Staff Reporter, Author at Ventureburn

EWB Canada announces new investment in Kenyan fintech startup FarmDrive
By Staff Reporter on 4 February, 2019
Kenyan fintech FarmDrive has received a new investment from Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB Canada). It follows a $50 000 investment the startup received from EWB Canada and others in 2016 and an undisclosed investment by Safaricom's Spark Venture Fund in 2017. The announcement was made in a statement by EWB Canada late last month. AK Impact Investors, 1 to 4, the ADAP Seed Fund 2, Sunu Capital and The Lakes Charitable Foundation also participated in the new round. While EWB Canada did not disclose the size of the latest investment in FarmDrive, the startup's co-founder Peris Bosire told Ventureburn in an...
Partech raises $125m for Africa Fund targeting Series-A and Series-B startups
By Staff Reporter on 4 February, 2019
Silicon Valley based venture capital (VC) fund Partech has completed a capital raise for its Africa Fund, with the fund closing at €125-million, more than double the size of its first closing a year ago at €57-million ($70-million). Partech Ventures made the announcement last Thursday (31 January). It claims it has raised the largest VC fund dedicated to tech startups in Africa. The fund will participate in Series-A and Series-B rounds for tech startups on the continent and aims to back startups developing solutions around the informal economy, mobility, financial inclusion, supply chain, as well as consumer services. The VC also last...
New web tool to assist SA startups with hiring and firing staff goes live
By Staff Reporter on 31 January, 2019
A free-to-use web tool, which helps South African startups and small businesses with labour relations processes and matters, has gone live. The tool is a joint initiative of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and Business Unity South Africa (Busa). It allows entrepreneurs to source information on how to recruit staff, how to manage employees and build sound workplace relationships as well as how to end an employment relationship in a fair manner. The tool also has up-to-date information on the recent amendments to employment laws and the National Minimum Wage Act, contract templates, information sheets and guides on...
Sun Exchange closes ICO with $1m raised, just 20% of target
By Staff Reporter on 29 January, 2019
SA startup The Sun Exchange, a blockchain-based solar micro-leasing marketplace, has concluded its initial coin offering (ICO) -- having raised just over $1-million, just 20% of its targeted raise of $5.4-million. The ICO for its Sunex Token -- which came to an end on 31 December last year -- will allow investors to earn an income off small solar projects that the startup manages. In a blog post on 18 January, Sun Exchange said it had raised $1 068 205 and has allocated 28 485 478 Sunex Tokens. It attributed not having achieved the targeted raise of $5.4-million to the recent turbulent ICO market....
How a web agency offers peace of mind with Cloudbric from Hetzner [Sponsored]
By Staff Reporter on 28 January, 2019
Cape Town based digital marketing agency Pathfind Media has a simple goal -- to make creating and maintaining websites easier for their clients. "We create websites for our clients, but we also offer uncompromising personal service -- faster than you think and with less hassle than you care to handle," says Pathfind Media owner and creative web director Jo Wagner. That's why Cloudbric is such a natural fit, it's an all in one security solution that can be used by all Wordpress sites, adds Wagner (pictured above). Website security Finding the right security both for Pathfind Media's website -- and to recommend to...
Meet the 10 startups pitching at the Startup World Cup 2019 Nigeria final
By Staff Reporter on 28 January, 2019
A peer-to-peer edtech platform, an on-demand service marketplace, as well as a proptech company are among the 10 startups that will pitch at next week's Startup World Cup 2019 Nigeria regional final. The Startup World Cup is global startup pitch competition which is held by Silicon Valley based venture capital firm Fenox VC,with a $1-million dollar investment prize. The regional final will take place on Saturday 9 February at Civic Hive in Lagos. Finalists are selected at regional events held across various countries including Mauritius, South Africa and Kenya. The Mauritian and SA finals were held in November and September, respectively, while...
Meet the 10 startups selected to pitch at the Africa Startup Summit in Kigali
By Staff Reporter on 25 January, 2019
Having received over 100 applications, the organisers of the inaugural Africa Startup Summit yesterday announced the 10 startups that have been selected to pitch at the event which takes place on 14 and 15 February in Kigali, Rwanda. The summit is being hosted by Africa Tech Summit Kigali in partnership with tech publication Disrupt Africa and will bring together stakeholders across the continent's tech startup scene. Africa Startup Summit is one of three tracks at this year's Africa Tech Summit Kigali, the other two are the Future Summit and the Creative Summit. Africa Startup Summit is one of three tracks at this...
Future Females to launch challenge to support 2000 entrepreneurs in February
By Staff Reporter on 25 January, 2019
Future Females, an international community of female entrepreneurs, will next month launch 5 Days to Start, a free five-day challenge that the organisation hopes will support 2000 women to turn their ideas into a real business. In a statement on Tuesday (22 January), Future Females co-founder Lauren Dallas (pictured above), said the challenge -- which will run between 4 and 8 February -- is aimed at helping female entrepreneurs to overcome "internal mindset hurdles" and take action to launch their businesses with the support of the Future Females team and global community. The challenge follows a global survey by Future...
Jozi’s Khula in running to win $1m after topping SA leg of Chivas Venture 2019
By Staff Reporter on 24 January, 2019
SA startup Khula has come out tops at the Chivas Venture 2019 SA final in Cape Town and has won a chance to go to London to participate in Chivas Venture's accelerator programme -- and win up to $1-million in funding. The announcement was made at an event held last night at Workshop 17 in Cape Town The startup, which is based in Johannesburg, was founded by Matthew Piper (pictured above) and Karidas Tshintsholo in 2016. The duo's app helps connect small scale farmers to the formal market. Piper and Tshintsholo will in March join 19 other finalist teams from around the...
The Innovator Trust, CiTi call on black IT firms to apply for support programme
By Staff Reporter on 24 January, 2019
The Innovator Trust, a Joburg-based enterprise development organisation, and the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) are calling on growth-stage black-owned ICT firms based in and around Cape Town to apply for an intensive two-year long enterprise development programme. Applications for The Innovator Trust programme -- which will be run in collaboration with CiTi at the Woodstock Bandwidth Barn, as well as remotely -- close on 22 February. The names of those selected will be announced on 4 March. The programme aims to help black participants to increase their IT company's annual turnover and profitability and to equip them with necessary...