Startups

GIGL partners JET Motor Company to launch Nigeria’s first electric vehicle for deliveries

Mobility startups in the world are beginning to become very conscious of the environmental hazards associated with their businesses. That’s why in a bid to reduce its carbon footprints, GIGL, a Nigerian courier and Logistics company has partnered with JET Motor Company to launch its first electric vehicle (EVs)

Startup

South Africa’s mobility startups can apply for funding from uYilo program

South Africa’s uYilo– which means “to create” has announced that applications have opened for the 2021 uYilo Mobility Programme. South African mobility startups will be offered up to $73k in grant funding aimed at assisting projects to reach commercialization into the market. The national uYilo eMobility Program was established

Startup

Ethiopian Logistics Startup Eshi Express raises funding round

Ethiopian logistics startup Eshi Express has announced it raised an undisclosed amount in funding from the Addis Ababa Angels (AAA) Network as it looks to expand across the country. Established in 2017, Eshi Express is a delivery startup operating in Addis Ababa and two provincial Ethiopian cities. The platform allows

Startups

Egypt-based Fatura secures $3M Pre-Series A funding to expand its ecommerce and digital lending platform

Egypt-based B2B e-commerce platform, Fatura has raised $3 million in a pre-series A funding round co-led by Egypt based VC firm, Sawari Ventures and Arzan VC. The funding round also saw participation from previous investors EFG-EV and Cairo Angels; others include Egypt Ventures and Khwarizmi Ventures. In August 2020, Fatura

Startup

3 African blockchain startups secure grant funding from UNICEF

Three African blockchain startups have been selected to receive grant funding from the UNICEF Venture Fund. Looking to support early-stage ventures in solving local and global challenges the UNICEF Venture Fund is investing in seven blockchain startups in six countries after receiving 450 submissions from 77 countries. The startups will

Startup

Egyptian Edtech startup iSchool raises $160k pre-seed funding

Egyptian Edtech startup iSchool has announced it raised $160k in pre-seed funding to develop an online platform, expand its offerings and expand across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The investment comes from EdVentures, the venture capital arm of Egypt’s Nahdet Misr Publishing Group. iSchool was founded

Startup

Nigeria’s Plentywaka partners GUO Transport to expand Bus travel offerings

Nigeria’s mobility tech startups, Plentywaka and GUO Transport Services Limited, have today announced a partnership to further simplify the bus booking travel experience for Nigerians. The partnership will enable both startups to combine technology, to offer a more simplified and enhanced product service through Plentywaka’s mobile app. GUO

Startups

Central Bank of Nigeria to Pilot Digital Currency Before December

Globally, Central banks are beginning to reconsider their positions on digital currencies as a medium of exchange. That’s why over the last two years, some of the world’s central banks have been exploring the option of creating their own digital currency to stem the tide of other decentralized

Startup

Egyptian Fashion eShop DressCode Secures $250K

Egypt Ventures has announced it invested $250,000 in Cairo-based fashion and leisure e-commerce firm DressCode. Dresscode was created in 2019 as an ultimate one-stop shop for the modern yet economical woman. It aims to promptly offer stylish quality products at appealing prices to every user in Egypt. DressCode sells

Startup

Dutch Investor FMO to Provide Additional $5 Million to Solar Energy Firm Greenlight Planet

Dutch development finance institution FMO has announced it would provide an additional $5m funding to Greenlight Planet Inc. The Dutch bank recently granted a €21 million loan to French green energy developer GreenYellow for the construction of a solar power plant in Nagréongo, Burkina Faso. Greenlight Planet Inc is a

Startups

Multichoice offers $281.5M for 49% stake in BetKing as part of African expansion plans

Leading African entertainment company, Multichoice Group has made an offer of about $281.5 million to Blue Lake Ventures Limited (BetKing) in a bid to increase its stake in the company from 20% to 49%. As revealed by Multichoice, this offer was made after the approval for an increase in

Startup

South Africa’s Healthforce to launch new Digital Primary care platform

Swedish venture capital and private equity firm Webrock, has partnered with South African-based Healthtech startup Healthforce to launch a Swedish healthcare app Doktor.se in South Africa. Doktor.se will make use of a freemium model and an innovative approach in reducing data costs, offer more on-demand and scheduled consultations

