Tag Resultaten

Published: 06-04-2018 16:44:00 | By: Nico Scherphuis | hits: 3539851 | Tags:

[Interview] Fedir Kompaniiets, CEO, Gart Solutions, Ukraine
Published: 09-02-2024 | 13:35:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Gart Solutions is a provider of comprehensive DevOps solutions, dedicated to helping businesses streamline their software development processes and achieve operational excellence.


BBT.live extends seed funding to $8.4m for secured connectivity as a service
Published: 22-08-2023 | 11:53:00 | By: Pie Kamau
BBT.live has extended its seed funding round to $8.4 million.


[Column] Theo van Zyl: Connectivity on the go, why not all mobile internet services are the same
Published: 14-07-2023 | 15:26:00 | By: Pie Kamau
More consumers are taking a closer look at their connectivity requirements.


Kenyan rural Internet Service Provider Mawingu raises $9m to scale its operations across the country
Published: 02-02-2023 | 11:33:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Rural Internet Service Provider (ISP), Mawingu has raised $9 million in Series B funding to scale its operations across Kenya.


Digital solutions startup Bantoo joins the Smart Africa Alliance
Published: 11-11-2022 | 06:26:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Smart Africa Alliance announced it has welcomed digital solutions platform Bantoo to the alliance, to advance technological developments in the continent.


Nashville-based advanced radio technology startup Xtremis announces move to West Virginia
Published: 27-10-2022 | 11:15:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Xtremis, a Nashville-based startup developing advanced, Artificial Intelligence control systems that improve the performance of wireless networks in congested RF environments, announced its intention to relocate to Morgantown, WV.


Kenyan-based startup FaidiHR secures funding, eyes expansion
Published: 02-08-2022 | 15:48:00 | By: Bob Koigi
The startup, which offers digital human resource solutions to African companies, said they would use the investment to expand their business in East Africa, eyeing entry into Uganda, Tanzania and DRC.


TDK Ventures invests in XCOM Labs' vision for a high-speed wireless future
Published: 25-05-2022 | 14:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
TDK Corporation announced that subsidiary TDK Ventures, has invested in wireless communications disruptor XCOM Labs to expedite the development of their 5G and wireless communications solutions.


A5G Networks startup announces funding from Bharat Innovation Fund to accelerate growth
Published: 24-05-2022 | 16:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
A5G Networks, a player in Distributed and Autonomous 5G Core Network Software for private and public networks, announced an investment by Bharat Innovation Fund, a deeptech focused venture capital fund in India.


[Column] Berenice Chassagne: Engaged Employee Experience: Balancing human and technology
Published: 09-05-2022 | 13:34:07 | By: Bob Koigi
​​​​​​​Employee engagement is a key driver of the overall performance of a business.


IFC invests in Algebra Ventures to support Egyptian tech startups, drive innovation
Published: 21-04-2022 | 11:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
To support tech startups with access to finance and drive innovation and job creation primarily in Egypt, IFC announced an investment in the second fund from venture capital firm Algebra Ventures.


AT&T joins Ericsson's 5G Startup Program to develop new consumer technology
Published: 22-02-2022 | 11:24:00 | By: Pie Kamau
AT&T has joined Ericsson's Startup 5G program, a 5G innovation collaboration driven by Ericsson's ConsumerLab that assists communications service providers (CSPs) with commercialization and monetization of 5G.


Online platforms lift the fortunes of Kenyan artists
Published: 21-01-2022 | 14:00:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Kenyan artists have not been left behind and are embracing digital platforms with impressive results.


Swedish-Kenyan electric vehicle tech startup Opibus launches first electric bus designed and developed in Africa
Published: 21-01-2022 | 13:28:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Swedish-Kenyan electric vehicle technology startup Opibus has introduced the first all-electric bus in Kenya as well as the first African designed electric bus ever.


Tech startups key to Africa’s digital transformation but urgently need investment, report
Published: 21-01-2022 | 13:21:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The World Economic Forum’s latest report, “Attracting Investment and Accelerating Adoption for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa” analyses the challenges Africa faces in joining the global knowledge-based digital economy.


Kenya's Poa Internet announces first close of $28m financing round by Africa50
Published: 18-01-2022 | 15:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Poa Internet and Africa50 announced the completion of Africa50’s equity investment into Poa. This funding is part of the $28 million financing round led by Africa50.


