Netflix, one of the world’s leading entertainment streaming services, has launched the Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF) for film and television students in the Eastern African region. The $1 million scholarship fund for Sub-Saharan students is part of Netflix’s global Netflix Creative Equity Fund, which was launched in 2021 and will be allocated to various…
FlapKap, an Egyptian e-commerce startup, has raised US$1.2 million in its latest round of funding to expand into new markets and develop its technology. The round was led by A15, an Egypt-based early-stage venture capital firm and one of the region’s most prominent backers of early-stage start-ups. A15 is a leading MENA venture capital firm…
Yemaachi Biotech, a Ghanaian cancer research and diagnostics company, has raised $3 million in a seed round to advance its goal of global precision oncology diversification. V8 Capital led the round, which included LifeLine Family Heritage Fund, Y Combinator, Tencent, LoftyInc Capital, VestedWorld, V Square Capital, and Ethan Perlstein. In January, the company launched its…
Apollo Agriculture, a Kenyan startup that provides a commercial farming platform to help small-scale farmers maximize their profits, has raised a US$40 million Series B funding round to help it expand internationally and improve its product. Apollo Agriculture, founded in 2019, enables farmers to increase their profitability by providing access to financing, high-quality farm inputs,…
The future of both media & marketing depends on the ability to meet increasing ROI demands and continually adapt to new marketing tools, media philosophies, and channels. However, the rate of change in the media & marketing industry is slow paced but the challenges seem to be multiplying and everyone is faced with the same…
Pranary Business School, based in Cape Town, South Africa, has helped entrepreneurs and startups raise over $1.5 million in investment and has engaged with 50,000 entrepreneurs from 50 different countries since its launch in 2020 through online mentoring. The business school assists entrepreneurs in starting new businesses as well as existing businesses in finding investors…
On September 16, 2021, we launched the #Digitalforall Challenge, a free digital skilling initiative and competition designed to drive young people’s engagement in the digital economy across Nigeria, with the goal of equipping Nigerian youths with skills to enable equal access to technology-centric decent work and economic opportunities. It is a sub-program of Microsoft’s Emerging…
Eight more African startups have been confirmed as participants in the renowned Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator’s W22 batch, bringing the total to 23. The W22 batch of the Y Combinator program is currently underway and will conclude with a demo day next week, having played a role in the early days of companies such…
App for Egyptian fitness Welnes has closed a seed funding round of $300,000 to expand its team and prepare for GCC expansion by 2023. Welnes, which was founded in 2020 by Amr Saleh and Amr Diab, is a community app that assists users in achieving their weight-loss and lifestyle goals by providing them with customized…
Thrive Agric ThriveAgric, an agriculture investment platform, has announced a $56.4 million debt financing from local commercial banks and institutional investors. According to a company statement, the funding includes a $1.75 million co-investment grant from the USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment. This latest round of funding comes on top of the $9 million raised…
Following the launch of the Irish Tech Challenge South Africa, South African tech startups now have the opportunity to gain international exposure and access to global markets. The Irish Tech Challenge South Africa, a collaboration between the Irish Embassy in South Africa, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and…
A swift buzz has taken over the streets and suburbs of Kampala about this new and amazing technology, you can almost hear the words ‘my ADAS?’ ringing in your head. On 6th April 2021, Africa Digital Address Systems Ltd, a Ugandan based company, revealed ADAS for the first time, to the world. The ADAS app…
Establishing a new business is not an easy feat as it cannot be compared with a prosperous one that has been in existence. Irrespective of the industry, every startup is likely to go through the same process of development except a variance in time. Subject to certain factors, the speed in growth of startup businesses differ…
Microsoft has announced that it has invested approximately $200 million (two hundred million dollars) in the establishment of its Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos, Nigeria. During Microsoft’s Nigeria Office Launch in Lagos, Gafar Lawal, managing director of its ADC in Nigeria, revealed this. Since establishing the Africa Development Centre in Nigeria three years ago,…
The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) has opened applications for its Innovating Justice Challenge 2022, which seeks innovations aimed at preventing or resolving a justice problem for a large number of people, including small and medium-sized businesses. HiiL is looking for justice innovators from Africa and the Middle East, specifically Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya,…
