Dstny, a Belgian corporate communications provider, has acquired Egyptian startup Tactful AI, which provides a cutting-edge intelligent customer experience platform. Tactful is a unified customer experience platform that provides businesses with a single dashboard through which to manage, engage, augment, and understand customers’ experiences across numerous touch points. It was founded by Mohamed Elmasry, Mohammad…
PayFast, a South African internet payment gateway, has partnered with Heavy Chef’s entrepreneur education non-profit, the Heavy Chef Foundation, to offer a 12-week development program. The new program aims to equip budding entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills they need to launch their own e-commerce businesses. More than 42% of growing South African entrepreneurs, according…
Paul Edwards, the former CEO of MTN Group, has raised a series-A round of capital for his new fintech business VantagePay. According to TechCentral, Crossfin Holdings, a Blue Garnet Ventures affiliate, has purchased a “significant share” in the company for an unknown value. VantagePay, formerly Vantage Africa Limited, was founded in 2018 with the mission…
Sendy, a Nairobi-based software firm that develops fulfillment solutions for e-commerce and consumer brands, has teamed up with Google to launch the “Google Hustle Academy program,” which aims to boost Africa’s small and medium companies. The boot camp program is expected to deliver expert training on business strategy and development, digital marketing, and financial planning…
Indicina, which is focused on developing API-driven credit infrastructure for Africa, raised $3 million in a Seed round to help the company maintain its commitment to the credit value chain. Greycroft and RV Ventures also participated in this round, which was led by Target Global. Ricardo Schaefer, a Partner at Target Global, will also be…
Rentoza, a South African subscription-based online electronics and appliance retailer, has raised ZAR20 million (US$1.3 million) in capital from Khulisani Ventures, the Mineworkers Investment Company’s early-stage investment firm (MIC). Last July, Johannesburg-based MIC announced the creation of MIC Khulisani Ventures, a ZAR150 million (US$10 million) early-stage investment entity aimed at black-owned, high-growth enterprises in South…
LAGOS, 1 June 2022 — ShopEX, a multi-channel retail business based in Nigeria and exclusive distributors of some of the world’s most successful ‘As Seen On TV’ products has raised a pre seed funding of $400,000 from Cape Town venture capital firm, HAVAÍC. The investment forms part of a US$635,000 convertible notes round alongside existing angel investors,…
Kendi Ntwiga has been named Global Head of Misrepresentation of Meta owners of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp after her departure from Microsoft Kenya, where she served as Country Leader. Her appointment began in May, and she will be stationed in Ireland. Kendi will strive to push for operational processes to scale Meta’s enforcement of community…
HyperPay, a fintech business based in Saudi Arabia, has raised $36.7 million in a fundraising round led by Mastercard, with Amwal Capital Partners and AB Ventures as investors. HyperPay, founded by Muhannad Ebwini, provides a wide range of products and services to merchants in addition to payment processing, including risk and fraud management, monitoring, instalment…
Instagram, which is owned by Meta, is having difficulties sleeping, so it’s borrowing a page from TikTok and increasing the duration limit for Reels. TikTok’s duration limit was recently increased, with new options ranging from 60 seconds to 5 minutes and 10 minutes. Instagram is following after and will soon allow users to publish Reels…
Through its early-stage tech investment company Naspers Foundry, Naspers has led a $2.5 million investment in LifeCheq, a fintech platform that enables financial advisers to provide quality, complete financial advice. Since its debut in 2018, LifeCheq has provided financial planning and help to over 45,000 people in South Africa. LifeCheq’s AI-powered platform can help financial…
The Kenya Development Corporation (KDC) has teamed up with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) to help the manufacturing sector’s small and medium-sized businesses recover. KDC revealed that it has initiated a plan to engage SMEs countrywide to sensitize them on KDC’s products and services in order to understand their financial needs during the engagement,…
The cost of cybercrime on Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be $4.1 billion by 2021, according to Kenyan cybersecurity startup Serianu. Throughout the Covid-19 issue, the region has been badly struck, with threat actors taking advantage of weak networks and insufficient cybersecurity policies in several countries. “We are noticing a rise in…
Kemi is a co-founder of Babymigo, a Nigerian femtech firm created in 2017 with the goal of increasing access to high-quality pregnancy and parenting information. It works by providing a digital platform via which prospective, pregnant, and nursing moms can connect with peers and specialists, as well as locate local health and social resources. Overall,…
Vantage Health Technologies and the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) have joined to build an AI-enabled Patient Retention Solution, which has resulted in a breakthrough and renewed hope for patient retention in the region. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 25 million – or 67 percent – of all HIV-positive people, with 8.1 million of…
