BFREE, a Nigerian fintech startup, that focuses on improving consumers’ financial health through its tech-enabled credit management solution, has just raised $800,000 in a seed round after seven months in business. The seed round was led by Nigeria-based Beta Ventures alongside Launch Africa Ventures and GreenHouse Capital. Founded in the…
Author: AdeO
China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions, and warned investors against speculative crypto trading. It was China’s latest attempt to clamp down on what was a growing digital trading market. Under the ban, such institutions, including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any…
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has advised Nigerians on how to avoid being victims of digital colonialism. This advice was contained is a recent statement titled ‘Whatapps privacy policy changes: Implication for Nigerian users’ signed by the Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations at NITDA, Mrs Hadiza…
Vodacom has announced the expansion of its financial and e-commerce services in South Africa through a partnership with AliPay, seeking to accelerate growth in a market hampered by a lack of new broadband spectrum. Africa’s largest wireless carrier by market value has developed a so-called super-app with the Alibaba Group…
Homzmart, the Egyptian furniture & home goods marketplace platform, has successfully closed its US$15 million Series A financing. The capital raise was led by MSA Capital, a global investment firm with over $1.5 billion in assets under management, and Nuwa Capital. Other participating investors include Rise Capital, Impact46, EQ2 Ventures,…
Bosta, an Egyptian ecommerce delivery startup, has announced the closing of a $6.7M Series A round led by global VC fund Silicon Badia, with participation from 4DX Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Wealthwell VC, and Khawarizmi VC from KSA and other regional and global investors. Being in the parcel delivery…
Kenya’s largest telecommunications company Safaricom PLC is in talks with American multinational technology giant Amazon to integrate M-PESA, in a move meant to ultimately make it easier for Kenyan consumers to shop on Amazon.com. Through the arrangement, Amazon will accept M-PESA online payments while making the M-PESA one of the checkout…
The android version of the audio-only social media platform, Clubhouse will be available to everyone in the world this week. After its weekly Townhall sessions with the app’s team, the company announced that Android users in more countries will be able to officially download the app. Clubhouse’s popularity may have been…
For young women, defining a clear career path is a critical aspect to self-development, long term productivity and professional success. Whilst career aspirations may differ, there is a shared understanding that more women need to be involved in tech-related sectors, to meet the growing need for constant innovation across the…
Jumia has released its 2021 quarter one report (Q1 2021), recording 11% year-on-year gross profit increase, as adjusted EBITDA loss decreased by 24% year-over-year. The report by the company also showed a sixth consecutive quarter of positive Gross Profit After Fulfillment Expense, which reached €6.2 million, more than doubling YoY. According to Jumia,…
The customer base of Airtel Africa grew by 6.9% to 118.2 million, with increased penetration across mobile data (customer base up 14.5%) and mobile money services (customer base up 18.5%). The recent slowdown in customer base growth has been due to new SIM registration regulations in Nigeria. Sub-Saharan Africa is characterised…
Cryptocurrency exchange, Quidax has officially shared plans to expand beyond Africa to the global market. They also announced the launch of their native token, QDX, and revealed plans to reposition as the global home of BEP20 tokens. Quidax is a cryptocurrency exchange that launched in August 2018. The exchange previously positioned itself…
Google has launched international money transfer partnerships with remittances firms Wise and Western Union for users of its U.S. payments app. Google Pay users in the United States can now transfer money to app customers in India and Singapore, with plans to expand to the 80 countries available via Wise,…
Maviance PLC (www.smobilpay.cm), a Cameroon-based fintech, announced today that it has closed its seed investment round of USD 3 million from the pan-African digital payments hub MFS Africa, which comes on board as a strategic investor. Maviance will be using the new funding to increase its footprint in Cameroon and…
Since Sony launched the PlayStation 5, buyers are have been witnessing a shortage of gaming consoles in the market. Sony has reportedly confirmed that the console will remain in short supply through 2022 as well. As per a report by Bloomberg, Sony warned its analysts about the same recently. The company also revealed that it has…
OKO is an insurtech startup that mitigates the impact of flooding and drought on African farmers. Unlike in the past when farmers lose everything due to these unfortunate/unforeseen incidences, they can now insure their farms against these mishaps. Innovation-village had an exclusive interview with Simon Schwall, the founder of OKO.…
Hackaholics 2.0, an acceleration aimed at helping startups scale and gain entrance into the market, powered by Wema Bank came to an exciting end as the finalists were unveiled on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, at the bank’s corporate head office in Marina, Lagos. Themed, “Connecting Worlds” the Acceleration Program was…
Mercy Corps’ ‘Building Resilience in Complex Crisis (BRICC)’ programme funded by the European Union, has signed a new partnership with Y’ello Digital Financial Services (owners of the MoMo Agent Network), a subsidiary of MTN Nigeria, to efficiently deliver automated cash transfers and provide an avenue for programme participants with or…
From improving sales volume, to facilitating automated processes in business transactions and the application of new technology, there’s no disputing the fact that ecommerce is opening up the Nigerian economy at an impressive rate. Thriving on a digital economy platform, ecommerce boasts an incredible level of cost-efficiency of connecting sellers…
Pangea Accelerator has unveiled the Pangea Scale-Up program for East African startups. The 18-months programme is aimed at empowering and assisting startups having challenges with fundraising in East Africa. Pangea has implemented accelerator programmes in the past 3 years and learned that many successful startups in East Africa have difficulties…