South African e-health startup, Quro Medical, receives investment from Life Healthcare Group Writen by Joan Aimuengheuwa Fostering its goal to provide home-based medical services in South Africa, Quro Medical has raised an undisclosed funding amount from Life Healthcare Group. The Johannesburg-based digital health startup leverages technology to monitor the health of patients in real-time. Via its…
Nigerian fintech startup Awabah raises $200k, joins Techstars London accelerator Written By TOM JACKSON Nigerian fintech startup Awabah raised US$200,000 in angel funding in July, which it has followed up by banking another US$120,000 after joining the Techstars London accelerator programme. Launched last year by Tunji Andrews, Tina Ajishebiyawo, and Gboyega Olatunde, Awabah is a digital platform…
New South Africa startup, Fanfire uses NFTs to help sports franchises engage with fans Written by TOM JACKSON South African startup Fanfire has launched to help sports franchises engage with their fans using non-fungible tokens (NFTs). An NFT is a unit of data stored on the blockchain that certifies a digital asset to be unique…
African fintech startups among 11 selected for Mastercard Start Path programme Written By TOM JACKSON South Africa’s Karri Payments and Kenya’s Kwara are among 11 fintech startups from around the world selected to join the Mastercard Start Path global network to scale innovation. Mastercard’s six-month Start Path programme is a springboard to help the best and brightest…
Kenya’s MarketForce raises further $100k funding from Harambeans Prosperity Fund Written by TOM JACKSON Kenyan retail-tech startup had added an additional US$100,000 in funding from the Harambeans Prosperity Fund to the US$2 million pre-Series A round it announced last month. Co-founded in 2018 by Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, MarketForce enables consumer brands to optimise how they deliver…
Egyptian car parts marketplace Odiggo raises $2.2m expansion funding Written By TOM JACKSON Egyptian startup Odiggo, a digital marketplace for automotive spare parts, has closed a US$2.2 million funding round to help it continue to expand into new markets. Founded in 2018 by Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser, Odiggo links customers with vendors in order to purchase…
Mobility startup Plentywaka picks up $1.2M seed, acquires Ghana’s Stabus Written by Tage Kene-Okafor Lagos and Toronto-based mobility startup Plentywaka has raised a $1.2 million seed round to scale its operations on the back of leaving the Techstars Toronto accelerator program last month. Canadian-based VC firm The Xchange led the round, SOSV and Shock Ventures participated, while…
As the market for Virtual Reality (VR) is growing rapidly, these are the 5 VR Startups to Watch in 2021 Written By Adriaan Brits The market for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology, which uses advanced displays and movement-tracking to immerse its users in a particular experience, is set to grow at a rapid clip in the coming…
South African e-health VitruvianMD raises 8-figure ZAR funding round Written By TOM JACKSON South African e-health startup VitruvianMD has raised an eight-figure ZAR – so at least ZAR10 million (US$659,000) – funding round in order to scale its tech and launch more pilots. Founded last year, VitruvianMD combines biomedical engineering and state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) to deliver…
SA fintech startup Revio set for continental expansion as it powers SaaS businesses Written By TOM JACKSON South African fintech startup Revio, a subscription billing and payments platform that powers software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses, is planning an expansion into other African markets soon. Co-founded in 2019 by venture builder The Delta and a private investor, Revio is a SaaS company…
Eight African fintech startups have been selected to participate in the latest edition of the GreenHouse Lab accelerator, securing access to funding and mentorship. Written by TOM JACKSON GreenHouse Lab is the flagship accelerator programme run by GreenHouse Capital, a Lagos-based fintech investment fund and platform focused on supporting early-stage companies and world-class emerging market entrepreneurs…
In my experience in the Startup space, I have spoken to at least 30 founders. Although it is impossible to meet the perfect person in any circumstance, it is possible to attain a level where one can be ranked as a professional and have the ability to manage a business and people effectively. Starting a…
How Nigeria’s Nguvu Health provides on-demand therapy sessions to Africans Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian startup Nguvu Health is providing on-demand online therapy sessions to Africans anywhere in the world via their smartphones. Founded in March 2020, Nguvu Health utilises Android and iOS apps to connect users with licensed therapists via in-app messaging or video call, in…
More than 300 African tech startups have raised over $1.1bn so far in 2021 Written by TOM JACKSON More than 300 African tech startups have raised more than US$1.1 billion combined so far in 2021, the first time the sector has broken the US$1 billion mark – and with four-and-a-half months of the year still to…
According to Adeva IT, as of 2018, women held only 25% of all the jobs in the tech industry, despite women making up almost half of the total workforce. It is a known fact that women are under-represented in the African tech ecosystem. More women need to find their way into tech in Africa and…
Impact-Driven Startups Are a Gold-Mine for Investors Written By Krishna Athal ENTREPRENEUR LEADERSHIP NETWORK CONTRIBUTOR Investors across the globe are finding ways to unleash the power of their capital by trying out different industries and business models. Most investment-seeking entrepreneurs believe that projecting massive profits is the best way to impress investors. Many entrepreneurs also…
MAGNiTT has announced the launch of its first quarter of 2021 reports, which shows Egypt among the top three in MENA regions with the highest startup investment rates. MAGNiTT has announced the launch of its first quarter of 2021 reports, which cuts across the eCommerce, food and beverage, fintech, delivery and logistics, and healthcare sectors….
