WhatsApp is reportedly working to add some new features and functionality. One of the upcoming updates is said to bring additional security to the instant messaging app, while the other will improve the customization of the voice call interface in the app. The former will reportedly add two-step verification to the desktop client in the…
Zanifu, a Kenyan fintech providing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) access to working capital through short-term equity financing, has raised $1 million in seed funding. The round included the participation of Launch Africa Ventures, Sayani Investments, Saviu Ventures and several angel investors from Kenya and Nigeria, bringing the startup’s total funding to $1.2 million….
ExpandCart, an e-commerce platform for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has announced the completion of a new $2.7 million fundraising round. The investment was led by Betatron Venture Group, a Hong Kong-based venture capital firm, and included Egypt’s Sawari Ventures and Kuwait’s Agility Ventures. ExpandCart is the Middle East and North Africa’s largest…
Utopia and the World Economic Forum’s new Centre for Urban Transformation have launched a worldwide Urban Innovation Challenge to engage an ecosystem of 800 innovative urban entrepreneurs, investors, and mayors from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Entrepreneurs who are working on real-world urban tech solutions that help to make the world a better place, enable…
Frain Technologies, a Nigerian developer-tooling business, has raised US$473,000 in pre-seed capital to further invest in its existing products and develop new ones. Frain began in February 2021, when co-founder and CEO Subomi Oluwalana left his job as a backend developer at Nigerian fintech Tangerine Life to establish APIs for the fintech industry. For several…
PAPS, a Senegalese startup, has acquired a pre-Series A fundraising round of US$4.5 million from local and international investors to help it develop its tech-enabled logistics solution across the Francophone African area. PAPS, which debuted in September 2016, provides end-to-end logistics solutions for companies with both physical and online operations. Its technology enables organizations of…
P2vest Technology Limited reported that their peer-to-peer lending application, P2Vest, has reached 100,000 customers who have access to rapid loans. This accomplishment highlights the organization’s contribution in improving the way individuals obtain credit and lend money by connecting borrowers and lenders. Over the last 15 months, the leading peer-to-peer lending network has employed technology to…
Applications are now open for the 2022 edition of Pitch Live, which will take place at the fourth Africa Startup Summit next month in Nairobi. The Africa Startup Summit is part of the fourth annual Africa Tech Summit, which will take place live and in person on February 23-24 in Nairobi, Kenya. The two-day conference…
WhatsApp for iOS may soon allow users to transfer their chat history from an Android device to an iPhone. At the moment, iPhone WhatsApp users may only migrate their talks from an existing iPhone handset and cannot move their chat history from an Android device. Last year, the instant messaging software allowed users of certain…
In 2021, the mobile sector in Sub-Saharan Africa showed extraordinary resilience against the effects of Covid-19 and sustained rapid expansion. Digital solutions have been essential in assisting communities and organizations in transitioning to a mobile-first strategy to address the majority of the continent’s daily concerns, with fintech applications leading this increase. According to the Mobile…
When it comes to selecting the ideal AI project for their firm, business owners frequently rely on having the correct ingredients and knowing how to blend them. Almost every working AI system today operates according to some set of rules that are encoded in the system and effectively hold everything together. The ability of their…
Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech business, has raised a bridge round of funding valued at US$100 million. Chari, which was founded in 2020 by husband and wife pair Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, allows traditional local store operators in Morocco to order and have things delivered. It collaborates with more than half of the…
IFC and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) announced a new call for applications for IFC ScaleX, a new program aimed at bridging the financing gap that women entrepreneurs continue to encounter, particularly in emerging countries, through supporting accelerators. IFC ScaleX is a performance-based project for which IFC has partnered with Village Capital to launch….
