Author: Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi

Nigerian startups are now encouraged to submit their applications for the second cohort of the SIA Startup Foundry accelerator program. This initiative, organized by the SIA Foundation, aims to empower and support entrepreneurs in Nigeria by providing them with essential resources and opportunities to thrive in a competitive business environment.…

Startbutton, a Merchant of Record (MoR) service dedicated to facilitating business expansion across Africa, has announced its strategic entry into seven Francophone countries: Benin, Togo, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, and Cameroon. This expansion increases the company’s operational reach to a total of 15 African markets, which already includes…

Cedar Money, an innovative fintech startup specializing in the use of stablecoins for cross-border transactions, has successfully secured $9.9 million in a seed funding round. This investment round was spearheaded by QED Investors, with additional contributions from North Island Ventures, Wischoff Ventures, Lattice, and Stellar. The capital raised will be…

South African fintech startups Float and Peach Payments have joined forces to provide thousands of Peach Payments merchants with the ability to seamlessly integrate Float’s buy now pay later (BNPL) technology at checkout. This collaboration aims to expand the availability of interest-free monthly installments to a broader consumer base across…

StarkWare, a prominent Israeli blockchain infrastructure company with a valuation of $8 billion, has announced the launch of a $4 million fund aimed at investing in pre-seed and seed-stage startups across Africa. This initiative comes at a time when the continent is witnessing a significant increase in blockchain adoption, presenting…

InDrive, a ride-hailing service operating across nine African countries, is set to introduce a new bank transfer feature in Nigeria, enhancing the payment options available to its users. This innovative feature, known as “Light Cashless,” allows drivers to display their preferred bank account details directly within the app, enabling passengers…

Saviu Ventures, a prominent player in the venture capital landscape of Francophone Africa, has successfully achieved a second close of €25 million for its second vintage fund, Saviu II. This milestone was made possible through the participation of esteemed Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) such as the Dutch Good Growth Fund…

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, is contemplating an equity investment of up to $6 million in Flat6Labs’ newly established Africa Seed Fund, which has a target size of $85 million. This investment is being processed under the IFC Startup Catalyst Program and…

SeamlessHR, a pioneering HR-tech startup based in Nigeria, has recently made headlines by securing a $9 million Series-A extension funding round from notable investors, including the Gates Foundation and Helios Digital Ventures. This financial boost is set to fuel the company’s ambitious plans to broaden its customer base by strategically…

Egyptian B2B SaaS loyalty platform Prepit has been acquired by its larger counterpart, Dsquares, which has secured a majority stake in the company for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition marks a significant development in the loyalty solutions landscape within the region. Dsquares, founded in 2012 by Ayman Essawy, Marwan Kenawy,…

Amid increasing public scrutiny and grave allegations against the Nigerian startup Bento, which specializes in HR technology and payroll management, the company is facing accusations of engaging in fraudulent activities, including the forgery of tax receipts and the failure to remit millions in taxes and pension contributions. This turmoil has…

Global technology innovator, IBM, has officially ceased its operations in Nigeria, Ghana, and several other significant markets across Africa. This strategic decision involves the transfer of its regional functions to MIBB, a subsidiary of the Midis Group, a multinational conglomerate specializing in IT and telecommunications with a presence across Europe,…

Nigeria has officially launched “Service-Wise GPT,” an innovative AI-powered tool aimed at improving the efficiency of public services across the nation. This groundbreaking assistant was unveiled at the Global Government Summit and is designed to facilitate streamlined access to essential government information, automate the drafting of policies, and enhance administrative…

A recent report by SMILE ID, a leading provider of identity solutions in Africa, reveals that national ID fraud cases accounted for 27% of all identity document fraud incidents recorded on the continent in 2024. This alarming rise in fraud is attributed to the widespread use of national IDs as…

Ebun Okubanjo, the CEO of Bento Africa, a Nigerian payroll and human resource management platform, has resigned following serious allegations regarding the company’s failure to remit collected taxes and pension contributions on behalf of its clients. In an email addressed to Bento’s board of directors, Okubanjo announced his resignation and…

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, the Nigerian subsidiary of Standard Bank Group, has announced plans to recapitalize its fintech arm, Zest Payments Limited, with an investment of ₦4 billion (approximately $2,480,040). This funding is part of a larger capital raising exercise aimed at securing ₦148.71 billion, with the allocation to Zest…

SoftBank is currently engaged in discussions to invest as much as $25 billion in OpenAI, as part of a broader collaboration that could see the Japanese conglomerate allocate over $40 billion towards artificial intelligence initiatives in partnership with the Microsoft-backed startup, according to a report by the Financial Times. If…

Cauridor, an Ivorian fintech company, has successfully raised $3.5 million in seed funding to further develop its payment infrastructure, which facilitates the movement of funds for merchants, banks, telecom operators, and money transfer companies across Africa. This funding marks a significant step in the company’s mission to streamline financial transactions…

Stocks & Strauss Fund Manager has officially announced the launch of the University Technology Fund II (UTF II), achieving a significant milestone in December 2024. All agreements for the fund have been finalized, and a substantial portion of the capital has been committed, marking a pivotal step toward reaching the…

Meta’s microblogging platform, Threads, is witnessing significant growth as users increasingly prefer the app over competitors such as X. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings presentation on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads has reached 320 million monthly active users (MAUs), a notable increase from 300 million just a month…