South African business accelerator Grindstone has selected 20 startups for the 2020 programme just days after launching an early-stage venture capital fund, Grindstone Ventures for its alumni. Today, Grindstone announced the next 20 companies for the two new cohorts that are taking place in Johannesburg and Cape Town. According to ...
UNICEF's Innovation Fund has opened applications from early-stage and potentially high impact blockchain startups. UNICEF is looking to make equity-free investments of up to US$100,000 in these startups. UNICEF is interested in startups in spaces such as: Finance: Solutions in this space enable people to use, earn and hold cryptocurrencies, ...
South Korean car parts company, Hyundai Mobis (Mobile and System) is entering the venture capital space. Hyundai Mobis recently announced that it would be investing US$ 20 Million into 'MOTUS Ventures' and 'ACVC Partners', both of which are technology funds based in 'tech capital', Silicon Valley. The company is looking ...
Plentywaka has launched Logistics By Plentywaka (LBP), an expansion to the company’s bus transportation network in the city. Plentywaka says the new B2C Platform - ‘Logistics by Plentywaka’ will provide its customers with same-day service and range of logistical vehicles from cooling vans, trucks and bikes, that can be easily ...
Sparkle, a Nigerian digital platform for financial, lifestyle and business support services has officially launched to the public after being granted a banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Sparkle, which offers flexible payments, savings and analytics to users to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances ...
Sanofi has announced it will on June 11th organize an online pitch session as part of its AfricaTech Challenge in a move to encourage innovation in Africa. Sanofi said the online pitch session follows the cancellation of the 2020 edition of VivaTech that was to be held in Paris. For this ...
The Afrijob Network (Afrijob) is a recruitment and human capital marketplace which provides relevant content and training to build top tier global teams for fast-growing African companies. Afrijob's seamless end-to-end solution enables its partner companies to focus on their core business - saving them on both time and cost. Over ...
XENO, a Ugandan goal-based investment management firm has raised $430,000 to help clients plan, save, and invest for their financial goals. XENO announced it recently raised $150,000 from Nordic Impact Funds in a pre-seed round and did not disclose the earlier investors in the round bringing the total fundraising to $430,000. Launched ...
Catalyst, an AfriLabs and ABAN platform has launched to increase funding for startups in Africa as well as support the startup ecosystem including hubs and angel network. ‘‘We have all recognized the need to increase early stage funding for our African founders. Catalyst not only does that, but it helps ...
Glovo, a global delivery firm has launched operations in Kitengela and Nakuru towns as part of its expansion strategy to provide delivery services in various parts of the country. Glovo, which competes Sendy, Uber Eats and Bolt Food, claims to have the widest coverage in Nairobi and is now expanding ...
Sendy, Kenya's logistics platform has opened up its platform to include freight services from the inland container depot and long-haul logistics services. The entry into freight services signals Sendy's growth from an on-demand Consumer-to-Consumer and Business-to-Consumer platform to a big-league platform for B2B transporters domestically, across East Africa, and throughout ...
BBOXX, a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar energy firm, has raised $50 million Series D funding round led by Mitsubishi Corporation to expand across Africa and Asia. ENGIE Rassembleurs d’Energies, Bamboo Capital Partners; DOEN Participaties and MacKinnon, Bennett & Company (MKB) participated in the round. According to Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-founder, ...
ZOLA Electric, formerly Off Grid Electric, has partnered with OVH Energy, a Nigerian provider of trusted petroleum products and services to make access to renewable energy products easier across Nigeria. The deal gives Zola Electric access to OVH Energy's up to 350 fuel service stations in Nigeria to help it ...
Palladium, a global consultancy, is raising $40m for off-grid solar and agribusiness startups operating in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria. Dubbed the “Palladium Impact Fund I”, the fund is expected to provide much-needed capital for agribusiness value chains and off-grid clean energy ventures in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya to alleviate poverty ...
