News
Insurtech startup Brella raises $15m Series A for national expansion of supplemental health insurance solution
Brella Insurance announced it has raised a $15 million Series A funding round led by Brewer Lane Ventures to bring Brella's modern supplemental health solution to employers nationwide.
Homebuilding startup Higharc raises $21m Series A to aid in recruiting, building out engineering functions
Higharc, the all-in-one homebuilding platform for design, sales, and construction, announced it raised $21 million in Series A funding, led by Spark Capital.
Telehealth startup PursueCare raises over $11m in Series A1, A2 financing
PursueCare, a telehealth addiction treatment startup, announced an oversubscribed $7 million Series A2 capital raise, bringing its total Series A round to north of $11 million.
Bechtel partners with climatetech startup incubator Greentown Labs to drive energy transition in Houston
Bechtel announced partnership with Greentown Labs in Houston, the city's first-ever climatetech startup incubator, to drive energy transition in Houston.
U.S.-based food tech startup Yo-Kai Express expands partnerships with Japan
While restaurants and small businesses everywhere have struggled to survive the pandemic, U.S.-based foodtech startup Yo-Kai Express (YKE) has leveraged its technology and ideas to evolve and transform its business models to broader platforms.
Kenyan e-mobility startup Ecobodaa secures funding from Persistent Energy Capital
Persistent Energy Capital announced a strategic venture building investment and partnership with Ecobodaa, a pioneer e-mobility startup, leading the revolution of the electric motorbike taxi (bodaboda) in Kenya.
Insurtech startup OKO raises $1.2m to bring innovative insurance to smallholder farmers across Africa
OKO, an insurtech startup that provides inclusive agricultural insurance to secure farmers’ income across Africa, closed a seed investment round of $1.2 million, led by Newfund and ResiliAnce.
UK-based startup Cquestr8 raises $300k seed capital to develop safe & permanent carbon sequestration solution
Cquestr8, 2020 winners of the Climate-KIC's ClimateLaunchpad "Next Big Thing" prize, has secured funding to develop their unique carbon sequestration solution, leveraging natural processes to safely lock away CO2 as stable ocean bicarbonate.
Autonomous air cargo startup MightyFly raises $5.1 million seed funding to revolutionize logistics
MightyFly, an autonomous air cargo carrier, announced it has closed $5.1 million in seed funding, including investments from 500 Startups, At One Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Graph Ventures, and Halogen Ventures.
Plug and Play launches maritime innovation platform in Antwerp, Belgium
Global innovation platform, Plug and Play, together with Founding Partners City of Antwerp, CMB, DXC Technology, Euronav, and Port of Antwerp, announced the launch of their first maritime program in Antwerp, Belgium.
Medical device startup Nanodropper completes $1.4m seed funding round
Nanodropper, a medical device company offering a first-of-its-kind eyedrop bottle adaptor that reduces eyedrop size, completed a $1.4 million seed round.
Meeting Automation startup Chili Piper gets spicy with $33m from Tiger Global
Chili Piper, the advanced routing and scheduling solution for revenue teams, announced it has raised a $33 million "Series Spicy" led by Tiger Global with participation from existing investors Base10 Partners and Gradient Ventures.
Fact.MR redefines the way startups access market research
The number one reason for startup failure isn't lack of funding or stiff competition. The main reason is 'misreading market demand'. Therefore, it becomes important for startups to thoroughly research the market.
Atlanta-based startups GROUNDFLOOR and PadSplit team up to create affordable housing
GROUNDFLOOR, a wealthtech platform that allows everyone to build wealth through real estate, and PadSplit, a mission-driven marketplace that helps solve the affordable housing crisis, are teaming up to create hundreds of new affordable housing units.
Subscription Management startup Chargebee raises $125m Series G funding to accelerate global shift to subscriptions
Chargebee, the subscription billing and revenue management platform, announced a fresh round of $125 million in series G funding, co-led by new investor Sapphire Ventures and existing investors Tiger Global and Insight Venture Partners.
Kenya paint manufacturer Crown Paints announces COVID-19 safety net initiative
A recent study on how Covid-19 had caused an economic toll in nine countries, including Kenya, shows that 45 percent of people were forced to miss or reduce meals.
Nigerian last-mile delivery startup Kwik Delivery releases Prestashop plugin
After the release of its plugins for Shopify and Magento, Kwik Delivery has released its plugin for Prestashop.
Ericsson launches Graduate Programme in Kenya
The programme aims to grow the technical skills of the graduates, training them on the Ericsson technology, solutions and, delivery and providing them with an understanding of Ericsson’s processes, methods and tools.
Twenty-two startups join second cohort of UNICEF StartUp Lab in Ghana
UNICEF announced the launch of the 2021 cohort of the UNICEF StartUp Lab, a co-creation space and accelerator, that engages young startups in the development of innovative, open-source, market-driven products and solutions.