Lucky, an Egyptian startup that provides credit products, offers, and cashback rewards, has raised a US$25 million Series A funding round to expand its credit capabilities, increase market share, and drive further international growth. Lucky, founded in 2018 by Momtaz Moussa and Ayman Essawy, provides users with access to an expanding range of simple credit…
The 4th Industrial Revolution Incubator, a South African platform for SMMEs, will present its solutions at the fifth edition of the Internet of Things Forum Africa (#IOTFA2022). The conference will address transformational IoT trends and will investigate the benefits of IoT in key industries. IOTFA 2022 will bring together over 600 delegates and 30 speakers…
The difficulties in Africa’s financial sector open up a plethora of opportunities. When one financial service issue is resolved, other layers reveal more issues to be resolved, much like a giant onion bulb. People were hurt by ridiculous bank charges when businesses found it difficult to receive payments online, but fintech companies came to the…
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Google have announced a new Google.org Fellowship to provide one million more Africans with access to the TEFConnect platform, which connects entrepreneurs with tailored tools, market partnerships, coaches, and investors. The announcement was made at a TEF headquarters event in Lagos, Nigeria, attended by several African political and business…
Africa No Filter and Meta have announced the winners of the Future Africa Grant for Extended Reality Creators. Africa No Filter and Meta (Facebook.com) are pleased to announce the six finalists of the program ‘Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds,’ which aims to identify and invest in the continent’s next generation of Extended Reality (XR)…
According to Google, an undersea cable that will boost internet speeds for millions of Africans has arrived in Togo, the latest phase in a multi-year program to provide customers with cheaper access across the continent. The Equiano cable, the first of its kind to reach Africa, has twisted its way from Portugal and will increase…
Rwandan online legal marketplace Hence Technologies has raised $1.8 million in seed funding. This brings the company’s total cash raised to $2.6 million. Daybreak Partners, Broad Creek Capital (founded by two former lawyers, Matthew Ruesch and Michael W. Green), Daglar Cizmeci, and a number of other angel investors took part in the round. Hence Technologies,…
Katapult, based in Norway, has collaborated with the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) for Global Change, Norrsken, and Smart Africa to launch the Katapult Africa Accelerator Programme, which will aim to accelerate and invest in agri-tech and climate-tech startups. The Katapult Accelerator, based in Norway, has invested in a number of African startups and launched spin-offs…
Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) has reduced the price of .NG domain by over forty per cent (40%). NiRA is responsible for maintaining the database of registered names in the .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) namespace in the public interest of Nigeria and the global internet community. Like the currency, the Naira and…
DilenyTech, an Egyptian deep technology healthcare startup that is developing innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for screening and diagnostic radiology workflow, has been acquired by Astute Imaging LLC of the United States. DilenyTech, which was founded in 2018, aims to revolutionize breast cancer screening and diagnostic workflow by offering innovative AI-based assistance for more accurate…
Simplifyd Systems Inc., a YCombinator-backed Nigerian startup aiming to become the platform of choice for data-free Internet access across Africa, has taken a giant step forward. The company is announcing the launch of ZeroData, its toll-free internet application platform, to address the challenges associated with accessing affordable data in the face of the staggering rate…
Chargel, a Senegalese logistics startup, has raised a pre-seed funding round of $750,000 to help it make the trucking industry in Senegal and Francophone West Africa more efficient, reliable, and transparent. Chargel, co-founded by Moustapha and Alioune Ndoye, brings trucking’s offline operations online by matching shippers with the right transporters at the right price, as…
Kenyans who prefer to order or buy goods online face challenges due to the country’s high logistical costs. According to Business Daily, e-commerce participants say the costs of transporting goods from a store to a buyer are a major impediment to the sector’s growth. “The most significant impediment to e-commerce growth is logistical cost.” “The…
South Africans aren’t unfamiliar with the concept of a side hustle. Indeed, according to a recent Momentum/Unisa Household Index, an estimated 14% of all households are currently engaged in side hustles. While many people wear multiple work hats out of a love for a particular craft or to simply help others, side hustles are more…
Sophos, a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, has released new insight into an international cryptocurrency trading scam called CryptoRom that targets iPhone and Android users through popular dating apps, such as Bumble and Tinder. The new research, “CryptoRom Swindlers Continue to Target Vulnerable iPhone/Android Users,” is based on first hand stories and content shared with Sophos…