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Nigeria’s Itanna accelerator startups secured eight partnerships says head
Four Nigerian tech startups have secured eight agreements to partner with Nigerian corporates following the conclusion of the inaugural cohort of Lagos-based accelerator Itanna, the accelerator's director Tomi Otudeko has revealed. The accelerator was launched by Nigerian conglomerate Honeywell Group in August, with the four -- Accounteer, KoloPay, Tradebuza and PowerCube -- forming the inaugural cohort. Otudeko (pictured above, third from right), who is also the head of sustainability and innovation for Honeywell Group, was responding to questions from Ventureburn, yesterday (4 December) four days after the accelerator concluded its inaugural four-month programme with a demo day in Lagos. The demo day, which was held at Itanna's Enterprise Factory...
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Investors put R30m more in SA insurtech Naked after ‘strong first 6 months’
SA insurtech startup Naked has landed a further R30-million from its investors -- private investment group Yellowwoods and insurance company Hollard -- and plans to grow its team, ramp up customer acquisitions and expand into new short-term insurance product categories. In a press release today, the startup -- which provides artificial intelligence-driven car insurance -- said its investors committed the additional funding after the startup recorded a strong first six months of trading, after launching its first product in April, following about a year and a half in development. Without providing figures, the startup said customer acquisition and retention rates had exceeded the company’s expectations. Investors committed...
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Bitcoin price fluctuations won’t affect how we work says Luno country head
The constant fluctuation in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies won't affect SA bitcoin exchange Luno and how it operates, says the company's SA country manager Marius Reitz. Reitz (pictured above) was speaking to Ventureburn last Thursday (29 November), a day after the price of Bitcoin jumped back by about 15% (over the previous day) to $4300. In the preceding week bitcoin declined by 35% in seven days, leading to the price of the digital currency being pegged at below $3500 in what CNBC reported as a 14-month low. Luno facilitates bitcoin storage and transactions through its bitcoin wallet service. "A 10%, 20%...
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Blockchain fad is wearing off says man behind Jozi crypo startup DoshEx
The fad around blockchain among startups and corporates has cooled, says the head of a Joburg-based company that develops blockchain solutions for local and international clients. "Last year you could mention blockchain and virtually anyone would open the door to you, now you need to demonstrate real value," cryptocurrency expert Alex de Bruyn (pictured above) told Ventureburn in a call yesterday. De Bruyn, runs Johannesburg based DoshEx, which launched an exchange platform in August that aims to help those it helps develop cryptocurrency and blockchain solutions to buy and sell digital tokens and claims to have already done work for Virgin Money SA (De Bruyn...
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Egyptian ride-hailing app Halan raises ‘multi-million’ dollar Series-A round
Egyptian startup Halan -- Egypt and Sudan’s first motorcycle and tuktuk ride-hailing app -- has announced that it landed an undisclosed Series A funding round from round co-led by Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings and Egypt’s Algebra Ventures. The funding round, which was closed earlier this year (it is not clear why it was then only announced by the startup and funders now), also includes existing shareholders and individual investors. While Algebra Ventures public relations officer Noor Salama would not reveal the amount the company raised in funding, a report in March by Egyptian business publication Enterprise had it that the startup aimed to raise $2-million in...
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88 Business Collective honours Locumbase, SweepSouth founders
Two SA female tech founders -- Locumbase founder Zulé Vuuren and SweepSouth co-founder Aisha Pandor -- have been honoured by Cape Town accelerator 88 Business Collective and Absa bank. Vuuren's startup -- which makes it easier for freelance medical professionals and practices to connect effectively (simplifying the locum booking process) -- and Pandor, were presented with awards at a ceremony held at Absa’s innovation lab in Cape Town last Tuesday (27 November). Vuuren -- whose startup earlier this year secured funding from a panel of investors, which included Michael Jordaan -- took home the best tech newcomer of the year award, while Pandor was honoured with The Glass ceiling destroyer...
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Entrepreneurship platform RiseUp to launch Egypt Startup Manifesto
Cairo-based entrepreneurship platform RiseUp will tomorrow (4 December) launch the Egypt Startup Manifesto, which aims to outline solutions to the challenges faced by Egyptian entrepreneurs. The launch takes place a day before the organisation kicks off its sixth annual RiseUp Summit, which kicks off in the Egyptian capital on Friday (7 December) and runs until Wednesday next week (9 December). RiseUp's Startup Manifesto project head Aliaa Abdel Aziz told Ventureburn in an email last week that unfair government policies are among the key challenges that Egyptian entrepreneurs face. She said the manifesto, which is over a year in the making, has been put together by RiseUp in collaboration with other support organisations and aims to help...
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Top startup events in South Africa, Africa you should know about this week [3/12/2018]
This week in Cape Town, the city's leading tech organisations will celebrate its innovation at several Cape Town Startup Week events between Monday (3 December) and Thursday (6 December). In Egypt, one of the Middle East’s biggest entrepreneurship gatherings, RiseUp Summit 2018, will kick off on Friday (7 December). This article is part of a weekly series that highlights all the top startup events, competitions, networking sessions, workshops and conferences in Africa. If you have any event recommendations for us to add to the list, or next week’s, please let us know in the comments below or send us an email. Not all of the events are...
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Here’s why you should consider attending this year’s Seedstars Africa Summit
Seedstars World, one of the largest startup competitions for startup scenes in emerging markets, has disclosed the programme for the fourth edition of the Seedstars Africa Summit which will take place between 11 and 13 December in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Up to 36 startups will participate in different activities at this year's summit. These include 17 finalists from the Seedstars World tour, nine local companies from the Seedstars World Tanzania edition, three Swiss startups and a delegation of three other enterprises from the Tanzanian port city of Tanga. Seedstars regional manager for Africa Claudia Makadristo, in a statement on Wednesday (28 November), described...
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Startup Guide launches call for nominations for Joburg edition
Berlin based publishing company Startup Guide has launched a call for entrepreneurs and those that are part of the Joburg entrepreneurship ecosystem to nominate themselves to be featured in Startup Guide Johannesburg. Nominations close on 13 December. The call comes after the company, which produces guidebooks on leading startup cities around the world, yesterday (29 November) held a launch event at the Tshimologong Digital Precinct in Johannesburg in partnership with SAP Next-Gen, to publicise the initiative. Since it was founded in 2014 by Danish entrepreneur Sissel Hansen, Startup Guide has published guides for 18 different cities across Europe and the Middle East. In August the company launched a...
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