New York-based startup Andela announces global engineering talent expansion
New York-based startup Andela, the global talent network that helps companies build remote engineering teams, announced the global expansion of its engineering talent.
Kenyan logistics startup Amitruck and Sky.Garden announce last mile goods pick-up and deliveries partnership
Logistics platform Amitruck and e-Commerce platform Sky.Garden have partnered to form an end-to-end digital chain for goods pick-up and deliveries to the last mile.
Grindstone accelerator programme opens applications for South African startups
Applications for this year’s Grindstone’s accelerator programme are now open. Grindstone is an equity-free structured entrepreneurship development programme that assists high-growth innovation-driven SMEs in South Africa.
InnovoEdge joins Microsoft for Startups program
InnovoEdge, an AI-powered multi-cloud and edge application orchestration company, announced it has joined the Microsoft for Startups program, which is designed to help business to business (B2B) startups scale with access to technology.
Climatetech startup Persefoni raises $9.7m in Series A funding round
Persefoni, an intelligent carbon accounting and management platform for enterprises and investors, announced it has raised $9.7 million in its Series A financing round. Rice Investment Group led the round, with participation from NGP ETP and Sallyport Investments.
Ideal Semiconductor startup announces investment from Applied Ventures
Ideal Semiconductor, a startup company that has successfully demonstrated a fundamentally new technology for energy conversion in electronic systems, announced it has received funding from Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials.
Chicago-based medtech startup Neopenda announces new round of convertible note financing
Neopenda, a Chicago-based public benefit corporation, announced a new round of funding supported by Assiduity Capital and Sorenson Impact Foundation, and the CE Mark approval of its neoGuard device.
Wynden Stark acquires NYC venture-backed tech startup untapt
Wynden Stark has acquired NYC venture-backed tech startup untapt, bringing in-house a world-class team of Data Scientists and Software Engineers.
SWARM Engineering startup raises $2.7m in seed funding led by S2G Ventures and Serra Ventures
SWARM Engineering, the next generation of cognitive software for the food supply chain, announced it closed funding for a $2.7 million seed round.
Healthtech startup DignifiHealth raises $7m seed round, scaling it nationally for improved community health outcomes
DignifiHealth, a company that has integrated leading digital health technologies with its proprietary big-data intelligence platform, raised $7 million in seed funding to scale delivery of its revolutionary suite of healthcare products on a national scale.
South African digital health startup Quro Medical secures $1.1m seed funding to accelerate growth
Quro Medical, a South African digital health startup, emerged from stealth mode to announce the closure of its seed funding round to accelerate growth for Africa’s first technology-driven Hospital at Home offering.
Virtual health startup OpenLoop closes oversubscribed $3m seed round
OpenLoop, a virtual health company based in Des Moines, Iowa, announced its oversubscribed seed round financing of $3 million.
Phantom Space Corporation startup raises $5m seed funding to revolutionize space transportation
Phantom Space Corporation, a space transportation technology development and manufacturing company, announced the raise of $5 million in seed investment funding to make space commerce commonplace and to lower the barriers to space access.
Legacy startup raises $10m Series A to make male fertility services accessible to all
Legacy, the premier digital fertility clinic for men, announced $10 million in Series A fundraising led by FirstMark Capital.
Silicon Valley startup Chef Avenue crosses 1000% of its funding goal in 8 days
Chef Avenue, an inspiring startup at the forefront of the design of modernized, high-performance cookware, is currently riding the wave of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign for its first product, Omnipan.
Finnish biotech startup Carbo Culture sets to remove 1billion tons of carbon from atmosphere by 2030
Carbo Culture, a biotech startup commercialising large-scale carbon removal, has a north star vision to remove 1 billion tons (1Gt) of carbon from the atmosphere by 2030.
Interviews.
[Interview] Caroline Mutuku, General Manager, Glovo, Kenya
Caroline Mutuku is Kenya's General Manager of multi-category app Glovo. Caroline joined Glovo in December 2022 from Swvl Kenya where she also served as the General Manager from December 2021. In this interview...read more here
[Interview] Renate Swanepoel, COO, INC. Networking
Renate Swanepoel is an entrepreneur, global networker and inspirational speaker that has helped thousands of people around the world to find their purpose. She has gained significant networking and communication...read more here
[Interview] Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSD Africa
Anne-Marie Chidzero is the Chief Investment Officer at the Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) Investments. In this interview, she talks about the risks and opportunities in backing Africa’s early-stage startups...read more here
[Interview] James Kilpatrick, Chair, Gravitilab, UK
Gravitilab is a "Space as a Service" business providing research, testing and qualification facilities to space agencies, government, academia and commercial enterprises. The company’s Chair and Chief Finance Officer...read more here
[Interview] Ramanjeet Singh, CEO, Woosper, USA
Woosper is a US-based digital advertising and marketing agency focused on creating experiences that help clients discover their place in the digital world. The CEO Ramanjeet Singh...read more here