Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, announced today that it will donate $1 million (R15.3 million) to programs that help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses, as part of a series of new initiatives aimed at supporting women-owned businesses. According to Mojolaoluwa Aderemi Makinde, Head Brand and Reputation, Africa – Google, “research shows that 58 percent of…
Datacentrix excelled at the recent Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) South Africa Channel Partner awards ceremony held at Fancourt in the Western Cape, taking home the title of HPE Overall FY21 Partner of the Year, as well as seven other hotly contested awards. “This year’s HPE awards ceremony was probably our most successful to date,” says…
Vula Mobile, a South African medical referral app and online platform that hosts a network of health professionals, has partnered with leading pharmaceutical firm Novartis to improve eye care services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Primary health care workers can connect with specialists via the Vula Mobile digital platform, allowing for faster assessment of eye conditions and…
Seeing imported agricultural machinery – often paid for by the government or donors – lying abandoned due to a lack of local servicing or parts motivated Minsob Logou to invest his time, money, and energy into a local solution for farmers. As a result, the Logoutrac mini-tractor was born. This award-winning Togolese inventor is venturing…
Kouncel, an Egyptian legal ed-tech startup, has raised US$1.2 million in pre-seed funding to help it grow. The fundraising round was attended by Zaldi Capital, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Academy for Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), and the Egyptian entrepreneurship development initiative Tanmia wa Tatweer. The funds will be used to expand the…
Microsoft intends to provide $500 million in potential funding to African startups with the help of venture capitalists in order to help them grow quickly. The Africa Transformation Office will launch a series of new initiatives over the next five years with the goal of assisting 10,000 African businesses in reaching their full potential. With…
According to a popular WhatsApp feature tracker, WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will allow users to create polls in group chats. The world’s most popular messaging service is currently working on a few features that will not be available to beta testers, including the ability to respond to specific messages with emoji….
Codecademy, a leading online learning platform for technical skills, is teaming up with the advocacy organization Black and Brilliant to launch an applied artificial intelligence accelerator and mentorship program in Africa. Following the launch of their first accelerator together in 2021, the organizations are reuniting to bring the program to Africa and empower a new…
Wamly, a South African startup, is changing companies’ recruitment processes by providing one-way video interview software that eliminates the need for one-on-one interviews, allowing them to interview more people and better candidates faster. Wamly, founded in 2018 by Francois de Wet, allows companies to recruit candidates by sending out a custom link that allows candidates…
Until now, the African startup ecosystem has been dominated by Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt (‘the Big 4’), countries that continue to receive the majority of venture capital and other forms of investment. However, the situation appears to be gradually changing as notable startups emerge from other countries on the continent and investors look…
Netflix and TikTok suspended most of their services in Russia on Sunday, as the government tightens restrictions on what citizens and media outlets can say about Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. Pulling the plug on online entertainment — and information — is likely to further isolate the country and its people, coming after a growing number…
Stitch, a South African API finance business, announced in January that it would conduct a “startup showcase” to allow early-stage fintech from across the continent to share their solutions with local and global investors and receive support, according to Disrupt Africa. The event was part of a Stitch-hosted meetup for global fintech investors interested in…
Over the course of a record-breaking 2021, total funding in the African digital startup ecosystem trebled, passing the US$2 billion – and even the US$1 billion – threshold for the first time. In 2021, 564 businesses raised a total of US$2,148,517,500, according to the seventh edition of Disrupt Africa’s annual African Tech Startups Funding Report,…
In today’s business landscape, understanding your target audience is just as crucial as the product itself, a fact that is often overlooked. Effective marketing isn’t just about flashy ads or catchy slogans; it’s about ensuring your audience understands why they should choose your product. It’s not simply a matter of “come and buy my product”;…
Susu, a global health-tech business dedicated to making healthcare accessible and affordable to all Africans, has raised €2 million in a pre-seed round. Angel investors, grant financing from BPI France, the French government’s public investment bank, and debt were used to raise the funds. Bola Bardet, Laurent Leconte (Chief Technology Officer), and Sandrine Egron (Chief…
