Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down earlier this week. He named CTO Parag Agrawal as the company’s new CEO, effective immediately. According to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post, Agrawal, who joined Twitter as an engineer in 2011, has already announced a major reorganization of the company. Twitter also confirmed the…
Adidas Originals has joined a number of other lifestyle brands in entering the metaverse. The company has partnered with two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) players — Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pixel Vaults Punks Comic — as well as crypto investor Gmoney for its metaverse entry. After replacing the official Twitter handle’s profile picture with a…
Living with a disability can mean different things to different people. Faustina Urassa, Programme Officer at Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Association of Spinal Cord Injury (KASI), sees it as an opportunity to assist others who have lost their ability to walk. Urassa teaches people with spinal cord injuries how to use wheelchairs. “If you have the appropriate…
Payourse, a Lagos-based blockchain startup that develops products and tools to accelerate cryptocurrency adoption in Africa, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $600,000 in pre-seed funding to scale its products, hire more talent, and expand into new markets. Micheal Ugwu, one of Africa’s largest NFT collectors, Flori Ventures, Olumide Soyombo’s Voltron Capital, and Allegory…
Chatbots—artificial intelligence (AI) systems that enable customer engagement via SMS, speech, or chat applications like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp—are becoming a popular way for businesses to interact with their customers. While chatbots are not widely used by businesses in Africa at the moment, a number of African startups are working to expand this AI use…
Carry1st, one of Africa’s leading mobile game publishers, today announced a partnership with PayPal and Chipper Cash, a cross-border payments company recently valued at $2 billion, to enable people across Africa to purchase virtual goods and services online in an easy and secure manner. Following these collaborations, consumers across Africa will be able to purchase…
According to four people familiar with the situation, at least nine US State Department employees’ Apple iPhones were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by Israel-based NSO Group. The hacks, which occurred in the last few months, targeted US officials who were either based in Uganda or focused on issues concerning the…
In September 2021, EMURGO announced the establishment of a $100 million Cardano investment vehicle comprised of two separate entities, EMURGO Africa and EMURGO Ventures, to invest in early startup and growth stage companies focused on developing socially impactful Cardano-powered solutions. The investment thesis of EMURGO Africa is to support the development of three hundred regional…
Square is changing its name to Block as it expands beyond its credit card reader business and focuses on blockchain technology. According to the company, the new name, which will take effect on December 10, “acknowledges the company’s expansion” and “creates an opportunity for further growth.” Block will continue to trade on the New York…
Apple has announced the top apps and games that have helped consumers tap into their passions, explore creative outlets, connect with new people and experiences, and simply have fun for the 2021 App Store Award winners. The winners this year are global developers whose apps and games were chosen by Apple’s worldwide App Store editorial…
Facebook Messenger announced today that it is beginning to test a new “Split Payments” feature that allows users to split the cost of bills and expenses via the app. According to the company, the new feature is a “free and quick” way to manage finances through Messenger. The new feature will be available to US…
Norrsken Foundation, a Swedish coworking space and investment fund, announced the opening of its first entrepreneurship hub outside of Scandinavia in Rwanda in 2019. The center, which is located in Kigali, has finally opened to the region, though it is being done in two stages. The first event, held yesterday, will host 250 entrepreneurs. The…
BadgerDAO, a DeFi protocol, has been the victim of a large hack. The protocol’s users were robbed of $120.3 million, according to security researchers PeckShield. BadgerDAO is a DeFi protocol aimed at increasing bitcoin yield. The idea is to wrap your bitcoin and transfer it to a smart contract platform like Ethereum, which you can…
Flex Finance, a mobile ecosystem that helps MSMEs and solo entrepreneurs better manage and track their daily business expenses and finances, is a Nigerian fintech startup that has raised a six-figure US dollar pre-seed funding round to support its growth. Flex enables businesses to digitize their day-to-day operations through a simple, user-friendly mobile platform. The…
Microsoft has adopted a new aggressive strategy to discourage users from downloading Google’s Chrome Web browser. When users try to download Chrome using Microsoft Edge, the Redmond-based company now displays prompts that discourage them from downloading and installing Google’s Web browser. The prompts are available for both Windows 10 and Windows 11, though only a…
