Snapchat users will soon be able to change their usernames on the photo- and video-sharing platform. Beginning February 23, the much-anticipated functionality will be available on both Android and iOS devices. Snapchat users can now delete their original usernames without having to create an entirely new account. The company confirmed that changing users’ usernames will…
Freterium, a Moroccan startup, has received $4 million in seed funding to help it grow and serve more businesses in Africa and the Middle East. Partech led the round, which also included Y Combinator (Freterium was a part of the S21 cohort), Flexport, CDG Invest, Swiss Founders Fund, Outlierz Ventures, and business angels from the…
Wasla, an Egyptian ecommerce startup, has received a $9 million investment from Contact Financial Holding, the country’s largest non-bank financial services provider. Contact will invest up to $9 million in Wasla’s product rollout and regional expansion, with the goal of realizing the startup’s vision of enabling e-commerce, payments, and credit for a broad audience in…
Twitter has added a pinned conversations feature to its Direct Messages (DM) service for iOS, Android, and the Web, allowing users to pin conversations to the top of their inbox. Even if newer messages from other chats arrive, pinning conversations keeps them at the top of the chat list. The feature was previously available as…
FSD Africa and Nigeria’s National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) have collaborated to launch BimaLab, an accelerator program designed to accelerate the development and adoption of digital insurance solutions. BimaLab Nigeria’s mission is to fill gaps in the insurance market by educating, nurturing, and promoting innovators and insurtech startups. The program will draw on Kenya’s BimaLab I…
Earnipay, a Nigerian fintech firm that provides flexible and on-demand salary access to income earners, has raised US$4 million in seed funding to expand its product. The seed round is led by Canaan Ventures, with participation from XYZ Ventures, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, and Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade. Nonso Onwuzulike founded…
Zindi, a professional network of data scientists based in South Africa, has raised a US$1 million seed funding round to help it build on its impressive early growth. Zindi, founded in 2018 by Celina Lee, Megan Yates, and Ekow Duker with the belief that data science should be accessible to all, hosts a community of…
MTN, the mobile telecommunications company, has begun a rebranding effort. As part of the rebranding effort, the telco unveiled a new logo ahead of an official event scheduled for February 2022. Furthermore, the company stated that it is transitioning from a telecommunications company to a technology company. The new logo, which will replace MTN’s corporate…
Uber now allows its users to see how their Uber drivers rate them. Riders can now see how those ratings are calculated, according to the app-based cab aggregator. A breakdown of the ratings you receive from drivers after each trip, as well as how you rate them, will now be available to all Uber users…
Meeula, a Nigerian startup, has launched a smart lead-generating business card to assist corporate professionals, entrepreneurs, and business owners in more effectively networking. Meeula, which was founded in May 2021, allows users to exchange contacts at events, conferences, meetings, or meetups with a single tap. “Instead of ordering paper cards over and over again, professionals…
The Createch Accelerator focuses on businesses that employ innovation or technology to improve value chains in Africa’s creative industries or to address market problems in these value chains. The program’s goal is to provide knowledge, networks, and assistance to companies operating at the interface of technology and creativity, allowing them to accelerate their route…
“Binance,” one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges,” is reportedly investing $200 million in the company as it prepares to go public via a special purpose acquisition company, according to Forbes (SPAC). Binance’s investment will replace half of the $400 million in private placement commitments made by Forbes and Magnum Opus Acquisition Limited, the world’s…
LoftyInc Capital Management is a venture capital business with the goal of “creating an ecosystem of Africans investing in Africans solving African problems.” The business announced the first closing of its US$10 million LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 3 (LAF3) in September, as it ramped up its participation in the African startup area. This followed after…
Working from home is enjoyable and relaxing. However, it becomes a nightmare when you have a slew of tasks to complete and you’re devoting more than eight hours of your day to doing them all. Fortunately, some readily available technological upgrades can increase your productivity and allow you to complete more work in less time….
