late 2014, to a total of R80 million (US$5.24m). The funds were raised from…
DPO Group has partnered with Mastercard to enable thousands of businesses in Ghana to offer their customers greater choice and convenience by pivoting online and accepting digital payments. Through the collaboration, DPO will leverage Mastercard’s digital payments technology to enable merchants to safely, seamlessly and securely accept a wide range…