Grammarly, the popular editing tool for writing beginners, has raised $ 200 million out of $ 13 billion from new investors, including funds and financings from Baillie Gifford and BlackRock. The company plans to use the capital to drive product innovation and team development. “I think this funding is a good testament to the strength…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is taking a decisive regulatory move to ensure sustainability, profitability and fair competition in the Special Numbering Service (SNS) segment of the nation’s telecommunications sector. This move informed the decision of the Commission to hold a Stakeholders’ Forum on the ‘Determination of Call Termination Rate for Special Numbering Service Providers in Nigeria. ‘ The…
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Accelerator Labs and AfriLabs announced their partnership and the way forward with live and virtual events hosted by AfriLabs as part of Unified Outreach 2021. Year on October 29, 2021. AfriLabs Executive Director Anna Ekeledo and UNDP Nigeria Accelerator Lab Focal Point Senior Advisor William Tsuma attend a private…
Telecom26 today announced that longtime end users of SystemOne have chosen it to provide connectivity to new clinics across Angola and Nigeria. The two companies have previously worked together in Ghana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and SystemOne has used the Telecom26 network to test more than 1.3 million blood samples for tuberculosis, HIV and COVID. These…
Instagram Badges has now officially started rolling out. The feature allows creators to earn money from their followers. Badges allow users to show support for creators during a Live video on the platform. Starting Wednesday, users aged 18 and above with more than 10,000 followers in select regions will be able to use Instagram Badges. Once…
Ozow, the South African payment gateway, raised $ 48 million in a Series B funding round to expand the availability of payment solutions. The financial environment has been led by Chinese internet giant Tencent and includes other investors such as Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor Harvest Fund. Tencent, a major investor, donated $ 20 million, accounting…
Four African blockchain startups have been selected to participate in the CV Labs global incubation program run by venture capital firm CV VC, securing $ 125,000 in funding and additional support. CV VC, based in Switzerland, funds the seed and incubation program, CV Labs, for its global technology team in exchange for a stake. The…
Nigerian tech-enabled mobility startup Shuttlers has raised a US$1.6 million seed round and shared plans to scale operations across cities in Africa. Founded in 2016 by Damilola Olokesusi, Shuttlers allows commuters to move in comfort along selected routes at affordable rates, with trips along fixed routes going for up to 80 per cent lower than other ride-hailing…
TikTok has developed a bad reputation for harboring dangerous viral “challenges” in its application, which in the worst case, have resulted in serious injury or death, as in the case of the blackout challenge that prompted Italian regulators to take action. against the social network to remove underage users. More recently, the app has made…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a statement regarding its observation on eNaira, the new digital currency of Nigeria’s central bank (CBDC). The IMF, in the statement, said: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) officially launched the ‘eNaira’, a central bank digital currency (CBDC), on October 25, 2021. This is the second CBDC fully…
Tyro, an Egyptian startup educational technology platform that connects students with qualified instructors through individual and group sessions, is acquiring Nafham, a social startup that offers free, crowd-sourced educational content, under a share swap agreement. Tyro is an online tutoring platform that connects students with the best professional instructors, and currently operates in Egypt, the…
Nokia said on Wednesday that it plans to launch a cloud-based software subscription service aimed at telecommunications companies to provide analytics, security and data management software. Many tech companies have been moving toward a subscription model from licensing in advance to building a predictable, recurring business. While part of Nokias’ software portfolio will be offered…
Microsoft, the global tech giant, is establishing the Africa Transformation Office as part of doubling its investment on the continent, as well as an effort to continue to enable “African-led for Africa” ??digital transformation. The company has also announced that the Africa Transformation Office (ATO) will be led by new Managing Director (MD) Wael Elkabbany….
