BECO Capital, a Dubai-based early-stage venture capital (VC) firm is set to increase its investments in the Middle East and North Africa startups after closing its second fund with $100 million. Name BECO Fund II, the VC said in a statement that the fund is “well in excess” of its…
Author: AdeO
In June, Facebook officially announced its “Libra” cryptocurrency push with support from some big names including Visa and Mastercard. Since then we’ve heard little about it other than increasing scrutiny and questions from regulators, bankers and politicians around the world, while those partners have mostly remained quiet. The Wall Street Journal reports today that executives from unnamed partner companies have…
Kenya’s logistics startup Lori Systems has officially launched in Nigeria after 10-months of piloting. The startup has been doing the pilot in Nigeria with some of the country’s top cargo companies including Olam, Honeywell Flour Mills and Flour Mills Nigeria. This expansion to the West African country presents a massive…
Venture Capital for Africa is proud to announce the 12 ventures (11 Series A and 1 Seed+) for its 2019 Venture Showcase. These companies represent the best investment opportunities on the continent. They have been vetted by 40 VC investors through a rigorous referral and selection process. The companies demonstrate…
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group has announced that it is investing $1 million into Tunisia-based Anava Seed Fund, an accelerator and early-stage fund managed by Flat6Labs Tunis. According to a statement, “The move aims to support tech entrepreneurship and women entrepreneurs in particular, as…
After bursting into the market at the beginning of 2017, cryptocurrency has soared in value from $17.7 billion to nearly $600 billion. It’s the world record for any asset class in history. Bitcoin only has reached the market cap of $118 bln, it is set to rock the boat of…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has blocked a total of 2.224 million improperly registered SIM cards. The federal government had given the NCC up to last Wednesday to cut off all SIM cards not properly registered by their owners from telecom networks. The Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim…
Following the successes and impact of the first season of its research and mentorship-driven accelerator programme, Facebook Accelerator, Nigeria, Facebook has announced in partnership with Co-Creation Hub, the commencement of season two of its programme which is aimed at supporting and empowering students and entrepreneurs to build locally relevant solutions…
MaxAB, an Egyptian B2B e-commerce marketplace that connects informal food and grocery retailers with suppliers via an easy-to-use app, has secured seed funding of $6.2 million, one of the largest ever seed rounds raised by a MENA start-up. The round was co-led by Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, and Endure Capital,…
Microsoft has announced that its most recent Operating System, Windows 10 now runs on more than 900 million devices. According to Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of its Modern Life, Search and Devices group who made this disclosure in a tweet noted that the company added more of the devices in…
The Kano State government has ordered the police to shut down a branch of Opay in Kano state. Opay is an online payment outlet for commercial tricycle operators. Opay was closed down during a raid carried out by the Kano state police command over alleged non-compliance with the government rules…
The Federal Government through the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) has given six startups being incubated at the South-South Innovation Hub 5 million Naira grant to expand their startups. Presenting the cheques to the startups in Benin City, Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, said the…
Jumia Travel, the hotel and flight marketplace of Jumia has announced that it will host its maiden World Tourism Day event at Ereko Hall, The Moorhouse Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria on September 27th, 2019. The event will address the growing relevance of tourism and its potential to create thousands of jobs.…
Google has announced the names of the 12 startups selected for the fourth cohort of its Launchpad Africa accelerator based in Lagos. They include three startups from Kenya, four from Nigeria, two from South Africa and one each from Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Google head of startup success and services Fola…
Bolt, a major European transport ride-hailing firm has begun operations in the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan. Several thousand drivers have already started working. “More than 25 million users in more than 30 countries use its services. Now, the European quality of the taxi service is also available in Kazakhstan. “We…
The DHL Africa eShop has expanded to 13 more countries, bringing the total number of supported countries on the continent to 34. The DHL Africa eShop app was introduced in April, and it creates a link between more than 200 sellers in the U.S. and U.K. The new countries included…
Agriculture Africa 2019, is focused on solutions that improve outcomes for small farmers and address food security issues. A few noteworthy things: Our partners this year are Small Foundation and Ceniarth. Ceniarth has committed $100K to the top two peer-selected ventures.For the first time, we have a Zambian company in…
Facebook has rolled out its online dating service for the United States, a move taking on rivals such as smartphone app Tinder. The free “Facebook Dating” site which was announced last year and already available in other countries will allow users to link their Facebook and Instagram post to a…
Two Nigerian startups have been shortlisted among 21 finalists for the Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Awards, a global competition which highlights and rewards businesses that demonstrate excellence in innovation as well as giving entrepreneurs a chance to shine on a global platform. The businesses are: FarmToJuice and Foods Nig. Ltd which produces juices,…
Jack Ma, the co-founder of the Chinese retail giant Alibaba, is officially stepping down as company chairman on September 10 — the day the charismatic entrepreneur turns 55. As part of his post-retirement plan, the former English teacher-turned-businessman plans to spend a good amount of his vast fortunes (worth over $41 billion)…