With millions of South Africans set to return today to work after lockdown rules were further eased, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has announced that public transport will operate throughout the day.
This, as a Kenyan startup hopes that its new funding platform will go some way to solve challenges many startups are facing in raising venture capital (VC) funding.
No ad to show here.
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.
SA’s transport minister Fikile Mbalula has announced that public transport will operate throughout the day
Those with any news releases relating to Covid-19 and Africa’s tech startup sector can send these to editor@memeburn.com.
Here then is the latest on the coronavirus and African tech startups:
Public transport opens up: With millions of South Africans set to return to work today after lockdown rules were further eased, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced on Saturday that public transport will operate throughout the day, SAnews, the South African government’s news agency reported. Certain restrictions however will remain, with minibus taxis still only permitted a 70% loading capacity and buses at 50%, while not all train lines will be operating.
Procurement platform to be launched: The SA government is building an online platform that will be used to procure Covid-19 related supplies for the African continent, President Cyril Ramaphosa has revealed. TimesLive reported in an article yesterday that the platform will be launched this week. It will allow all African countries to procure from a central place.
VC funding platform launched: Covid-19 may have made it more challenging for startups to raise venture capital (VC) funding, but a Kenyan startup hopes that its new funding platform will go some way to solve this. Raise Impact Technologies last week launched the beta version of its getraise.io platform and has called on startups that are looking for investment, to sign up. Raise was founded in 2018 by co-founders Marvin Coleby and Eugene Mutai (pictured above). The company claims that since January over $20-million has been transacted on the alpha version of its platform by several VC firms and startups in Kenya and Nigeria. These include Helium Health, which last month raised a $10-million Series-A round (see this story) and Nigerian investor Microtraction.
Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [29/05/2020]
Featured image: Raise Impact Technologies co-founder and CTO Eugene Mutai (Supplied)