Rwanda’s technology start-ups PesaChoice and Viebeg have raised seed funding from the Kigali-based Norrsken Foundation. Founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, one of the founders of the Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna, Norrsken aims to help entrepreneurs solve the world’s biggest challenges. Disrupt Africa reported in 2019 that the Impact and Tech Entrepreneurship Support Foundation began…
Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, today announces that its subsidiary Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria has been granted approval in principle by the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a super agent in Nigeria. The super agent licence is distinct from the Payment…
The emergence of ecommerce in Africa has seen online shoppers take advantage of the convenience it offers, as goods can now be delivered directly to their doorsteps while they also have the flexibility of selecting the payment channel either using their debit cards or payment upon delivery option. However, as ecommerce continues to evolve and shape how business is…
Google Meet has been updated to support up to 500 participants in Premium Workspace video conferencing services. The company has updated the service, which has grown in popularity with the rise of teleworking during the COVID-19 epidemic, so that users using more expensive applications can have conversations with more participants. The new limit is still…
Nigerian money transfer startup Aboki Africa has raised a round of seed capital to help the team grow and expand their product range. Aboki Africa was launched in July this year by Idorenyin Obong and Femi Aghedo after a year of testing, and it enables users to create a free global virtual bank account for…
Tunisian startup iCompass is using artificial intelligence to help companies across Africa and the Middle East communicate with their customers in their own languages. Founded in 2019 by Ahmed Nouisser and Hatem Haddad, iCompass specialises in natural language processing (NLP) products using the latest deep learning and reinforcement learning technologies to develop speech transcription services, automatic voice…
South African security and medical response marketplace AURA has secured a ZAR62 million (US$4 million) Series A funding round to support its global expansion plans. AURA is a marketplace that enables anyone to access the closest vetted private and public security and medical response unit to their location – anywhere, anytime – using a connected device….
Ever wished you had your own personal bank assistant on speed dial? Well look no further. The banking experience has just got that much easier with African Bank’s new Chat Banking service on WhatsApp. Sbusiso Kumalo, chief marketing officer at African Bank The platform has been designed with simplicity in mind and customers can chat…
Zembo, a Ugandan electric mobility startup, has obtained a $3.4 million investment grant to expand its electric motorcycle company in Kampala, Uganda. The startup signed the funding agreement with InfraCo Africa, a private infrastructure development group (PIDG) company, along with a consortium that includes Dutch private equity firm DOB Equity and Toyota Tsusho’s venture capital…
Innovectives, a transaction solutions company focused on making wealth possible through innovation, has launched a five-year mandate to empower 1 Million SMEs across frontier markets. Innovectives is a member of US-based Index Group, with over 8 years operating experience in digital financial services covering key markets in Africa and Europe. According Emmanuel Agha, the group…
It had been three days since the lights went out on the off campus streets of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). Exams were approaching, and students trooped out of their lodgings to find public places—barbing salons, electronics and grocery stores, eateries—to charge their phones and laptops. In a corner, at one such place,…
Nigerian e-health startup DrugStoc has raised US$4.4 million in Series A funding to expand access to quality medicines while providing sustainable supply chain financing for healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Launched in 2017, DrugStoc is a cloud-based platform that provides healthcare providers with the interface for easy access to pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. The startup ensures that…
Nigerian tech start-up TeamApt is in the market raising its third round of funding at a value of more than US$1-billion (R15.2-billion), which will result in the banking software firm joining a spate of Africa-tech companies to become so-called unicorns. The Lagos-based company is targeting to raise about $150-million, said founder and CEO Tosin Eniolorunda in…
Cairo-based mobility assistance startup BlinkApp has raised a six-figure US dollar pre-seed funding round to finance its ambitious expansion plans. Founded in 2017 by Wael Noufal and Ahmed El-Mahdy, BlinkApp aims to achieve better general driving behaviour, faster roadside assistance, and safer roads. The startup’s app captures and analyses thousands of miles of data by using a…
African startups with solutions in the climate sector are invited to apply for the GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation, which aims to support digital innovations tackling challenges around climate change. The GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation is the latest such fund run by the GSMA, after other focused offerings in 2018, 2019, 2020 and earlier this…
When it comes to technology and digital life, the pandemic has been the ultimate accelerant of increased online behaviour. When our movements were physically restricted, we turned to our devices to find digital solutions that enable us to continue with our lives. People have excelled by working, attending school, and even socialising online; but the…
Healthcare startup, Africa Health Holdings, has secured $18,000,000 in a Series A round to expand operations across Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. The funds raised will stimulate the growth of Africa Health Holdings beyond Ghana, into new countries such as Nigeria and Kenya. The telemedicine service provider also plans to take more advantage of the current…