HSEVEN, a Moroccan startup accelerator has launched three incubation and acceleration programs to help African entrepreneurs build high-impact startups. Programs “Rise-Up,” “Re-Start,” and “Disrupt” aim to accelerate the transformation of the African economy amid the fourth technological and industrial revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is time for entrepreneurs and startups of Morocco…
Author: AdeO
Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-hailing service said it had completed a fundraising round of over $500 million for its autonomous driving subsidiary that was led by SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund 2. The ride-hailing giant said in a statement the round marked the first time Didi’s autonomous driving business had brought…
Just days after Twiter fact-checked Donald Trump, the social media platform has again added a warning label to the tweet of the President of the United States of America for violating its rule against glorifying violence The social media platform is using what it calls a “public interest notice” to…
Jumia has partnered with International Breweries and Unilever to make consumer goods and beverage products accessible and available to Nigerians on the Jumia platform in the COVID-19 and post-pandemic era. In addition, both companies will be offering free deliveries on select products on the Jumia platform. With the partnership, customers…
Facebook has published the fifth edition of its Community Standards Enforcement Report, providing metrics on how well it enforced its policies from October 2019 through March 2020. Announcing the report in a Facebook Newsroom post, Guy Rosen, Vice President, Integrity said the company has in the last few years built tools, teams…
Ghana Tech Lab in partnership with GIZ’s AI and technology entrepreneurship initiatives and Make-IT in Africa and IBM has announced the launch of the Africa AI Accelerator Program 2020 to support the scaling of the next generation of Africa’s AI start-ups. The first cohort will support 10 AI startups from Ghana, South Africa, Rwanda, and Uganda with…
Carry1st, an African mobile gaming startup has raised a Series Seed round of US$2.5 million led by CRE Venture Capital with participation from Perivoli Innovations, Chandaria Capital, Lateral Capital, Transsion’s Future Hub, and Kam Kronenberg III, among others. This round brings its total capital raised to $4.0 million. Proceeds will go to recruiting top-tier talent, investing in platform technology, and publishing…
IMINT Image Intelligence AB, a global leader in video enhancement software, today announced a partnership with Infinix, a premium online-driven smartphone brand designed for the young generations, to equip their next generation of smartphones with video stabilization technology. The Infinix NOTE 7, which runs on a MediaTek (MTK) chipset, will…
Inclusivity Solutions, the company that designs, builds, operates, and innovates digital insurance solutions, has secured an additional US$ 1.3 million in its second tranche of its Series A round, bringing the total Series A round to US$2.6m. Following on from their first tranche investment, the uMunthu fund, managed by Goodwell Investments,…
Sanofi has selected 11 startups for its AfricaTech Challenge whose online pitch will take place on June 11. The Sanofi AfricaTech Challenge received 268 applications from 34 countries from across Africa and a winner for each of the four challenges will be announced at the end of the pitch. The call…
ColdHubs, a Nigerian startup that operates 100% solar-powered walk-in cold rooms and four other African startups have been selected for the final of Clima@ competition 2020. The four other African startups include: Biodiesel Misr (Egypt), Coliba (Cote d’Ivoire), Lombrisol (Morrocco) and Ecodudu (Kenya). These African startups will join 10 others from…
RunwaySale, a South African based e-commerce fashion retailer, has received an investment of R100 million (US$5.74m) from an international private equity firm, SPEAR Capital. The company said it will utilise the investment to drive all-around growth across marketing, stock and production sectors, as well as in machine learning and artificial…
Amazon is starting to offer online food delivery, which is called Amazon Food, in Bengaluru. With this move, the company will be competing with established players Swiggy and Zomato. This move seems meaningful since both Swiggy and Zomato has eliminated many roles in recent months. Swiggy recently laid off 1,100 jobs…
Vodacom Group has named Balesh Sharma as the managing director and CEO of its newly-carved out standalone South African operating company — Vodacom South Africa. Vodacom, majority-owned by Vodafone (60.5 percent stake), is an African communications company providing a range of offerings, including mobile voice, messaging, data, financial, and converged services. It…
With the explosion of the COVID-19 epidemic and the resulting global economic crisis, particularly affecting startups and SMEs on the African continent, the GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation and the French Development Agency are strengthening their mission to support the local ecosystem and encourage startups to respond to this call for…
Twenty-two wholly Nigerian owned enterprises have been shortlisted for the 2020 USADF – All On Nigeria Off-Grid Energy Challenge says the Shell funded Nigerian impact investor All On in a release. The third edition of the annual challenge, which is in partnership with the United States African Development Foundation (USADF),…
PepsiCo has appointed Pioneer Foods boss Tertius Carstens as its sub-Saharan Africa chief executive to assume the position immediately. The sub-Saharan Africa headquarters will be based in South Africa, which the company plans to leverage to expand and drive profitable growth across the region, an integral part of fulfilling PepsiCo’s…
Plug and Play, a start-up business development accelerator and venture capital company, will open its first African office in Johannesburg, South Africa this year. The company is a Silicon Valley headquartered corporate innovation platform. The opening of the Joburg office was announced at the company’s recent Covid-19 webinar series titled Digital…
Leonardo DiCaprio, an Oscar-winning actor has announced that he is raising funds for the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo through the Virunga Fund. DiCaprio has contributed a part of the initial $2m (£1.65m) funding through Earth Alliance, a group co-founded by the actor. Organizations including Emerson…
Naspers has announced a R100 million ($5.5 million) investment in agritech business Aerobotics, through its early-stage business funding initiative Naspers Foundry. Aerobotics is a subscription-based artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides intelligent tools for the agricultural industry to manage its crops. Aerobotics, founded by James Paterson and Benji Meltzer in 2014,…