Pearson, in collaboration with US accelerator Village Capital, has announced its Edupreneurs programme which seeks to support entrepreneurs across Africa trying to solve pressing education issues. The programme will host 15 chosen edtech startups in South Africa after which two winners will be given up to US$75 000 in seed funding. Although the programme will be operating in South Africa, applications are open to all entrepreneurs across the continent who want to make a positive impact on the future of learning. ...

Stately is an online shopping service that curates products for lifestyle estate residents in South Africa. After having launched a new site, it also carries a bunch of fancy features such as a concierge service, home exchange, and a premium pre-owned luxury goods authentication service, to make the buyer feel more at home. By riding on the belief that the ecommerce landscape can easily become overwhelming, Stately hopes to feature the best in local design. To better the shopping experience, each ...

Apis Partners is a new fund dedicated to startups operating in the financial tech industry within growth markets. With Africa and Asia specifically in mind, the fund seeks to raise between US$250-million and US$300-million. In collaboration with Anthemis Group, the move comes after a history of successfully completed investments in the world's fastest growing markets. "Africa and Asia showcase similar financial services innovation patterns as these regions continue to transform to meet growth market financial service needs," reads the company's current ...

Winning the first time, every time and all the time is unrealistic and harmful to your continued success. Entrepreneurial delusion is a real thing. If it isn’t an official thing, it really should be. We (the entrepreneurs) believe that we will succeed no matter. We’re different, we’re unique, we’re in the top percentile of companies that actually make it beyond the first 18 months. We convince ourselves so intensely that this is the case that failure becomes the enemy. But ...

Online television startup iROKOtv will be opening up its doors to Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in the following week. The move comes as part of the company's transition to focus more on the local African audiences as opposed to its diaspora. Originally based in London, UK and Lagos, Nigeria, founder of iROKOtv Jason Njoku explains the massive market potential in East Africa, pointing out that the active payment penetration as well as the internet data are significantly cheaper than ...

Transport app, Easy Taxi, has secured US$40-million led by the Russian Phenomen Ventures and German Tengelmann Ventures. Backed by Rocket Internet, the startup operates in Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia and is often dubbed the world’s farthest-reaching taxi app. Dennis Wang, co-CEO at Easy Taxi says the new round of Series D funding will be used to help scale operations in existing markets. He explains: “We are very proud to have secured this new round of funding, which will ...

This week, SnapScan rolled its app out to The Big Issue vendors across South Africa, the non-profit magazine that's usually sold at intersections in urban areas. People with the app can now purchase the latest issue by simply taking a photo of a QR code and typing in the amount they want to pay. There's no hassle of fiddling for your wallet or looking for change lying around in the car before the light turns green. The Big Issue vendors ...

Dream School SA, the prime time series featured on SABC, will transcend the television's square box and push additional content via mobile channels, most notably, WeChat. Partnering with one of the world's fastest growing social networking apps has some merit -- the platform now has 395-million users globally, and an extensive, ever-growing membership in South Africa. Dream School SA, with a viewership topping nearly three million too, has also seen an influx of subscribers to its WeChat account since the move. The ...

PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) has just announced the top 10 startup finalists of its Vision to Reality Awards that will be taking part in its three month accelerator programme. In an effort to celebrate dynamic companies, the top 10 finalists are given the opportunity to showcase their innovative companies and gain access to leading advisors and a direct route to seed and venture capital. In essence, the PwC Accelerator wants to help companies make their visions sustainable by making sure they have ...

Nigeria’s 170-million plus population has an estimated 60-million internet users, making it the largest potential market for PayPal of all the countries it has entered in recent months. Before now, attempting to use PayPal in Nigeria would have led to the blocking of your PayPal account, with the service hardly viewing the country in the most favourable light. However, it seems all that is changing, as the country's young professionals with disposable income come online in search of places to spend ...