Startups

Nexford University lands $10.8M pre-Series A funding from Global Ventures and Future Africa

Nexford University, an online learning platform for higher education has closed a $10.8 million Series A funding. Dubai-based VC firm, Global Ventures led the round, other investors the funding round include Future Africa’s new thematic fund focused on education, angel investors, family offices, and unnamed VCs from 10

Features

Opera launches its Chat Platform- Hype

Opera is redefining the concept of mobile browsers as it announced the launch of its chat service Hype today. The platform which is built into its Opera Mini mobile web browser will provide users with a personalized, engaging browsing experience that enables seamless chatting, surfing, and sharing – without compromising speed

Startups

Bank of Ghana considers introducing a Digital Cedi

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revealed that it is tilting towards a central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment. This was made known by the governor of the apex bank, Ernest Addison, who was speaking during a news conference in Accra, the capital of Ghana. It was revealed at the

Startups

5 African startups each secure $5k grant funding from Seedstars and SAIS

Five African startups have been selected to receive an award of US$5,000 each in grant funding from the Southern Africa Innovation Support program and Seedstars after completing the Investment Readiness Program (IRP). The Investment Readiness Program 2019-2020 run by the Southern Africa Innovation Support and Swiss-based Tech Company,

Startup

South Africa’s Sendmarc raises Funding from Endeavor South Africa

South African cybersecurity email protection and compliance startup Sendmarc has announced it secured funding from Endeavor South Africa as it looks to scale more quickly. Sendmarc is a tech startup founded in 2018 by the trio of Sam Hutchinson, Keith Thompson, and Sacha Matulovich to create a safe and secure

Startup

AXA Assurance Maroc to acquire Majority Stake in Moroccan Healthtech Startup DabaDoc

Orange Middle East and Africa and AXA CIMA (both led by AXA Assurance Maroc) have just announced that an agreement has been signed on the joint acquisition of a majority stake in DabaDoc. DabaDoc is a Healthtech startup founded by Zineb Drissi-Kaitouni and Driss Drissi-Kaitouni in 2014, the startup digitalizes

Startups

Telkom launches Africa’s first virtual card for transacting on WhatsApp

Ukheshe, Mastercard, Nedbank, and Telkom collaborate to grow access to the digital economy with a virtual product that enables secure e-commerce payments on the phone. Telkom has launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp, enabling Telkom Pay customers to make e-commerce payments. This move is expected

Startup

South African startup WhereIsMyTransport secures $14.5m Series A extension round

South African mobility startup WhereIsMyTransport has raised a US$14.5 million Series A extension round as it bids to continue its expansion across emerging markets. The funding round was co-led by Naspers, which provided US$3 million via its investment arm Naspers Foundry, and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, with

Startups

Solar Energy Startup, Pawame secures 2.5M for Market Expansion, prepares for $5M Series A

Pawame, a UAE-based but Africa-focused off-grid solar energy startup has secured $1.7m in grants commitments. The grants were secured from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency; the Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP); Dutch development organization SNV, AECF REACT Kenya as well as the flagship World Bank-funded Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project

Nigeria to Partner with China to control access to social media, VPNs

Just two days after a ban on Twitter, he Nigerian Presidency has reached out to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to discuss plans to build an internet firewall.  The Nigerian Federal Government is looking to gain control over what Nigerians can access on the Internet. With China’s Great

Startups

Altech Group and Trine partner to bring clean energy to the DRC

Altech Group, a market leader in the distribution of world-class clean energy products in the Democratic Republic of Congo has raised €5 million in debt funding organized by Trine, a Swedish-based investment platform to finance over 3,000 solar home systems. According to the terms of this partnership, Altech Group

Startups

Nigerian Government bans Twitter in the country

The Nigerian government has today released a statement banning the activities of popular microblogging and social media platforms, Twitter in the country. According to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ban was due to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of

Dubai Based Opontia raises $20M in seed round

Opontia, the startup has announced it raised $20 million in debt and equity in a seed round. The round was led by Global Founders Capital, Presight Capital, Raed Ventures, and Kingsway Capital. Other notable angel investors in the round include e-commerce across EMEA; they include Tushar Ahluwalia, CEO of Razor