Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [07/05/2020]

SA startup Foonda has launched a website that aims to link students with scholarships, bursaries, learnerships and other sponsorship opportunities.

This, while GreenFingers Mobile has re-purposed its agri-tech software, as a free service, to support non-profits and community-based organisations to digitally manage and fund food parcel and voucher delivery to their beneficiaries.

With the coronavirus (Covid-19) headlining news all over the world, Ventureburn has launched a regular daily roundup on the virus and how it is affecting Africa’s tech startup sector.

Those with any news releases relating to Covid-19 and Africa’s tech startup sector can send these to editor@memeburn.com.

SA’s Foonda has launched a website that aims to link students with scholarships, bursaries, learnerships and other sponsorship opportunities

Here then is the latest on the coronavirus and African tech startups:

Allan Gray donates R50m: Foundations linked to the late Allan Gray, and his wife Gill, have contributed R50-million to the Oppenheimer’s SA Future Trust (SAFT), Business Day reported in an article yesterday. The donated money will be lent to small businesses via banks.

Pivot to help out: GreenFingers Mobile has re-purposed its agri-tech software, as a free service, to support non-profits and community-based organisations to digitally manage and fund food parcel and voucher delivery to their beneficiaries. The new service launched almost two weeks ago. So far, four organisations are in the process of loading 12 000 households to its platform. The startup is also about to start pilots in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. The startup’s co-founder, Max Pichulik, says the service is necessary as there are large food security gaps given the lack of collaboration and clean household data sets. GreenFingers Mobile was founded in 2015 as a partnership between SA business accelerator Impact Amplifier and tech company Mobenzi. The startup invited all funders and non-profits to join a Covid response webinar on 12 May at 10am.

Edtech launches bursaries site: SA startup Foonda has launched a website which aims to link students with scholarships, bursaries, learnerships and other sponsorship opportunities. The startup was founded last year by Vuyolwethu Pakade (pictured above), who says an app version will be ready soon. “Covid-19 means we as a society will all have to adapt to the new ‘normal’ and with all this uncertainty, our product aims to hand hold and assist students navigate this usually very complicated, administratively taxing and tedious higher education funding ecosystem.” The startup has largely been self-financed by Pakade, but was able to secure a R2.1-million grant through the Diageo Social Tech Startup challenge in 2019. The team consists of just two people and a board of advisors consisting of three members.

Covid-19 to speed up digital payments: SA entrepreneur and Civic founder Vinny Lingham believes the Covid-19 pandemic will speed up a global move to digital payments. In a YouTube interview last month with TF Blockchain, Lingham spoke about the effect the pandemic is having on digital payments. “I think we’re going to move towards digital payments and a cashless world. Because even cash carries the virus. They’re quarantining cash for up to two weeks that comes from China,” Lingham said in the podcast.

Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [06/04/2020]
Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [05/04/2020]
Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [04/04/2020]

Featured image: Foonda founder Vuyolwethu Pakade (Supplied)