South African venture capital firm Knife Capital has announced the twelve companies participating in its fourth Grindstone Accelerator programme to provide them with the insights and tools to build a foundation for growth. The 12 will join former Grindstone accelerated companies such as…
Now in its fifth year, and run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation has shortlisted 16 startups from across Africa in a move to recognize their efforts to solve problems across sub-Saharan Africa. The Africa…
UNICAF, an online higher education platform in Africa has raised $28 million Series B financing led by Goldman Sachs with participation from existing investors, including the UK Government’s development finance institution CDC Group, leading higher education fund University Ventures, and EDEX, the founder of…
South African Financial Services chatbot providers, FinChatBot (FCB) which develops chatbots to help financial service providers acquire and retain customers through Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered conversations has raised an undisclosed round of funding from venture capital firm Kalon Venture Partners and Mauritius-based VC…
Twiga Foods, a Kenyan-based start-up connecting smallholder farmers in rural areas to informal retail vendors in cities has raised a $10 million investment from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, TLcom, and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to…
With over 4.9 Million learners, Eneza Education, a fast growing virtual classroom for African learners operating in Kenya, Ghana and Ivory Coast has appointed Umati Capital’s Munyutu Waigi as interim CEO in a move expected to fuel expansion of the Safaricom-backed mobile education…
Nairobi-based Farm.ink has won the grand prize of $150,000 after it emerged top in the Feed the Future Fall Armyworm Tech Prize to help farmers manage the recent spread of fall armyworm — a voracious agricultural pest — in Africa. Fall armyworm has the potential…
Standard Chartered’s ‘Women in Tech’ accelerator has attracted over 180 women-led startup teams with plans to have the applicants cut down to 40 during a shortlisting exercise slated for later this week. The teams will be shortlisted based on performance in the programme’s 100…
TRACE, the Afro-urban music and entertainment has taken a stake in CoinAfrique, the top mobile classified platform in French-speaking Africa created in 2015 by Matthias Papet (formerly of Google), and Eric Genêtre (ex-Vinci). According to Olivier Laouchez, co-founder and CEO of TRACE, “CoinAfrique…
The second class of startups to go through Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Africa program graduated today in Lagos after a 3 month program. The 11 startups comprising Launchpad Accelerator Africa Class 2 engaged with 48 mentors from 9 countries – Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South…
On November 9th, during Seedstars Gaborone, MyFoodness won the Botswana round of Seedstars World and will represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland to compete for up to USD one million in equity investment and other prizes. MyFoodness, which is…
The people of Surulere, a community in Surulere, Lagos got a big surprise on Sunday night with the launch of a free wifi service by BabaJide Sanwo-Olu, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State. The initiative was launched two…
Technology growth in Lagos, Africa’s seventh largest economy is about to get a boost according to Mr BabaJide Sanwo-Olu, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State. Sanwo-Olu made the pledge on Friday during a Digital Lagos event hosted by…
Kukua, a pan-African education media franchise has raised $2.5m seed round led by Echo VC, alongside Founders Factory, Kima Ventures, Burda Media, First Minute Capital as well as a strong group of angels including Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen (Former VP of mobile at Uber and Dropbox). The…
Johnson & Johnson has launched the Champions of Science Africa Innovation Challenge 2.0, a continent-wide competition calling on African innovators to submit ideas for innovative technologies, products and solutions that have the potential to create positive impact for African communities. Now in its…
iHub, Kenya’s poster child innovation hub and tech accelerator is partnering with Raise, a Bahamian and Kenyan digital ownership platform to digitise all of its company assets – making iHub the first tech accelerator to take such a step in Africa. The…
IKEA, Habitat for Humanity, Strathmore University and Pangea have launched the ShelterTech Accelerator Program in Kenya to bring together entrepreneurs, government, corporations and development partners in mapping out and showcasing innovation in improving access to shelter. ShelterTech Accelerator Kenya program aims to facilitate housing…
Boomplay, a music streaming and download service run by Transsnet Music, a Transsion Holdings company has partnered with Vivendi’s Universal Music Group (UMG) to license its catalog to Boomplay for its users in Africa. The deal will see Boompay distribute music from…
Kenyan taxi-hailing firm Little has announced that it has launched in Lusaka, Zambia, five months after it went live in Kampala, Uganda in its mission to be the ”Uber of Africa” by Africans. According to Craft Silicon founder Kamal Budhabhatti, “We have…
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa , set to take place between the 5th and 9th of November at the LHoFT Foundation has selected 14 startups from across Africa into a week-long program designed by the LHoFT Foundation to help drive financial inclusion on the continent. CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa will…
US to Africa shopping platform Mall for Africa has launched an auto site to allow buyers in Africa to buy cars from the United States and have them shipped to Africa. Nigeria is the first country but the firm aims to add 16…
MFS Africa, a Pan-African fintech company, has announced the second close of its Series B funding round led by LUN Partners Group, a Shanghai-based global investment management group. Existing shareholder Goodwell Investments also joined the round with participation of new investors ShoreCap…
Airbus Bizlab an aerospace startup incubator yesterday launched Africa4Future Challenge in partnership with GIZ Make-it, InnoCircle, and MEST Africa in Toulouse, France to find and connect African aerospace startups with intrapreneurs at Airbus who will work with the startups to speed up innovation…
GreenTec has invested into Kenya-based Netwookie LTD, which aims to help users find professionals and service providers on the informal market where lack of trust is the primary barrier to new business opportunities resulting in an estimated annual loss of $23 Trillion in…
By Bolaji Akinboro Blockchain technology is a decentralized digital ledger that keeps immutable records of transactions. It maintains a network of computers working together as well as independently, to keep and verify records in such a way that once a record has…
Nairobi-based VC Fund Manager Novastar Ventures has raised $72.5 million for its second fund, with a target size of $120 million to cover both East and West Africa and has added a presence in Lagos, Nigeria. Novastar backs early and growth stage businesses…
Senditoo, a UK-based money remittance firm has launched its Artificial Intelligent Bot that will make sending top up to over 140 countries faster, cheaper and more effective using Facebook Messenger. The bot will allow people to request top up from their loved…
Ben Lyon, a founder ad former CEO of Kenya’s Kopo Kopo has launched Hover, an Android SDK that enables developers to embed mobile money into their apps with vision to enable developers to build for the world around them and create a more…
Rensource Energy, a Lagos-based distributed energy services company has received an investment of an undisclosed amount in its first microutility project Sabon Gari Energy by Paris-based NEoT Offgrid Africa. NEoT Offgrid Africa, which is managed by NEoT Capital, is a platform…
UK-based fintech company, Fiskl, an SME invoicing, expense and time management app has launched in South Africa to significantly strengthen its presence across Africa. “Africa is the perfect environment for Fiskl to thrive,” says co-founder and CEO of Fiskl, Alina Lapusneanu: “The continent is home…