Mr Green Africa, a Nairobi based recycler and recycled plastics supplier has received funding from DOB Equity, a Dutch family-backed impact investor in East Africa, and Global Innovation Fund, in partnership with Unilever. According to Keiran Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Mr Green Africa: “We believe we are in the ...
Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF), has selected 22 women entrepreneurs as finalists in its annual awards in a move to promote excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation amongst women-owned businesses across Africa. The Awards take place on the last evening of the two-day event, October 29-30, 2019, in Cape ...
uKheshe, a South African micro transaction platform that allows card holders to pay and get paid, has announced the completion of its first seed investment round from Fitech Ventures and the Ocean on 76 Group. Ukeshe was under incubation as a CSI initiative within software development house Jini.Guru. In a statement, Clayton Hayward, co-founder of ...
In Nigeria and Africa at large, there is a huge disconnect between learners' academic qualifications and the skills needed to accomplish tasks in the workplace. Significant reforms are therefore required to revamp the education system to match skills needed in the workforce especially in Nigeria where over 43% of its ...
Global Disability Innovation Hub is set to launch the world’s first Assistive Technology Innovation Accelerator in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the Innovate Now programme. The Innovate Now accelerator is a £1.5m investment in African businesses that will provide tech support, mentorship and training to over 100 start-ups focused on ...
The Ethnic Brand, a Kenyan startup that wants to be an Uber for manufacturing, has raised $500,000 from Malaysia's Magic Accelerator to bring manufacturing as a service to global artisans and fashion gurus. Ethnic Brand, an offshoot of Alex Mativo's E-lab which was recycling obsolete electronic devices by turning them ...
OPay, a mobile platform powering mobile payments, loans with Okash, transportation with Oride, food & grocery delivery with Ofood, and other important services has raised $50 million to reach more users in Nigeria and expand into new markets across Africa as internet penetration grows across the continent. Led by IDG ...
The African Women in Technology (AWIT) Conference is scheduled to take place from July 18 - 20, 2019. Hosted yearly by IBOM LLC, the 3-day conference is themed "Awaken The Techazon Within" focuses on empowering, educating and connecting African women in business and technology. The aims to be the go-to ...
By Africa Netpreneur Prize Media Team What would you do if you were given free money for your business? Grants give the beneficiaries peace of mind to be able to build their businesses. They are an act of philanthropy and aim to inspire and or grow those who benefit from ...
MDaaS Global, a Nigerian tech-enabled diagnostic firm has raised $1 million seed funding to scale in Nigeria and replicate its innovative diagnostic center business model in West Africa over the next five years. The funding round was led by Consonance Investment Managers, with participation from Techstars and FINCA Ventures and ...
Bolt, formerly taxify, Europe and Africa's ride-hailing platform is set to launch its operations in 3 major urban centers in Kenya in a move that makes it the largest ride-hailing platform in Kenya geographically. With a new footprint in Kisumu, Kakamega and Thika, Bolt will be in five towns from ...
LeapFrog Investments has raised $700m in its largest-ever private equity fund by a dedicated impact fund manager, surging past its $600m target. The new is expected to reach 700 million consumers in emerging markets The new fund invests in healthcare and financial services companies – tapping into the demand from ...
Social influencer marketing has become incredibly popular in the world with marketers working with agencies and brands to increase their awareness and engagement. However, identifying micro-influencers – 80% of whom work independently, lack of audience-based planning, no clear ROMI, fraud among others deter firms and agencies from working with influencers ...
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, is now accepting applications for the 2019 cohort of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. The Programme is a 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs. The Programme’s objective is to generate at least 1,000,000 new jobs and create at least $10 ...
Being a woman in the workplace is already challenging enough but being a woman in the tech industry seems almost impossible. However, Dorcas Muthoni begun her journey when she was only 24 and since then she unlocked new opportunities in Kenya. She is the founder and CEO of a specialist ...
MEST Africa, (Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology), now in its 10th year investing in tech entrepreneurs in Africa, has announced a funding round of USD $700,000 in startups formed from its recently graduated 2018 training program cohort by investing $100,000 in each of seven companies who will join MEST Incubators ...