A new pan-African payment system eliminates historical complexities, such as the cost of cross-border payments, boosts operational efficiencies, and paves the way for more stable and stronger African currencies, all of which are expected to boost intra-Africa commerce. Following the formal debut of a new payment system in Africa, a Kenyan client can now pay…
The subscription economy has come of age. The notion is gaining traction in the United States and Europe for a wide range of services. Subscription models, such as Netflix for TV, Spotify for music, Adobe Creative Cloud for design services, and Ring for home security, have steadily woven themselves into our daily lives and enterprises…
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is best known for assisting war victims, hackers broke into servers hosting its data and gained access to personal and confidential information on over 500,000 vulnerable people. According to the Geneva-based agency, the hack this week by unknown attackers damaged data on approximately 515,000 people,…
On the desktop version of the program, WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow users to pause and resume voice recordings. The ability to evaluate voice notes before transmitting them was recently added to the instant messaging service. WhatsApp Desktop’s latest beta version is currently testing the ability to pause and resume voice…
Carry1st, a South African mobile game firm, has secured a US$20 million Series A extension round led by Andreessen Horowitz, Avenir, and Google to help it scale across Africa. Carry1st, based in Cape Town, is a mobile games publisher serving the first generation of African smartphone users, with games such as Mine Rescue and SpongeBob:…
Fintech platforms are increasingly looking for new ways to serve their clients, one of which underlines the motivation for the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) model that many have begun to use. This unique credit offering model has grown in popularity in recent years, owing to the rapid gratification and delayed payment that it offers…
With digital transformation accelerating faster than ever in the corporate landscape, most organizations now use a combination of business tools to conduct their operations across sales, marketing, finance, HR, and so on. All of these tools, more often than not, have a reporting module that shows department-specific data records and statements. However, isolated data such…
Bumpa, a Nigerian business that serves as a one-stop shop for African retail merchants, intends to expand internationally after experiencing rapid development and receiving pre-seed capital from a bank. Bumpa, founded in February 2021 by Kelvin Umechukwu and Adetunji Opayele, assists merchants in moving their businesses online without the requirement for programming knowledge. They may…
Women Entrepreneurship for Africa (WE4A) has chosen 100 female-led startups to participate in its high-impact accelerator, which focuses on company growth for job creation. The WE4A program intends to improve the business capacities of female-led businesses, as well as their access to capital, market opportunities, knowledge enhancement, and technical training. It is an initiative of…
Pivo, a credit-focused financial services company for SME supply chain players in Nigeria, has acquired an unknown amount of money from early-stage venture capital firm Microtraction. Pivo, founded last year by Nkiru Amadi-Emina and Ijeoma Jacquelyn Akwiwu, provides a novel and more effective approach for SME owners in the supply chain sector to obtain financial…
One of the main reasons why most individuals avoid using blockchain or crypto platforms is because of the intricacies involved. Many people who have sought my assistance in starting their crypto adventure are put off by the complicated-looking platforms. While data from Chainalysis suggests that crypto use is fast expanding, studies from Triple A, a…
According to GlobalData, COVID-19 had a significant impact on online travel agencies (OTAs), with the OTA market value decreasing by a staggering 60.4 percent year on year (YoY) in 2020. According to the major data and analytics firm, this strain has exacerbated OTA’s previous fears about Google’s rising market position, and how the internet giant’s…
The issue of women’s under-representation in technology is one that will continue to haunt the industry and provide meat for debate. And it isn’t only an African issue; women all across the world are trying to keep up with their male counterparts. According to Statista, just 9.8 percent of start-up founders in West Africa were…
Nigerian businesses Moni and Topship have been accepted into the famed Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator’s W22 batch. Between now and March, the W22 batch of the Y Combinator program, which has played a role in the early days of firms such as Airbnb, Coinbase, and Dropbox, will take place. At a demo day, participants…
Organizations and enterprises are undergoing digital transformations as a result of a slew of new digital technologies that are gaining traction across all industries. This transition is being carried out with an eye on both the short-term and long-term changes that will arise from these new developments. The most critical aspect in a company’s ability…
With the rise of digital lifestyles, mobile applications have become an essential part of our daily lives. Being able to go to HUAWEI AppGallery and search for and download the latest app, whether for business, leisure, or something completely different, provides for highly productive, and often enjoyable, experiences. So, what are some of the app…
Float, a Ghanaian fintech startup that provides a cash flow management and spend platform for African businesses, has raised a US$17 million round of debt and equity seed funding to accelerate growth and the launch of new products. Float offers credit lines to small businesses, as well as solutions for managing business accounts and wallets…