You are not Tony Stark. 500 Startups founder Dave McClure made the point quite clear during his keynote at Echelon 2013. But even if the genius behind Iron Man is cool and you are not, you can build great things on the platforms that the cool guys have been making so far. Of course, by Tony Stark, Dave is referring to guys like Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. They have built great platforms with billions of ...

Russian online store fashion store Lamoda has secured a US$130-million round of funding from Access Industries, Summit Partners and Tengelmann. Rocket Internet, the German-based startup clone incubator behind Lamoda, claims that this round of financing represents the largest e-commerce investment in Russia to date. It believes that the deal, led by Access Industries, is "a strong indication of investors’ confidence in the online retailer after two years of steady growth". Since its inception in 2011, Lamoda has grown to offering ...

Ever wondered why some companies get all the attention and others don't? As society we have become obsessed with the flashy and the shiny. Developers want to build to that and companies innovate around it. This is not a bad thing. In Africa, the startup scene is becoming highly contested. But while there are five million startups only about one million of them are interesting and only half them are good but only a quarter will get funding and 10% ...

What’s popular in these Asian countries, and why you should care. Because after all, Asia is not a startup bubble. The cynics sneer from afar: “Oh, Asia. They only know how to play catch up; imitating her siblings from the Valley. There are many startups there, but hey, few exits. What does that tell you? Startup. Bubble.” At Echelon 2013, a panel discussion moderated by Joash Wee, our very own editor, saw Asia being discussed and scrutinized meticulously in the company of ...

If something is really good online, chances are it will find its way offline soon enough and that's what the team at iRokoTV is looking to do with its latest offering. The Nigerian online movie streaming site is launching a new Nigerian movie DVD collection. iROKOtv is the world’s largest online distributor of Nigerian movies, boasting a catalogue of over 5 000 titles. This new venture is the company's attempt to enter into the DVD market in order to reach the ...

Microsoft is getting quite busy in Africa lately. Through its 4Afrika initiative, the company has announced that will partner with the South African government's Jobs Fund to train more than 3000 unemployed graduates to get permanent jobs in the technology sector in the next three years. "The government's top priority is to get young South Africans working. As a company, we have long invested in South Africa and understand the need for us all to continue to develop solutions to ...

This is pretty cool. Social innovation startup HumanWrit.es, which donates 10 exercise books to classrooms of school children in need for every one of its Writable notebooks sold, has released a video showing its most recent donation delivery. The most recent donation of 20 000 exercise books were delivered to over 200 pre-schools that form part of the Ithemba Labantwana community forum, operated under the umbrella of Ikamva Labantu, the company's partner organization. The give-away exercise books include tools for reading ...

The online streaming space is heating up in Africa, fueled by a huge desire for African media content from consumers inside and out of the continent. The latest 'Netflix for Africa' competitor is Wabona - a startup that proudly focuses on Sub-Saharan content, empowering content creators, as well as facilitating a distribution platform for the African diaspora. Wabona is a graduate from startup accelerator 88mph's Cape Town 2013 programme, and was one of the most charismatic pitching teams at its demo ...

On 10 June 10, 2013, the Startup Stock Exchange (SSX) will open its marketplace for startup investing and funding. On SSX, investors of any level can buy shares of vetted startup companies, and shares are traded freely -- investors can buy or sell anytime and control their own account. For startups and small businesses, SSX is a compelling way to raise funds. SSX continues the trend of online angel investing, set by services such as Seedrs (UK), SeedInvest and AngelList (US). When ...

It’s not just a gimmick you often see on Kickstarter. 3D printing technologies have the ability to provide local communities with the access to facilities they need to produce and market their own products. It could enable the much-needed manufacturing industry to be personalised as well as democratised. What entrepreneurial opportunities could this “over-hyped gimmick” create for developing countries? Imagine a doctor from the DRC who can make a prosthesis with materials found in his backyard. What if an engineer could ...