Joel Nwankwo

Writer, TECHist and Data analyst.

Startup

Y-Combinator’s Demo Day

Today, Y-Combinator is given 10 startups in its 2021 batch the opportunity to pitch their products to the world. Accelerator firms have days when they allow startups showcase their products. These startups are given the opportunity to showcase and give their pitches at the end of the program, the program

Artificial Intelligence

Blueloop Joins Y-combinator

The need for cross-border payment has been increasing in Africa over the years. With the traditional banking system failing to efficiently meet this need for African merchants and freelancers, fintech startups have taken the lead in ensuring that cross-border payments are carried out swiftly for Africans, and what a job

Business

TPG Acquires $200m Stake from Airtel Africa

Telecommunication companies have been providing various value-added services for their customers over the years. Provision of mobile money services seems to be the most profitable value added service recently. In 2019, 50 million sub-Saharan Africans created a mobile-money account via a mobile phone, representing a 12% increase compared to 2018

Artificial Intelligence

Africa’s Disrupt Story: The Case of Insurtech

Overview of Insurtech If you have an insurance company and are looking for an area where it will receive as most patronage, Africa should do. Africa is one of the world’s hot regions for insurance due to its underdeveloped insurance sector. In Africa, bulk of the insurance comes from

Startup

Plentywaka Joins Techstars Accelerator, Plans Expansion into Canada

In Nigeria, when people have lots of places to be, they say ‘I get plenty waka’. Plentywaka has been operating in Nigeria since 2019 to  manage the problems involved in getting safe, reliable and comfortable commercial transportation options in Nigeria. Plentywaka is Nigeria’s first bus-hailing app, and it offers

Artificial Intelligence

PayPal and Flutterwave Partner to Enable African Merchants Receive Payment

It’s always a joy to carryout a payment with ease, especially one that crosses the borders of your region. For Africans, Flutterwave has ensured that merchants and freelancers can enjoy the ease of making payments from the comfort of their homes or business to anyone anywhere in the world.

Business

Ghana’s Plendify Enhancing Africa’s Supply Chain

Without commodity exchanges, it would be difficult—if not impossible—to establish a standardized price for a commodity. Those in the commodity industry would be personally responsible for finding individual buyers and sellers, and the few buyers they contact will be the ones who determine the prices of commodities. There

Startup

Egyptian Fintech Startup NowPay joins Y-Combinator

Seed financing (also known as seed capital, seed money, or seed funding) is the earliest stage of the capital-raising process of a startup. Seed financing is a type of equity-based financing. In other words, investors commit their capital in exchange for an equity interest in a company. In the Series

Startup

Microsoft Launches Women Techsters Initiative for 5million African Women

According to the McKinsey’s Women Matter Africa report (PDF) in 2016, only 5% of tech startup CEOs were women, while only 29% of senior managers were women. The report also revealed that only 36% of promotions in organisations go to women in Africa. According to Funmi Adewara, founder/ CEO,

Savannah Fund Secures $23m Seed and Series A Fund for African Startups

A survey by Genome which featured 1,070 startups from 50 countries around the world revealed that a majority of startups are in the red zone, with less than three months of cash runway. Having sufficient working capital is a key aspect for any startup because it determines the financial

Google Pledges $25M to Empower African Women and Girls

“Happy International Women’s Day to Every Woman in Africa” is what Google said, but with incredibly positive action, which we most definitely appreciate over words. On Monday, the 8th of March, 2021, Google showed its philanthropic nature as the company announced that they will give $25 million in funding

Artificial Intelligence

Flutterwave Raises $170million, now Valued at Over $1billion

If you’re a Nigerian then this is one company you should be proud of, not just because they just raised $170million- which by the way is huge and is also the centre of this piece but because they have established themselves as one of biggest payment channels in the