? VIDEO:10 Most Innovative Startup Companies in Nigeria 2020 Technology and Innovation offer great opportunities for Nigeria to grow her economy if huge and deliberate investments are made towards that. Startups and small businesses are the engines that will drive such economic development in our country and in Africa at large. Therefore our young…
Agriculture in Nigeria no doubt offers great hope of economic development for the country and the continent at large.At a time that Nigeria is gradually being recognized for her Agricultural products and capabilities,food wastage has being a big challenge.Recently we came across ChiBlenders Green, a food technology and logistics company based in Abuja,Nigeria which is fully committed…
Success in a startup is the result of the collective efforts of many individuals. While founders deserve recognition for their vision and leadership, it is important to acknowledge the critical role that operators and employees play in the company’s growth. These individuals take initiatives, work hard, and make countless contributions to the success of the…
After 100+ applications from around the globe, 10 post-seed and pre-series B stage Fintech companies have been selected and are ready to scale to new heights through the NadiFin Fintech Accelerator program, powered by MiddleGame Ventures and Farvest in partnership with the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT). Program partners for the 2019 NadiFin Fintech…
Applications are now open for the NadiFin Fintech Acceleration program powered by MiddleGame Ventures and Farvest in partnership with the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (the LHoFT), until April 10th, 2019. NadiFin will bring together post seed and pre-series B stage Fintech companies from around the world to learn and engage through a unique curriculum and a…
Five promising start-ups from across Africa have been chosen as regional winners in MEST Africa’s annual Pan-African pitch competition, moving one step closer to winning $50,000 in equity investment, a place in the MEST Africa incubator of their choice and global mentorship to help their company scale. Winners will pitch on a global stage in…
The top 30 health-oriented innovations selected from a field of more than 2 400 entries to the first-ever WHO Innovation Challenge will be formally recognised on the opening day of the second WHO Africa Health Forum in Praia, Cabo Verde, on 26 March 2019. The WHO Innovation Challenge received a total of 2 471 applications…
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Grand Challenge for Health Innovation and Development seeks application from Emerging technology organisations to solve global health problems with their solutions.Applications are required in the following areas : Artificial intelligence for image analysis of human patients (e.g., fetal ultrasound, infant optical neuroimaging, or infant video data) or human biosamples (e.g.,…
Are You a Remote-sensing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) or UAV Drone Company? Then Enter for the €175,000 Ag-Tech Developer Challenge by the Rainforest Alliance .This is a competition to build a remote-sensing data product that links to and adds value to the mobile-enabled FDPs. Through this competition we hope to stimulate participants to create innovative ideas. Two prizes,…
Regional finalists for the MEST Africa Challenge 2019 has been announced.50 Start-ups have been selected to take part in the annual MEST Africa Challenge regional finals that will take place February 27 and 28 in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town and Abidjan. According to MEST Africa five regional winners will be flown to the MEST Africa…
Flutterwave, a global payments solutions business based in Africa has collaborated with Visa to launch GetBarter. This is an app that lets consumers and merchants to pay and collect payments home and abroad. This GetBarter application is a lifestyle payment solution that functions globally with an existing user base in countries like South Africa, Kenya,…
Going by the recent report by GSMA, 128 tech hubs have kick-started their operations across Africa since 2016. Comparing with the recent reports of 442 active hubs just last year, this is massive progress. This progress is unrivaled and is a great signal as to why we can look forward to further growth. What…
Andela, the company building distributed engineering teams with Africa’s top software developers, today announced the completion of a $100M Series D funding. The round was led by Generation Investment Management with participation from existing investors including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV, Spark Capital, and CRE Venture Capital. The most recent financing brings Andela’s total venture funding…