Nigerian media and data analytics startup, Dataphyte, which provides products and services, such as data journalism and data-driven investigations, to help the public and private sectors generate value from data and socio-economic insights recently announced that it has raised a seed funding of $100,000 from Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF).
MDIF is a not-for-profit investment fund for independent media in countries where access to free and independent media is under threat, and it supports media groups through affordable debt and equity financing, supported by tailored technical assistance and advisory services. Dataphyte is among the new set of successful investment portfolios of MDIF in West Africa.
Dataphyte said the funding would be applied towards expanding its business in data journalism and creating digital products. Launched in 2020, Dataphyte has led with data innovation, telling relatable stories and providing analysis from data, and in November announced a partnership with Statista, a leading global data company.
Dataphyte said it has built three thriving products while also supporting the media ecosystem with open data and capacity development. Aside from building the first data journalism niche platform, the company recently launched DATAPLEX, its enterprise data merchandise platforms, and its training academy platform.
Also, the company said it supported the Ekiti State Government to develop an open data portal as its statement on partnership with governments to make socioeconomic and public finance data accessible.
Bilal Randeree, MDIF’s Programme Director for Africa & MENA, commented: “We are delighted to have made our first investments in Dataphyte and Zitamar News, two highly impressive media companies that provide important services to the people of Nigeria and Mozambique.”
Joshua Olufemi, Founder of Dataphyte, commented: “The purpose for us is to apply data to respond to three existential challenges in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. One, lead a successful business model mix for data journalism; two, offer data analytics and information services to the corporate and development sectors and lastly to support the government in its adoption of data and technology for public policy and good governance.”
The managing editor of Dataphyte, Adenike Aloba, said the company looks towards to using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to power its journalism.
