MultiChoice Group has shortlisted six start-up and scaling businesses that will be progressing to the next and final leg of the MultiChoice Accelerator Programme.The programme – a collaboration with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic), Galelo Africa and Companies Creating Change (C3) – forms part of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund…
Author: AdeO
TikTok has been named as one of the official sponsors of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) African Cup of Nations. The partnership will bring unmissable football content to fans, both on the continent and across the globe. The agreement marks TikTok’s first major brand partnership in Africa and supports…
JABU, a Namibian B2B e-commerce startup, has raised a $3.2 million seed financing round to expand into more countries in Southern Africa as well as grow its team. Closed last year, the funding came from investors including Afore Capital, Y Combinator, FJ Labs, Quiet Capital, Kli Capital, Pareto Capital and unnamed…
For the global crypto industry, 2021 is likely to be remembered as one of the many years bitcoin broke past its all-time price high and drove the sector even closer towards mainstream adoption. However, from a regional perspective, it is also arguably the year where Africa took centre stage. From…
Alvin, a Kenyan fintech startup, announced that it has raised a $740,000 pre-seed funding round led by Nigerian venture capital firm, Ingressive Capital. The Kenyan firm originally set out to raise $400,000 back in October 2021. However, it was oversubscribed thus the $740,000. Presently, it is in the private beta…
Gahez, an Egyptian online fashion marketplace, has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Disruptech Ventures, with participation from Egypt Ventures, Tanmeyah, Afropreneur fund, and other angel investors, Wamda.com reported. Founded towards the end of last year, Gahez aims to simplify the process between retailers and manufacturers and…
Delivery Hero, the German online food delivery platform, has entered an agreement to buy an additional 39.4% stake in the Spanish food delivery app, Glovo. Currently, Delivery Hero owns 44% interest on a non-diluted basis in Glovo, and upon completion of the latest deal, it will become a majority shareholder…
Ecobank and GTBank are presently leading in customers adoption of the eNaira according to a report by TheCable. eNaira is Africa’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in October. TheCable report revealed that with more than 2,000 merchant wallets active, about 20 percent are domiciled with Ecobank,…
There are hundreds of African startups offering solutions offering innovative solutions to the many challenges being encountered on the continent. They leverage technology to tackle these problems. Interestingly, these startups cut across fintech, edtech, agritech, transport/mobility, logistics, cleantech, and healthtech among others. As we ride into 2022, Innovation-village highlights startups…
Amazon Prime Video, the US-based streaming service owned by Amazon, has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with Inkblot Studios, the Nigerian production company, to distribute Nollywood movies. This is the first exclusive theatrical deal the streaming service is entering with an African film studio. What this means is that Amazon…
Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram has announced that the video and picture sharing platform will focus on Reels, its TikTok-like feature while strengthening its video and messaging features in 2022. He stated this while discussing Instagram’s priorities for the new year. The Instagram CEO plans to “rethink what Instagram…
Identitypass, a Nigerian KYC startup, has been selected for Y combinator’s winter 2022 batch. The startup disclosed this on its Twitter handle. Founded in January 2021 by Lanre Ogungbe, Niyi Adegboye, and David Obi, Identitypass allows digital businesses to verify their customers within seconds. What this means is that startups…
The African startup ecosystem bounced back in 2021 to raise a mind-blowing $4 billion. Briter Bridges pegged total 2020 VC for African startups at $1.31 billion. This is a significant improvement. Hence, it should not surprise anyone that Africa is closing 2021 with 7 unicorns including Jumia, Interswitch, Flutterwave, Andela,…
Tesla has said it won’t allow people to play video games on its cars’ built-in display while their car is moving according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This comes days after the NHTSA, opened a preliminary investigation into Tesla’s “Passenger Play” feature—which allows drivers to play certain games on the…
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has invested €10.5 million in Janngo Start-Up Fund, a pan-African tech start-up fund. With the AfDB investment, the first close of the find has been completed. The pooled funds comprise €7 million provided by the African Development Bank and a €3.5 million contribution by…
MTN has partnered with Google and Dotgo®, to launch RCS Business Messaging (RBM) Services. RBM uses the rich and interactive features of Rich Communication Services (RCS)—the next generation SMS that allows sharing of audio, video, images, location, and a lot more—to enable branded business messaging. RCS messages are securely delivered…
Intel has reportedly told employees that anyone who remains unvaccinated will need to get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit an exemption by January 4th. The consequence for not meeting this deadline is that such employees will be put on unpaid leave, according to The Associated Press and The Oregonian. In the December 7th…
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that National Identity Number verification and approval as from 2022 would require tokens. The aim of tokenisation is to protect holders’ identities during verification processes. The Director-General of NIMC, Engr Aliyu Aziz stated this at a one-day Stakeholders’ Workshop on National Identification…
Titan Trust Bank has become the majority shareholder in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc. This followed an agreement by Union Global Partners Limited, Atlas Mara Limited, and other majority shareholders to divest 89.39 percent shareholding in Union Bank to Titan Trust Bank. This deal will see current core investors in…
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) appears to be in crisis as companies are pulling out or scaling down their participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The likes of Amazon, Meta, Twitter and T-Mobile have announced that they’re no longer attending the event in person due to the threat brought about…