The finalists’ pitch event for the 2021 edition of the Deji Alli Young Talent Award (DAAYTA) programme held on April 9th, 2021, with Tope Idris Sulaimon of Scrapays Technologies Limited emerging winner to claim the N12 million grant. He expressed his excitement saying, “I am happy to be the winner…
Author: AdeO
Netflix won a total of seven total trophies in the just-concluded Oscars. The video streaming giant led other studios in the win although it failed to grab the prize in the best picture category and came up empty in the acting categories. Netflix had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations,…
Audiomack has partnered with MTN Nigeria to unveil the Audiomack+MTN Data Bundle program, which offers MTN subscribers tailored data bundles for streaming unlimited music and accessing content on Audiomack free of data charges. The partnership will see MTN subscribers gain free access to Audiomack’s streaming service via their mobile devices on weekly and…
OKO, an Insurtech start-up that provides inclusive agricultural insurance to secure farmers’ income across Africa, has closed a Seed investment of $1.2 million. The round was led by Newfund and ResiliAnce. Mercy Corps Venture, Techstars, ImpactAssets and RaSa also participated in the round. The start-up which currently operates in Mali…
FIS announced today that it is partnering with Flutterwave to expand Worldpay, its payment processing platform into the rapidly growing markets of South Africa and Nigeria. Flutterwave is a 2016 graduate of the FIS FinTech Accelerator program. “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital technology and fueled the…
Days after Twitter announced that its African headquarters will be located in Ghana, Amazon has disclosed that its own African headquarters will sit in South Africa. The e-commerce giant is expected to spend R4 billion ($279 million). This new development will create 5,239 jobs in the construction phase alone. Along…
South Africa’s data science training institute, the Explore Data Science Academy (EDSA), will soon offer its range of online data science and data engineering courses in Nigeria. This offers talented, ambitious, and hard-working young people in that country the chance to be trained for a career that has been labeled “the sexiest…
Zeepay, the leading African Challenger Fintech with operations in over 10 African countries, today announced a partnership with Moove, sub-Saharan Africa’s first flexible car ownership company. This partnership will enable Uber drivers and riders on Moove to receive and make digital payments, respectively. Last year, Moove began a partnership with…
Early-stage African tech investor HAVAÍC says aligning to startup founders’ interests, allowing management to maintain their independence, leveraging off smart capital and working together towards a mutually favourable exit is the foundation for successful collaboration between Venture Capital (VC) investors and startups. Ian Lessem, the Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, notes that for…
Appetito, an Egyptian-based grocery startup, has secured a $450K seed funding round from a group of Saudi Arabian Angel investors led by Ahmed Al Alola, an early-stage investor, along with Afropreneurs Fund, an African early-stage technology fund, and Jedar Capital, an emerging venture capitalist focused on early-stage startups in the…
Endeavor Nigeria has welcomed auto tech company, Autochek to its global network. Launched in 2020 by serial entrepreneur Etop Ikpe, the company combines technology and data to enhance auto trade and auto finance across African consumers, by creating a single marketplace for all automotive needs. With a mission to build…
Audio-chat app Clubhouse closed a new Series C round of financing, the firm said during its weekly town hall on Sunday, without disclosing the amount raised. A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that the new financing would value the company at $4 billion. The social media app…
Despite much speculation in 2016 that the FBI hired Cellebrite, an Israeli Digital Intelligence company, to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5C, it’s only now that the real company has been named. It’s an Australian defense contractor called Azimuth Security, now part of L3Harris Technologies. According to The Washington Post, Azimuth is a “publicity-shy” firm,…
As startup and innovation culture deepens on the continent, the explosion of tech hubs across Africa has turned into an opportunity for economies to scale, despite lockdowns that are resulting from the Pandemic. Amitruck and Sky.Garden, two of the fastest-growing African start-ups, having registered tremendous adoption, have announced a reinforcing…
Autochek, the transformational high-growth automotive technology company that is building a 360-degree solution for the African market, has today announced its strategic partnership with the Automobile Dealers Union of Ghana (ADUG). This strong collaboration is geared at delivering a digitized and enabling platform for vehicle dealers in Ghana. Autochek through…
The Federal Government has lifted its policy banning the sale of new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards.The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, in agreement with industry stakeholders, also yesterday revised the National Digital Identity Policy for SIM card registration. According to him, the activation of a…
Samurai Incubate Inc, a venture capital firm based in Tokyo, has announced that it has closed its dedicated Africa fund after raising 2.06 billion yen (~ $18 million). In January 2020, Samurai announced a second fund called the “Samurai Africa 2nd General Partnership”. The now-closed fund will focus on startups in Nigeria,…
SHYFT Power Solutions, which builds IoT and software to optimize distributed energy resource performance and operational efficiency in emerging markets, has announced an additional $3.1M in funding to bring its total seed round to $3.8M. The round was led by the SoftBank Vision Fund’s Emerge Program and Total Carbon Neutrality…
Revix, a South African Cryptocurrency Investment Platform with offices in Cape Town and London, has raised $4 million in off-shore capital funding – showcasing the attractiveness of cryptocurrency investment in South Africa. Founded in 2018 on the principle that everyone should be able to invest their own money and become…
Zeepay, the Ghanaian fintech startup with operations in over 10 African countries, today acquired a 51 percent stake in Mangwee Mobile Money Zambia. In a private placement, Zeepay and Mangwee agreed to a sale of 51 percent of Mangwee shares to Zeepay. The deal makes Zeepay Ghana the majority shareholder…