We write a lot about Paul Graham, the man behind the uber successful Y Combinator. Graham's incubator, which has spawned rock star startups such as AirBnb, Reddit and Dropbox, has funded over 500 companies which have gone on to raise more than US$1.7 billion in funding. Y combinator is considered, by some, the top startup incubator in the world. Naturally, Graham's latest interview for Inc. magazine piqued our interest. It's long, but worth a bookmark. Still, we dug into the ...

In a move to get more in Africa's exploding mobile and telecommunications space, listed entity Imperial Holdings has acquired a controlling stake in new mobile technology firm ForeFront Africa (FFA) for an undisclosed sum. The company, started by former Motribe boss, Nic Haralambous, and business partner Tracy Langdon-Surkont, is a mobile strategy firm that works closely with MNOs, business and brands to create mobile strategy, products and training. Imperial Holdings offers logistics, tourism, car rental and financial services with an established ...

Jumia, the Rocket Internet backed West African ecommerce site, has announced the launch of its first smartphone app, available for users in, interestingly, not only West African Nigeria, Morocco and Ivory Coast but also Kenya, extending its reach, and m-commerce, to more parts of Africa. Jumia, which is akin to Amazon and only about one year old, will see the app - available for Android phones - offer up Jumia's full 50 000-piece catalog, including international brands. It promises to have ...

This week on Startup Blitz, Mich Atagana chats with Gerhard du Toit and Justin Zwart. They are both co-founders of Ninja Invoice -- a company that provides an invoicing platform aiming to make quoting and invoicing frustration-free. Specifically targeting freelancers and SMEs, Ninja Invoice hopes to stand out from the rest of the competition with its simple and intuitive system. Like ninjas, the invoicing process promises to be quick, and setting-up an invoice or quote is also very customizable for ...

South Africa's latest 24-hour news channel, ANN7, has provided a lot of ammunition for the internet the last couple of weeks. Its launch was nothing short of disastrous with teleprompter and anchor malfunctions aplenty, rendering the brand the laughing-stock of the greater internet community. Its attempt at damage control didn't help and has further weakened any chance it had at redemption. With the intention at a good-natured article, I think there is plenty for startups to learn from this back-firing ...

Web and mobile recruitment software provider Graylink has partnered with Zao.com, which claims to be a leader in online recruitment referrals. The partnership will see Graylink offering Zao's solution in the South African market to its corporate clients. Matthew Gray, Graylink head of business development, says the move is an important one as referrals are a critical part of the recruitment sourcing process, and have been the number one source of hire globally for as long as he can ...

If you've been thinking about launching an online business, check this out. PayU and MWEB are co-hosting a free workshop for Cape Town entrepreneurs who are looking to ride the ecommerce rocket. Head of Small Business at MWEB, Paul Hobden will give an overview on some of the most cost-effective ways to take your business online; and offer practical advice on effective website design, time-saving tips and the importance of backups and security. Charles Elliman, Head of Sales at PayU, will offer ...

MySlips is a South African service that lets you manage your receipts via your mobile phone. Though the competition seems tough, its vision is to make the process of managing products or services under warranty simple, intuitive and as painless as possible using smart applications and technology supported by business in general. This is how it works. First, you take a photo of your receipt if the retailer isn't capable of sending you a copy from the register. You'll then ...

At the center of pretty much every startup community there are key networking events. As a startup, it can get pretty exhausting going to all of them and deciding which one is important can be like a game of crystal ball gazing. If you are in tech, these events do tend to be quite useful as a great place to meet possible collaborators and to gain insight into the industry. However as a young startup, is this the best use ...

China's equivalent to Twitter, Sina, has entered into the fray of the mobile messaging war with its new app called WeMeet, or "Weimi" in Mandarin, and will have to duke it out with popular services such as Tencent's WeChat. WeMeet was developed by a 20-person team, Hangzhou Kuyue Technology, and has actually been around since April. The Hangzhou Kuyue Technology team was incubated within Sina, according to a post by Marbridge, and with WeMeet, will aim to shake up the mobile ...