Apollo Agriculture, a Kenyan agritech startup has raised $6 million series A funding led by Anthemis. Additional investors in Apollo Agriculture’s Series A round included Accion Venture Lab, Leaps by Bayer, and Flourish Ventures. Founded in 2016, Apollo Agriculture offers a mobile-based product suit for farmers that includes working capital, data analysis for higher crop…
Author: AdeO
Microsoft has announced that it has acquired robotic process automation (RPA) startup Softomotive for an undisclosed sum. In a blog post, Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s citizen application platform, said that the company’s desktop automation solutions will join together with Microsoft’s Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) capabilities at “uniquely affordable pricing.” To this end,…
In order to drive food security in Nigeria, an agricultural technology company, Groupfarma, a brand owned by Timesellers Limited, is cultivating a total of 2,500 hectares of premium rice in Ogun State. Due to the ban on importation of rice into the country, the company, which makes local cultivation and…
Innovate Now, Africa’s first Assistive Technology Accelerator is seeking applications from innovators across the African continent who are dedicated to developing mobile-based technologies designed to assist people living with disabilities. The UK Aid-funded programme, which is run by Global Disability Innovation Hub and Amref Enterprises Limited, will accelerate 12 start-ups in its…
Villgro Kenya, an early-stage, impact investor and business incubator for health innovations in Africa has awarded $150K in grants to 12 innovative startups from East Africa with technologies and innovations that could help in testing, monitoring, and managing aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Following the call for local innovations to…
SunFunder, a provider of debt financing to solar enterprises, has closed four new loans at the end of the First Quarter (Q1) 2020, which took it over US$100 million invested in distributed solar in Africa and other emerging regions. Those new loans were with two existing solar home system borrowers…
Swvl, an Egyptian mobility startup has raised over $20-million in a new round completed just before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in the region according to Menabytes. The startup was founded in 2017 by CEO Mostafa Kandil Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh. It allows users in Egypt and Kenya to book…
Swiggy, an Indian online food delivery app has announced that it will be laying off around 1100 of its employees to absorb the impact of coronavirus pandemic. In a blog post, the company revealed that it will scale down businesses that are not going to be relevant for the next…
China’s foreign ministry has said that the United States needed to stop the “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese companies like Huawei adding that the government was ready to retaliate against Washington. The Trump administration had last Friday moved to block global chip supplies to blacklisted telecoms equipment company Huawei Technologies, spurring…
When you’re at the helm of a new business, there are myriad of details to consider. From packaging and shipping to distribution and marketing, a lot of factors demand your attention. However, all of these are rendered insignificant in the absence of an official brand name that represents your business.…
Fliqpay has launched a cryptocurrency payment gateway in Africa to allow businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments worldwide. Fliqpay payment gateway will be available in five local currencies, including Nigerian Naira, Kenyan Shillings, Ghanaian Cedis and South African Rand. Using the payment gateway, African businesses can integrate Fliqpay’s API to accept cryptocurrencies as payments. …
Ventures Platform, an early-stage startup investor, has backed 3 Nigerian startups including Tambua Health, Brass, and FunnelJoy to help them scale their solutions. Portfolio companies include Trove, Thank U Cash and MDaaS, and Ventures Platform has now added to its stable with three more investments. The amounts invested are undisclosed. Tambua Health uses lung sound…
Forbes8 has announced Nigeria’s First Resilience Digital Startup Accelerator programme, a free virtual accelerator that will welcome 100 top companies from Nigeria. Nigeria’s First Digital Startup Accelerator Program hosted by Forbes8 and powered by the Global Startup Ecosystem is making a historic move to train and support Nigerian startups. The…
For most individuals, personal-finance mistakes affect only themselves. For entrepreneurs, a personal-finance slip-up can have far-reaching consequences. People who get into tight financial spots while running their businesses must make difficult choices about which bills to pay, which opportunities to let go, and which partners to leave. Don’t let your…
Jumia has reported a nearly 7 percent drop in first-quarter revenue due to the coronavirus which disrupted the supply chain, particularly in China. However. the eCommerce firm saw lower cash burn as a result of exiting some African markets and signs that lockdowns were accelerating a drive towards online shopping…
Google will shut down its Google Play Music in 2020 and transition existing customers to its other music service, YouTube Music. Google is rolling out tools to begin transferring playlists, personal taste preferences and music libraries from Google Play to YouTube. “We wanted to make it drop-dead easy and give…
Universal Music France (UMF), a company of Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced a strategic partnership with Nigeria’s The Aristokrat Group. This strategic partnership consists of a label deal and a publishing deal.The label deal intends to discover and develop African talent, and give…
Plentywaka, the technology-driven ride-hailing service has launched a new product for corporate organizations referred to as Plentywaka Staff Bus Solutions. Plentywaka Staff-Bus Solution is an exclusive bus service powered by technology to provide staff bus solutions to corporate organizations. The goal is to provide premium dedicated buses to organizations to…
Zulzi, a South African on-demand grocery delivery startup has raised US$1.6 million in funding to grow its team and expand operations. Zulzi, which was launched in 2016 as an e-commerce business targeted at students is looking to widen its offering in the near future. The funds will enable the startup…
Twitter announced on Monday that it will start alerting users when a tweet makes misleading claims about the coronavirus. The new rule is the latest in a wave of stricter policies that tech companies are rolling out to confront an outbreak of virus-related misinformation on their sites. Facebook and Google, which owns…