According to Partech’s report on venture capital funding in Africa, 37 African tech startups raised a total of $767 million in 43 debt rounds last year, indicating the rise of the debt funding class and increasing global lender confidence in African tech. According to the report, “Africa’s tech ecosystem has set its sights on another…
Paratus announced in February that it had reached an agreement with Google to be the landing partner for the Equiano cable in Namibia. The agreement includes the construction and management of a cable landing station for the Equiano subsea cable in Swakopmund. Paratus has already completed the construction and is on track with its aggressive…
Gozem, the super app that is already available in Lome, Cotonou, Libreville, and other West African cities, has announced the launch of its taxi booking service in Douala, Cameroon. Gozem, a taxi-hailing service launched in Togo in November 2018, now operates in 12 cities across Togo, Benin, Gabon, and Cameroon, with over one million downloads…
CrowdForce, a Y Combinator-backed agency banking platform based in Nigeria, has raised a US$3.6 million pre-Series A funding round to triple its PayForce agent network this year in order to expand its financial service offerings to underserved Nigerian communities. CrowdForce was born in 2018 as a result of a pivot and rebranding by Oluwatomi Ayorinde…
Flutterwave, a Nigeria-based fintech company, has raised $250 million in Series D funding, its single-largest investment to date, valuing the company at more than $3 billion. B Capital Group led the investment, which included new investors Alta Park Capital, Whale Rock Capital, and Lux Capital, as well as existing investors Glynn Capital, Avenir Growth, Tiger…
As the CEO of SaaS Partners, I have a front-row seat to the latest in technology. We advise and collaborate with the world’s best startups to help them leverage technology to optimize their operations and achieve serious scale. I can’t think of a single conversation I’ve had with a tech founder in the last year…
Digital Africa, a French government-supported organization that helps African tech startups, has announced that it will provide 70 million euros ($79 million) in seed and Series A funding by 2025. In a press conference, the initiative’s executive director, Stephan Eloise-Gras, stated that Digital Africa aims to fund 200 African startups with seed funding ranging from…
DigsConnect, a South African student accommodation marketplace, now has over one million listed beds. The DigsConnect platform, launched in 2018 by Alexandria Procter and Greg Ramsay-Keal, allows landlords, estate agents, and property managers to post their property listings, with students then searching and filtering through these listings to find accommodation that meets their needs, as…
Instagram is launching a new way to interact with Stories. The photo and video sharing platform has introduced a new Private Story Likes feature, which allows users to like other people’s Instagram Stories without sending a direct message (DM). Previously, users could only re-share the stories or leave a comment on them. In addition, responses…
The story of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has recently spread like wildfire, and Africa has joined the party. Some of these digital assets, ranging from art and music to games and videos, are worth millions of dollars. In case you’re unfamiliar, NFTs are unique and non-interchangeable units of data on the blockchain, a digital ledger that…
Bayo Adekanmbi has been appointed to lead Airtel Africa’s strategy, partnership, and sustainability roadmap. The position is based at the company’s headquarters in the United Kingdom, and Adekanmbi is now a member of the executive committee and reports directly to the CEO, Segun Ogunsanya. Adekanmbi will be “responsible for leading strategic business-wide initiatives, including innovation,…
According to a recent TIME article, Meta-owned Facebook has come under fire for its treatment of African content moderators. TIME revealed that Sama, the company in charge of Facebook’s Sub-Saharan Africa content moderation since 2019, was subjecting content moderators in Nairobi to poor pay and working conditions. Sama also provides data labeling services to tech…
MoneyHash, an Egyptian fintech startup that uses a universal API and a unified checkout experience to help businesses consolidate and grow their payments and financial tech stack, has announced a US$3 million pre-seed funding round as it exits beta and prepares to launch across the Middle East and Africa, has announced a US$3 million pre-seed…
Ndovu, a Kenyan wealth-tech startup, has begun operations after securing a pre-seed funding round in October, with the goal of providing users with easy access to global financial markets. Ndovu, which was founded in 2020 by Radhika Bhachu, Ro Nyangeri, and Gianpaolo De Biase and is available on iOS and Android, allows users to invest…
Nawy, an Egyptian prop-tech startup, has raised $5 million in seed funding to help it expand across the region. Nawy, founded in 2016 by Mohamed Abou Ghanima, Abdel-Azim Osman, Ahmed Rafea, Aly Rafea, and Mostafa El Beltagy, allows users to search for homes online based on criteria such as unit size, price, and location. So…
Stitch, a South African API fintech startup, has raised a Series A funding round of US$21 million to expand its team, launch new product offerings, and enter new markets across the continent. The Stitch API enables developers to quickly connect apps to financial accounts, allowing their users to share transaction histories and balances, confirm their…