Dutch edtech startup Winc Academy raises $3m to train 20,000 IT professionals in Europe
Published: 17-01-2022 | 15:00:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Winc Academy announced a $3 million funding round led by Rubio Impact Ventures and Dutch Founders Fund to increase the steep growth of its education platform.


Nigeria tech startups raised $1.7billion in 2021, report
Published: 20-12-2021 | 14:38:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Since the beginning of 2021, Africa-based tech startups have raised more than $2.9 billion with Nigerian startups which are creating new products, services, and platforms raising $1.7 billion of this total or about 60% of it, a new report has found.


[Startup Interview] Dave Withers, CEO, Vertis, USA
Published: 30-11-2021 | 13:53:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Vertis is a US-based startup that leverages billions of data points and proprietary data science to help business leaders implement data-driven talent and location strategies.


Tony Elumelu Foundation targets 5,000 African SMEs with entrepreneurship training and funding
Published: 17-11-2021 | 19:02:00 | By: Bob Koigi
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the philanthropy empowering African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has selected 4,949 entrepreneurs from across Africa for its 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme.


Compliance startup Laika raises $35m Series B to help companies ace security audits
Published: 03-11-2021 | 12:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Laika, the industry's first unified compliance-as-a-service platform, announced it has closed $35 million in Series B funding led by J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners with participation from PayPal Ventures.


Walden Catalyst Ventures closes $550 million fund to target deep tech investments
Published: 02-11-2021 | 15:33:33 | By: Bob Koigi
Investors in the fund include leading institutional LPs, as well as the CEOs of some of the world’s largest tech corporations.


Digital postage stamp startup Stamp Free launches AI-based postal tracking app
Published: 02-11-2021 | 15:29:29 | By: Bob Koigi
Stamp Free Limited, the digital postage stamp company, has launched its new Digitrack app, an AI-based postal validation and tracking app for carriers.


Berlin-based investment platform Moonfare raises $125m Series C to accelerate global growth
Published: 02-11-2021 | 13:03:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Moonfare, the digital private equity investment platform for individual investors, raised $125 million in Series C funding, led by New York-based Insight Partners, to continue to develop innovative investment solutions and accelerate its international expansion.


Kenyan fintech startup Kwara partners with Lami Technologies to give SACCO members access to insurance products
Published: 02-11-2021 | 12:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kenyan digital banking fintech startup Kwara has partnered with insurance technology company, Lami Technologies, to provide SACCO members with affordable and transformational insurance products.


Kenyan-based payroll startup Workpay expands to Nigeria
Published: 02-11-2021 | 11:34:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Workpay, a Nairobi-based YC graduate, is expanding its operations to Nigeria. The cloud-based workforce management startup will now offer Core HR, Payroll, and employee record services to organizations in the country.


Israeli mobile app startup Bites raises $5m seed funding for next-gen employee-communications and training application
Published: 22-10-2021 | 14:17:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Bites, a game-changing player in the employee communications and training industry, announced the completion of its seed funding round, raising $5 million.


Nortal acquires minority stake in cybersecurity startup Talgen
Published: 20-10-2021 | 15:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Digital transformation company Nortal has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire minority stake in the cybersecurity startup Talgen to bolster cybersecurity capabilities and unlock new opportunities in Europe, North America, and the GCC countries.


Israeli deep learning development startup Deci raises $21m to accelerate commercial growth
Published: 20-10-2021 | 15:03:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Deci, the deep learning development company that helps enterprises build, optimize, and deploy AI to production, announced it has raised a $21 million Series A round led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners.


Google selects nine Kenyan startups to receive equity-free funding via its Africa Investment Fund
Published: 19-10-2021 | 07:40:00 | By: Pie Kamau
During its very first “Google for Africa” event held early this month, Google announced it will be investing up to $50 million in African early- and growth-stage startups via its Africa Investment Fund.


Google to invest $50m equity-based fund in African startups
Published: 15-10-2021 | 10:57:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Tech giant Google announced it plans to invest up to $50 million in African early- and growth-stage startups via its Africa Investment Fund.


[Startup Interview] Femi Apesin, OnePipe Growth & Marketing Lead, Nigeria
Published: 08-10-2021 | 14:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Femi Apesin is the Head of Growth and Marketing at OnePipe, a Nigerian startup that has raised almost US$1 million in a pre-seed round with a plan to make API integration seamless for banks and fintech companies.