Zindi is all about using artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems for businesses and individuals. And the crowd-solving startup from South Africa has done just that in the three years they’ve been in business. Last year, a team of data scientists led by Zindi used machine learning to improve air quality monitoring in Kampala, while…
Raseedi, an Egyptian fintech startup that helps users make cheaper calls, pay less, and get advance credit, has raised a pre-Series A funding round of $850,000 to help it build on its impressive early traction. Raseedi is a multi-purpose fintech app that helps anyone in its community communicate cheaper, pay less, and pay later for…
MYDAWA, a Kenyan e-health startup, has been awarded a US$1.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) services through its e-pharmacy model, thereby aiding the fight against HIV/AIDS in Kenya. MYDAWA, which was founded in 2017, enables consumers to purchase authentic high-quality medicines, health and wellness…
Shamba Pride, a Kenyan agri-tech startup, has raised US$1.1 million in funding to support its national expansion and roll out its solution to over 1,000 shops. Shamba Pride is a one-stop online-to-offline platform that connects smallholder farmers to high-quality inputs, services, and information via technology-enabled “DigiShops.” The startup recently received a US$1.1 million funding round…
Timnit Gebru, one of the leaders of Google’s ethics in AI team and a leading expert in the field, was fired almost exactly one year ago after sending a concerned email to her team. She has now established her own research institute, DAIR, focusing on the topics she felt were being neglected at Google. According…
MTN Nigeria, Nigeria’s largest telco, has announced that beginning on Wednesday, 1 December 2021, retail investors will be able to purchase up to 575 million shares held in MTN Nigeria at 169 per share, which is lower than its stock market share price. This public offering is consistent with MTN Group’s commitment to gradually reduce…
In a future update, Android Auto will receive a slew of new features. Following the update, users will be able to send quick replies to messages via their vehicle’s touchscreen. Previously, Android Auto users could only respond to messages with their voice. Furthermore, Google announced that Android Auto can now be set to launch automatically,…
OfferZen, a South African tech talent marketplace, has raised a EUR4.5 million (US$5.1 million) Series A funding round to further its expansion into European markets. OfferZen, based in Cape Town, was founded in 2015 and launched in 2016. It assists tech companies such as Luno, Absa, MMI Holdings, Takealot, WeTransfer, Adyen, and Catawiki in hiring…
Modern smartphones and tablets allow us to explore new worlds. Regardless of where we are, we can watch YouTube videos, work, and even try in-play betting without making mistakes due to slow Internet connections. Our phones, on the other hand, can be useful for self-development. Do you want to improve and become more skilled? Then…
According to reports, YouTube Premium subscribers on Android and iOS will soon be able to use the ‘Listening Controls’ feature. The new feature gives users more control over their music listening experience on the platform. It allows you to play, pause, fast forward, and rewind videos. When you enable this new feature, it will replace…
The second edition of Africa Creator Week has begun on YouTube. As part of the #YouTubeBlack Voices program, the program seeks to showcase and support content creators from across the continent, as well as to extend YouTube’s commitment to nurturing black creators and artists. YouTube Africa Creator Week 2021 takes place from November 29 to…
Tesla has quietly launched the Cyberquad for Kids, just in time for the holiday season in the United States. The Cyberquad for Kids is an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) based on the Tesla Cybertruck. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery that can travel up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) on a single charge. Tesla‘s Cyberquad…
Being a part of the tech industry has provided many women with successful and rewarding careers. This is the story of Ikiokaye Idowu, a Lagos State University Biochemistry graduate who began her career in banking but is now an Operations Manager with Tek Experts, a company that provides deep technical support and professional services to…
Last Friday was a memorable event for the team as Data Science Nigeria (DSN) celebrated five years of innovation and impact while pursuing its overall goal of raising one million Artificial Intelligence (AI) talents and leading the development of AI solutions that improve the quality of life and wellbeing of over two billion people in…
YouTube Music reaffirmed its commitment to supporting African creative voices today by providing financial grants, capacity development training, and advisory services to two organizations that nurture and export African creative talent. Briteswan and iManage Africa Entertainment Limited will receive funding to help them scale up their initiatives to develop African music creatives. This change is…