Ventureburn - Startup news for emerging markets

Top startup events in South Africa, Africa you should know about this week [18/8/2019]

For those in Cape Town, Moya, a new data-free messaging app and content platform will launch on Thursday (22 August) (read Ventureburn’s story on Binu,…

Five SA fintechs that service the growing market of SME lending

An increasing number of fintech startups are looking to fund small businesses in South Africa using online platforms and apps to service the massive…

AlphaCode awards R16m in grants, support services to eight black-owned SA fintechs

Eight black-owned fintech startups have won business support and funding totalling R16-million from Rand Merchant Investment Holdings’ (RMI) fintech incubator AlphaCode. The AlphaCode Incubate initiative, in partnership…

Seedstars calls on startups to apply to Tanzania accelerator and receive $25k each

Seedstars — the Swiss-based organisation that that assists tech startups in emerging markets — has put out a final call for startups to join its…

Here are the 10 Tanzanian startups pitching right now at Seedstars Zanzibar

Seedstars World, one of the world’s largest emerging market startup competitions, has selected 10 Tanzanian startups to pitch at today’s inaugural Seedstars Zanzibar event….

SA fintech uKheshe nets over R7m from investors on R100m valuation

Joburg-based fintech startup uKheshe has raised $500 000 (over R7.6-million at the current exchange rate) in seed funding on a valuation of R100-million, from FiTech Ventures…

Savant Venture Fund invests in security device startup Jonga [Updated]

Cape Town hardware tech incubator Savant‘s venture capital (VC) arm, the Savant Venture Fund, has announced that it has invested in Cape Town based…

Number of regulatory sandbox licenses granted by Mauritius body to fintechs grows to nine

The number of startups and companies that have been granted regulatory sandbox licenses by Mauritius’s Economic Development Board (EDB) has grown to nine. This,…

Agritech competition to award 10 Ethiopian entrepreneurs with total of €35k in prizes

The recently launched Green Innovation and AgriTech Slam (GIAS) competition will support 10 Ethiopian agricultural entrepreneurs with its €35 000 prize pool. The competition is…

Nigeria’s Kobo360 closes whopping $20m Series-A round led by Goldman Sachs

Nigerian logistics platform Kobo360 has closed what is likely the second biggest investment for an African tech startup in 2019 so far, after concluding…

Six free exhibition spots left at EduTech Africa 2019 for startups

Want to showcase your edtech startup’s solutions to the world? Conference organiser Terrapinn has six free exhibition spots left at its EduTech Africa 2019…

DOEN Land Restoration Prize winner to get $10k grant, access to Seedstars programme

Does your tech startup have innovative solutions in the land restoration and land degradation space? Applications have opened for the DOEN Land Restoration Prize…

Here’s all you need to know about AfricArena’s tech startup challenges

Looking to win some funding, or think your startup has what it takes to collaborate with a corporate? Tech startup conference AfricArena has called…

HouseMe investor Geddes Capital secures R200m debt facility from UK company

Cape Town based financier Geddes Capital — which last year invested in SA startups HouseMe and Seon — has secured R200-million from a UK…

As Brexit looms, UK government looks to support SA startups

SA tech startups can expect added business and trade support from the UK government as it seeks to boost links with other countries amid…

Everything you need to know about West African startup landscape [2019 Update]

Update: Are you a venture capitalist or an angel investor looking to invest in a company? Are you an entrepreneur looking for capital or…

Time to test that startup idea, here’s how we at Feastfox did it

So you’ve come up with what you think is the next Uber or Airbnb. Now what? It might be tempting to quit your day…

A fail-safe way to moving IP offshore: Part 2 [Opinion]

In my previous article I summarised the goal of a company seeking to grow internationally by locating its intellectual property (IP) offshore. This second…