Appetito, an on-demand grocery retail company based in Cairo that delivers food to customers from a small network of dark stores, announced the acquisition of Lamma, a similar company based in Rabat and the Greater Tunis area of Morocco and Tunisia, on Tuesday. The purchase is slated to finalize in the third quarter of 2022,…
Talk360, an international calling app that allows users to make dependable and economical calls to any landline or mobile phone in the globe, has raised $4 million in preparation for the launch of a new pan-African payment platform in mid-2022. Leading African venture capital investor HAVAC, 4Di Capital, and numerous famous fintech angel investors led…
Following successful operations in 17 locations throughout the world, Grubtech, a leading tech and cloud kitchens management solutions company located in the United Arab Emirates, has announced plans to open operations in Cairo, Egypt. Grubtech, the winner of the best food technologies platform award in 2021, has appointed Osama Harfoush as its national manager, who…
The Upbeat centre in Admiralty Way, Lekki, Lagos, was packed with children on Saturday, May 28. It wasn’t simply because it was a weekend, either. CashBox, a digital savings platform that encourages people to “make saving a habit,” gathered children to debut its newest feature, KidsBox. The app’s new function was created to teach kids…
Digital Africa is a mission-driven effort funded by the French government with the goal of assisting African tech entrepreneurs and innovators by offering technical assistance, financing projects and enterprises, and establishing a regulatory climate that encourages African innovation. Digital Africa has expanded to a community of 6,000 African entrepreneurs across multiple sectors since its debut…
The African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Ghana has signed a Masters Sponsored Research Agreement (MSRA) with Google Research, with the goal of pushing scientific research forward in fields such as artificial intelligence. As part of their continued commitment to collaborate and improve computing and technology in Africa, the agreement aims to strengthen the collaboration…
You’ll be able to edit text messages you’ve already sent in the near future. On the Meta-owned messaging network Whatsapp, this has been one of the most desired features. For the time being, users must either append an asterisk to a sent message or erase the entire message to correct typos. The edit button will…
The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize is now accepting applications from African agri-tech firms. The prize aims to uncover Africa’s finest young agri-food entrepreneurs and will pay US$50,000 in cash to each of the two winners. The GoGettaz Agripreneur Prize honors agribusinesses that advance agriculture and food via technology, creativity, and enthusiasm. The organizers are looking for…
Maisha Meds, a Kenyan-based digital pharmacy network that offers pharmacies, drug stores, and clinics business management software and reimbursement programs, as well as patient support through its point-of-sale pharmacy app, has reached 1,000 active locations, making it one of the largest digital pharmacy networks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Maisha Meds, which has operations in Kenya, Uganda,…
Shopstar, a local e-commerce platform, has received third-round funding from Launch Africa Ventures, indicating the start of the company’s next phase of expansion. The cloud-based e-commerce platform, which is proudly South African, assists local entrepreneurs in creating an online store and growing their business by providing easy-to-use, professional services that enable them to trade economically….
AfricInvest, a prominent investment platform engaging in private equity, venture capital, private credit, and listed equities, has announced the final close of its AfricInvest Fund IV, which raised $411 million in total commitments. AfricInvest has raised more than $2 billion to fund nearly 200 firms in various phases of development across three continents over the…
Finclusion Group, a sub-Saharan African fintech platform, has received an undisclosed investment from the Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund (CASF). CASF’s fourth overall investment and third on the African continent will be made with this investment. CASF is a micro venture capital fund that invests $100,000–$250,000 in post-seed and pre-series A firms in the Middle East…
M Auto, a’mobility as a service’ startup, has raised an undisclosed amount of money from Africa Transformation and Industrialisation Fund (ATIF), an Africa-focused investment fund, to launch in Togo and Benin, making it Africa’s largest electric vehicle startup with 500 e-bikes on the ground and 3 000 ready for market. M Auto’s objective is to…
The USAID Trade Hub has co-invested $1.2 million in ShEquity to invest in and support over 100 high-potential women-owned or led businesses. According to Pauline Koelbl, Founder and Managing Director of ShEquity, women entrepreneurs are vital to Africa’s success because they control more than 40% of the continent’s small and medium-sized businesses. In comparison to…
Betastore, a Nigerian business, has received $2.5 million in pre-series funding. By the end of the year, the company hopes to expand to Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon. 500 Global, VestedWorld, and Loyal VC contributed to the fund, bringing the total amount raised to $3 million. “We believe Betastore’s talented team is…