Social messaging app, WeChat, has partnered with South Africa's popular satellite television service, DStv, to further user engagement using methods such as second screen integration of the local reality TV show Big Brother Mzansi Secrets. This is part of the Tencent-owned company's mission to take over South Africa's Instant Messaging (IM) scene and live up to the claim of being the world's fastest growing social app. WeChat has been extensively pushing its service in and around South Africa recently. Though ...

There's nothing like a good contest right? From hackathons to code jams, many young bright programmers and entrepreneurs love to fight it out for a top prize and bragging rights. For the up and coming in Nigeria, there's a new contest on the block from TechCabal -- the first ever TechCabal Battlefield, where the next wave of tech entrepreneurs will compete for "the biggest Nigerian technology startup prize ever -- US$20 000, courtesy of Stanbic IBTC Bank and iROKING." The competition started ...

There's a very slim chance you know who Steve Schlafman is, but you've probably heard of Turntable.fm, the fleeting viral interactive music sharing service that raised US$7-million, before pivoting to focus on live, interactive music performances as Turntable Live. Schlafman was VP of Business Development at StickyBits, a QR code startup which eventually became Turntable.fm Since then, Schlafman has turned to investing. First joining Lerer Ventures and then RRE Ventures, an early stage investor in New York City with investments in startups ...

Respected angel network, AngelHub, has stealthily relaunched as AngelHub Ventures (AHV) with new partners. This relaunch follows the buy-out of former company AngelHub by two of its angel investors, Michael Jordaan and Kevin Harris, taking the place of AH alums Keet van Zyl and Andrea Bohmert. We had suspected that AngelHub would move in a different direction after Jordaan left his position as FNB CEO to play in the startup investment space. Given that he's always been one of AngelHub's most active ...

It's delivered ice creams on warm summers days, and offered its users a trip in a motorcade. It's even delivered kittens on demand to customers who needed something to cuddle. Now it's out to make sure your better half isn't left stranded without roses on Valentine's Day. Yep, on Friday, smart taxi service Uber will be stocking up on romantic goodies and heading out across Cape Town. As part of a partnership with tuk tuk company Monarch Tuksis and online store ...

Online marketplaces are, in reality, most likely a nightmare to manage and monitor. From the plethora of scams out there to fake users and posts, running an online marketplace is not for the faint of heart, especially in Africa, notorious for online scams. Mobofree, an African-based mobile marketplace with a social twist that allows people to "buy, sell and swap products with other trusted people", wants to situate itself as Africa's leading mobile "scam-free" marketplace, and thanks to new funding from ...

Lead nurturing is the process of carefully building a relationship with potential clients, even though they might not be looking to make an immediate purchase with you. The purpose of this activity is to acknowledge a lead's contact action, establish an initial connection and gain a favorable bias in their minds at an initial stage -- so that ultimately they choose you over your competitors. Is it for you? Lead nurturing makes more sense for companies who can easily segment their customers ...

Public relations is an indispensable tool for big businesses in a fiercely competitive environment. That’s because these companies understand the need for publicity to keep them relevant and visible in the marketplace, and they are prepared to pay for it. Smaller companies on the other hand, don’t always create a budget for PR -- yet it can give them the exposure they need to grow their presence, build and improve sales and bottom line performance. So why isn’t PR higher up ...

With the Winter Olympics underway, Russia's all about the travel. Whether it be booking flights or hotels, getting to know the good or bad, people need to be able to weigh their options fairly. The Russia-based Private Equity and Venture Capital fund, iTech Capital, has invested US$10 million in the popular Russian online travel search engine, Aviasales, buying a minority stake in the company. The investment will be used to further develop the service, expand the team, and to promote ...

This weekend Dong Nguyen let the world know that his wildly successful mobile game Flappy Bird was ruining his "simple life". In a series of tweets, he explained that it had nothing to do with legal issues and he does not want to sell it -- he was simply done with it. I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore.— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014 It is not ...