Kenya’s Kidato Receives $125,000 from Y-Combinator

Flutterwave, Envyl, Instabug, Lynks, Paystack and Worldcover all have something in common: the accelerator, Y-Combinator. Y-Combinator has differentiated itself from other startup accelerator firms in Africa in the value-added service they have been able to provide their clients in addition to providing startup funds for African Startups. Kidato became the

Business

Deezer Slashes Subscription Fee and now Accepts Naira Payment

Innovation always brings about rivalry among tech firms, and it’s the good kind most of the time. Individual firm dynamism will always cause a stir in the flow of operation of other firms in the tech space. On the 23rd of February, 2021, Spotify, the world’s most popular

Artificial Intelligence

Apple Discontinues iMac Pro

Apple designed the iMac Pro for pros. The iMac pro is packed with powerful graphics, powerful processors, advanced storage and memory and a breathtaking Retina 5K display. It is designed to serve every purpose and everyone from photographers to video editors to 3D animators to musicians to software developers and

Bolt Lands $24million Market War Chest from the IFC

Easy does it they say. Hailing a ride is a lot easier now with Bolt. How crazy it was to think one could digitize hailing a ride for road users a decade ago, but for Markus Villig, it is his success story. Bolt is not without its fair share of

Artificial Intelligence

Somalia Integrates Mobile Money Payment System

What you need to know about Mobile Money The ability to transfer funds, pay bills, save, borrow or even acquire insurance coverage via a mobile phone is very satisfying. This is how mobile money is transforming the lives of individuals and businesses in Africa. Beyond the convenience which mobile money

Startup

Insurtech’s Pula Raises $6m funding for African Startups

What does it mean to be insured? To be insured means to be in a contract as an individual or an entity with an insurance company, holding a contract policy that protects you or the entity from financial losses, this is common in the western worlds. The African insurance market

Samsung Donates Innovation Hub to YABATECH

Samsung built and furnished an innovation hub and handed it over to Yaba College of Technology, popularly known as YABATECH. The company had worked with the institution for weeks and has transformed the institution’s former computer lab to an innovation hub worthy of repute, equipped with 50 monitors, desk

Startup

Microsoft’s Apprenticeship Program in Africa

An apprenticeship program is a program that trains a person or persons to become skilled in a particular trade. Apprenticeships combine hands-on work with classroom learning to train the apprentice; they are not considered to be full-time employment. As the apprentice is learning, he is also applying the lessons through

Startup

African Startups can Benefit from the AfCFTA Vision

Overview of a Free Trade Area Ever heard of a free trade area and what it stands for? Well, free trade area is an agreement between countries with intention to seal an economic cooperation among them. This agreement enables them bring down trade barriers like tariffs and import quotas. The

Amoo’s GridCode for Nigerians and Businesses

How precise do you think direction can be? Imagine going somewhere you’ve never been, and having precise direction at your reach. With your mobile phone and this 42mb application called GridCode, you can get a precise description of the direction any intended destination in Nigeria. GridCode was invented in

Business

IrokoTV Going Public on London Stock Exchange: An Analysis

IROKO’s Nigeria Story In December 2011, IROKO TV was launched and was dubbed the Netflix of Africa. The media company went on to grow in the coming years and became the world’s largest legal digital distributor of African movies, especially Nollywood films. By January 2020, IROKO TV had

Business

The Aftermath of Jeff Bezos’ $30million Investment in African Startup, Chipper Cash

Africa’s Fintech The narrative about Africa’s Financial Technology (Fintech) industry has been changing over the years. There have been large support for African startups in Cape Town, Nairobi, Lagos, and other parts of the continent. The prestigious Y-Combinator has continuously assisted African tech startups by providing accelerator funds

Startup

BRT’s Lead-Acid Battery Regeneration Solution in Africa

BRT Energy With economic growth and population increasing rapidly in Africa, it is expected that there will be an increased burden on the energy and power sector of the continent. There should be dynamism and collaboration among both the governments and tech startups to find cleaner and better ways to