Barnes & Noble has confirmed a cyberattack impacting Nook services and potentially exposing customer data. The US bookseller stocks over one million titles at any one time for distribution worldwide. As ebooks emerged as an alternative to traditional literature, in 2009, the company launched the Nook service, an ebook reader,…
Author: AdeO
Flutterwave, a fintech payment platform, has denied media reports making the rounds on the purported shutdown of the payment channel created for contributions towards the #EndSARS protest. In a statement tagged, ‘public statement regarding erroneous publications by Thisday, Nairametrics and Arise TV’, the company said that the statement accredited to…
Kalon Venture Partners, IDF Capital, and an unnamed investor have invested an undisclosed amount in Carscan, a South African technology startup in the automotive industry. Carscan is a global first, car data application that allows you to capture and share accurate, reliable, agnostic, and traceable digital records of your car’s…
If you’ve recently updated your Facebook Messenger smartphone app, you may have noticed something was different. Facebook has added some color to the long-standing white-and-blue Messenger logo. According to the company, the new logo “reflects a shift to the future of messaging, a more dynamic, fun, and integrated way to stay…
The chairman of Flutterwave, Tunde Lemo, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, directed the suspension of the fintech firm’s payment platform. “I was the one that instructed them to shut down their system yesterday when the bad guys were moving money through them,” he said. Apart…
Bpifrance and Proparco have announced the first closing of Averroès Africa, their fourth private equity fund of funds for Africa. With a target size of EUR 100m, Averroès Africa will invest in African funds dedicated to start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises in order to continue to support private sector…
Disney is restructuring its media and entertainment divisions, as streaming becomes the most important facet of the company’s media business. The company revealed that in order to further accelerate its direct-to-consumer strategy, it would be centralizing its media businesses into a single organization that will be responsible for content distribution, ad…
MTN Group has announced the appointment of Rahul De, the current Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria as the new chief executive officer of Lonestar Cell MTN. He will take the helm at the company on November 1, 2020. Rahul replaces Uche Ofodile who departed Lonestar Cell MTN in July…
NowPay, a Cairo-based financial wellness platform for employees in emerging markets, has announced that it has raised $2.1m during a seed investment round. The new funds will be deployed to deepen the platform’s capabilities, expand its team, and establish its footprint in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region…
A new $60 million venture capital fund in Bahrain will invest in 120 early-stage start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa region over the next three years as it aims to tap into the coronavirus-fuelled tech boom. The fund, called Plus Venture Capital (+VC), will be led by Sharif…
For the umpteenth time, members of the Special Antirobbery Squad (#EndSARS) shot dead a Kolade Johnson and harassed a Nigerian youth because he drove a Benz, uses an iPhone, carries a laptop, and wears tattoos or dreadlock. The ridiculous and absurd criteria this notorious unit of the Nigerian Police uses…
With the climate crisis and global pandemic upon us, the need for change has never been greater. There is an urgent need to innovate – and the timing is now. We see a huge potential for innovations from young, creative minds from Africa, and are therefore hosting this creative hackathon.…
Tugende, a technology-enabled asset finance company operating in Uganda and Kenya, today announced the completion of a USD $6.3M Series A investment round, led by Toyota Tsusho investment fund Mobility 54. Other participants in the round were U.S.-based Global Partnerships’ Social Venture Fund, current shareholders including Denali Venture Philanthropy and…
Mondia, a leading technology company that specialises in the marketing and distribution of digital content and Jumia, Africa’s largest e-commerce platform, today announced the launch of Jumia Games, a competitively priced entertainment category on the JumiaPay App. In its first phase, the fully branded gaming portal is available in five…
Three African startups have been selected to pitch at the first-ever virtual Seedstars International Demo Day 2020 on October 14, 2020. The startups are Chaka (Nigeria), Dryve (Egypt), and Pezesha (Kenya). These 3 startups will join 15 others from around the world who are set to pitch their product and share their progress in…
MePlaylist, a Nigerian music streaming platform, has announced the appointment of Mathew Knowles and Michael Kay Kiladejo as members of its global executive team. According to a statement issued by Edward Israel-Ayide, Media Contact, MePlaylist, the appointment of the duo followed their investment earlier in the year in the on-demand…
Uber Nigeria has increased fares on its UberX with effect from Tuesday, October 6, 2020. UberX is the most popular private car service on offer at Uber, commonly referred to as the ‘low-cost option’ for riders. This was disclosed by the company, in an e-mail shared with riders. The ride-hailing…
Uber’s logistics arm, Uber Freight, gained a $500-million investment from Greenbriar Equity Group after it sold its shares in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched in 2017, Uber Freight is designed to provide users and truckers with the ability to book their respective loads as easily and as accessible…
Sokowatch, the innovative East African e-commerce platform, has been named winner of the Visa Everywhere Initiative – Pandemic Challenge in the USA. This year’s initiative was specifically developed to find an immediate solution to help rebuild small businesses heavily impacted by COVID-19. The Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) is a global…
Good Nature Agro, a Zambian company working from end-to-end within the specialised legume value chains, has announced that it closed Series A equity funding totaling $2.1 million. Goodwell Investments led the round with participation from existing seed investors Global Partnerships and FINCA Ventures. This investor capital accelerates Good Nature Agro’s…