By: Trust Onyekwere In today’s modern digital landscape, connectivity and security are crucial concerns for product-led companies. Blockchain and IoT Integration offers a comprehensive resolution by developing a decentralised and transparent ecosystem where systems can communicate and transact without the need for a third-party account. This intersection enables digital technology companies to unlock new stages of…
Every young aspiring digital entrepreneur in Africa is encouraged to apply for MEST Africa’s 12-month technology and entrepreneurship training program. With the Class of 2022 in full swing, it’s time to get back into the recruiting swing of things and formally open up applications for the Class of 2023. MEST Africa receives around 4000 applications…
Circle, founded in 2020 by Nancy Kamal and Essam Maged and sponsored by 500 Global, makes it easy for real estate developers and property owners to interact with tenants. Milango, on the other hand, was founded by Amr Mostafa in 2021 and provides business clients with a suite of community management solutions to help them…
VALR.com, a South African cryptocurrency exchange, said today that it has raised $50 million (about R750 million) in Africa’s largest-ever cryptocurrency fundraising round. The company is now worth $240 million. Pantera Capital led VALR’s oversubscribed Series B equity funding round, which included Alameda Research, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime, Avon…
Instagram announced on Monday that it is discontinuing support for its standalone app for IGTV. The parent company of Instagram, Meta, confirmed to TechCrunch that the app will be removed from app stores in mid-March. According to a blog post, the change is part of the company’s efforts to make video as easy to discover…
Milezmore, an Egyptian startup that offers cloud fulfillment, last mile delivery, and customisable operations solutions, has received $5 million in pre-seed funding from social commerce platform Brimore. Milezmore, which was founded a year ago, aims to help merchants capitalize on high growth potential by providing supercharged cloud logistics solutions. It offers a comprehensive range of…
Wicrypt, a Nigerian blockchain-based Wi-Fi sharing startup, plans to be active in five African countries this year after securing funding late last year. Wicrypt, which was founded in 2018, is a decentralized mobile internet sharing and monetisation network that allows anyone to be compensated for sharing their Wi-Fi. Users install the Wicrypt app on their…
TMCEL customers, one of Mozambique’s largest telecom firms, will now be able to benefit from the financial convenience provided by Ericsson’s mobile financial services solutions, as TMCEL went live with the Ericsson Wallet Platform yesterday. Ericsson’s solution is expected to broaden the financial transaction community by contributing to economic and digital development, as well as…
Google will now charge 7.5 percent VAT on all taxable goods and services to Nigerian customers beginning April 1 next month. The company announced this in an email to its business account holders on Tuesday morning. The 7.5 percent VAT is in line with the government’s new law, according to the American tech behemoth. As…
Metaverse-based company Gamepay has launched an NFT marketplace for its first NFT and play-to-earn games project Chickey Chik and part of the proceeds from the NFT sale will be donated to the Ukrainian Red Cross. Founded by a team that is focused on democratising NFTs and bringing games to all areas of emerging economies, Gamepay…
The search for commensurate rewards is one that drives the human pursuit in different sectors, from medicine, to tech, to artisanship and entrepreneurship is why tech talents leave the continent in search of greener pastures. Due to the ongoing trend where the immediate environment does not facilitate the growth and expansion of talents, hence people…
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) captivated the world’s attention in 2021, when images, tweets, and even music began selling for millions of dollars on the Internet. The idea of selling easily accessible content to anyone on the Internet for millions of dollars seemed far-fetched at the time, but the concept of fungibility and virtual ownership has since…
DFS Lab and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) have opened applications for the second Blockchain Bootcamp for African startups, with prizes of up to US$20,000 in Stellar Lumens (XLM) awarded to the most promising solutions. The bootcamp is a virtual three-day design sprint that allows participating companies to answer critical business questions with hands-on technical…
Instagram is now offering auto-generated captions for videos in users’ feeds. On Tuesday, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri stated that the captions feature has been “a long time coming.” All adults in Ukraine and Russia can now use the photo-sharing app for encrypted one-on-one chats. This is part of a series of steps taken by Meta,…
VALR, a South African cryptocurrency exchange, has raised a US$50 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at US$240 million. The proceeds will be used to expand across the continent. VALR, which debuted in 2019, is a digital asset platform that allows customers to buy, sell, store, and transfer Bitcoin and 60 other cryptocurrencies…