Poa Internet, a Kenyan internet service provider, has raised a $28 million Series C funding round led by Africa50. The funding round was joined by existing investor Novastar Ventures and takes the total investment raised by the startup to $36 million. Poa Internet which was founded in 2015, provides low-cost internet…
Author: AdeO
As we move further into the digital age, paperless systems are becoming a more appealing way to deal with document management and storage. Instead of physical filing systems and cabinets taking up space, a document management system (DMS) enables you to store and organise your important documents in an electronic…
Copia Global, a Kenyan eCommerce firm, announced that it has raised $50 million in a Series C equity round led by Goodwell Investments. Copia is the first and only B2C e-commerce platform with a distribution solution to serve the rapidly growing 750 million middle and low-income African consumer market. Other…
From better healthcare access to improved food security, machine learning could tackle a wide range of challenges in developing countries. In 2020, a study published in Nature showed that Google’s machine-learning artificial intelligence programme, DeepMind AI, outperformed radiologists in detecting breast cancer. After being trained on thousands of mammograms, the system was…
Partech, the global tech investment firm, has announced the launch of Chapter54, a first-of-its-kind acceleration program for European scaleups looking to expand into African markets. The program is designed and operated by Partech Shaker, Partech’s innovation programs arm, with the sponsorship of the German promotional bank KfW on behalf of the…
ExpandCart, an Egyptian e-commerce platform, has closed $2.7 million in a Pre-Series B bridge round, led by Hong-Kong-based Betatron Venture Group with participation from existing investors; Sawari Ventures and Agility Ventures. Founded in 2016, ExpandCart is one of the largest e-commerce platform builders in the MENA region with customers from…
Businesses today rely on effective marketing processes to boost sales. In this highly competitive era, marketers brainstorm to find out the different types of ways to boost sales. Videos have become a popular tool to meet the current requirement, and they have the power to attract maximum attention to the…
Orcas, an Egyptian edtech startup, has raised a $2.1 million pre-series A funding round co-led by CIRA’s NFX Ventures, and Access Bridge Ventures. The round saw participation from Algebra Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund (This is the Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund’s first investment), and Seedstars International. Orcas…
Canadian fintech startup and credit assessment company, Periculum, has launched in Nigeria to tackle the challenge of domestic credit to the underserved markets. Focused on improving financial inclusion in emerging markets through automated credit assessment tools that close the consumer credit gap and help financial institutions provide credit facilities to…
Snapchat has introduced new features that will allow its Android and iOS users to reply to individual messages in chats. So, if a group chat is getting a little out of hand, but you want to keep one aspect of the conversation going, Chat Replies will allow you to start a…
General Motors has announced plans to launch CarBravo, a new online used-vehicle marketplace for GM-branded vehicles aimed at competing with online dealerships in its primary market-The US. The new site will include Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC dealers offering GM-branded vehicles as well as used vehicles from other automakers. It also…
Warner Music Group (WMG) has announced it has acquired a majority stake in Africori, Africa’s leading digital music distribution, music rights management and artist development company. Africori is currently servicing 7,000 artists and 850 clients and last year its artists generated hundreds of millions of audio streams, billions of YouTube…
Shazam has launched a Chrome extension that allows users to identify songs playing on the Google-owned browser. However, some users reported that the extension was broken. The Shazam Chrome extension could help you identify the song on the browser itself, without having to look around with your phone. It can be downloaded…
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced that it will establish a wholly-owned fintech subsidiary, according to a recent regulatory filing. The holdings financial service company told the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and the investing public that it has commenced the process of seeking regulatory approvals. Competition in the banking sector and the…
SeamlessHR, a Nigerian payroll and HR software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions startup, has closed a new $10 million Series A round led by TLcom Capital. Also participating in the round are existing investors such as Lateral Capital and Enza Capital. Other investors in this round include Capria, Ingressive Capital, and a number of strategic private…
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), is set to launch iHatch, a start-up incubation programme aimed at increasing the number of innovation-driven enterprises by Nigerian youths. The incubation programme which will be mid-wived by NITDA’s subsidiary, the National Centre for Artificial…
Amazon Prime Video has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Nigerian production company Anthill Studios. The streamer will have exclusive worldwide distribution rights to Anthill’s slate of theatrical releases starting this year, with titles including Progressive Tailors Club. Anthill Studios was founded in 2010 by Niyi Akinmolayan and is behind Nollywood…
Afrikrea, the e-commerce platform for “2all things made of Africa”, has announced the successful completion of a US$6.2M pre-Series A round led by Investisseurs & Partenaires and the rebrand to “ANKA”, it’s all-in-one solution for selling anywhere, shipping globally and receiving payments quickly. The new investment includes participation from Alibaba’s…
Twitter has added a new feature that will allow users to react to tweets with photos and videos. The TikTok like feature will be known as ‘quote tweet with reaction’ and will be available in the Retweet menu. By tapping on it, the user will be able to react to…
PayPal has been expanding its cryptocurrency business since it launched trading to all users in 2020. It allowed US customers to check out with cryptocurrency and increased its crypto buy limit over the past year. The company’s existing support for cryptocurrencies is currently limited to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum. In later years, the payment…