Delivery startup Glovo expands its African footprints
Published: 23-09-2021 | 16:02:01 | By: Pie Kamau
Leading multi-category delivery platform Glovo recently announced the expansion of its operations in Africa, to include Ghana and Tunisia, bringing its current operations to a total of seven countries on the continent.


[Column] Patrick Ndegwa: Growing a successful tech startup in Kenya, 4 key elements
Published: 23-09-2021 | 15:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The tech scene in Kenya is thriving. Even amid a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, and election fever, our dynamic African country has found a way to cut through the clutter and establish itself as the world’s ‘Silicon Savannah’.


UCLG Africa and 01Talent Africa target over 500,000 youth with digital training
Published: 23-09-2021 | 13:00:00 | By: Bob Koigi
The UCLG Africa - 01Talent partnership aims to train more than 500,000 talents on the continent free of charge and according to the best global standards over the next 10 years.


Rose Technology startup raises $5.5m seed round to change the way companies generate revenue from data
Published: 22-09-2021 | 16:46:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Rose Technology, founded by data scientist and former global macro investor Alexander Campbell, raised $5.5 million to change the way data-driven companies collect, analyze, and generate revenue from data.


Employee wellness early-stage tech startup Three Good announces seed round to fuel growth
Published: 22-09-2021 | 16:16:00 | By: Pie Kamau
A new employee wellness technology startup based in Los Angeles, Three Good, announced its seed round of funding. The employee well-being platform leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) and traditional Psychology best practices to beat employee burnout.


Berlin-based Workist exits stealth to create global AI business connectivity layer
Published: 17-09-2021 | 11:39:10 | By: Pie Kamau
Workist, the company applying cutting-edge, deep-learning technology to automate business transactions, exited stealth and introduced its flagship product WorKI, an intelligent document processing tool that leverages advanced artificial intelligence.


Canadian machine learning startup Private AI secures $3.15m seed round to streamline privacy compliance for enterprises
Published: 16-09-2021 | 12:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Private AI, a developer of privacy-preserving machine learning and natural language processing tools, announced it has secured $3.15 million in seed funding to improve its product offering.


ITRI partners with Arm to provide resources for innovative IC design startups in Taiwan
Published: 15-09-2021 | 16:49:37 | By: Pie Kamau
To promote Taiwanese local IC design startups, the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is supporting the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Arm, in providing critical resources.


Canadian machine learning startup CruxOCM raises $6m venture financing to accelerate growth
Published: 15-09-2021 | 16:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
CruxOCM, the pioneer of robotic industrial process automation (RIPA) for control room operations, announced it has raised $6 million in venture financing to fuel growth.


Tech startup KUDO launches live captioning for multilingual meetings
Published: 14-09-2021 | 16:23:01 | By: Pie Kamau
KUDO Inc., the multilingual meeting SaaS company built around a B2B managed marketplace powered by the largest network of professional conference interpreters, announced the addition of live captioning to its list of platform features.


Huobi Ventures launches $10m fund to accelerate innovative GameFi projects
Published: 14-09-2021 | 15:13:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Huobi Ventures, the global investment arm of Huobi Group, announced the launch of a new $10 million fund to invest in emerging GameFi projects around the world.


Next-gen research platform Litmaps closes $125K seed-stage investment from Quidnet Ventures
Published: 02-09-2021 | 12:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Litmaps, a Science software company based in Wellington, New Zealand has received NZ$125,000 in funding from Quidnet Ventures, a New Zealand-based venture capital fund with operations in Auckland, NZ, San Francisco and New York.


Egyptian B2B e-commerce startup MaxAB acquires distribution platform WaystoCap
Published: 25-08-2021 | 13:05:58 | By: Bob Koigi
MaxAB, Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform that serves food and grocery retailers, has acquired WaystoCap, the Morocco-based B2B e-commerce and distribution platform that connects retailers with suppliers across Africa.


Four Southern Africa’s innovative legal startups proceed to HiiL Justice Accelerator
Published: 17-08-2021 | 12:43:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) has announced the four startups that will go on to the prestigious HiiL Justice Accelerator. The four innovators are part of a global cohort of 18 organisations who will receive €10 000 funding and business development support.


Ghanaian startup Plendify launches B2B e-Commerce marketplace
Published: 17-08-2021 | 12:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Ghanaian startup Plendify has launched a B2B e-Commerce marketplace to connect customers with small and large African wholesalers, manufacturers, exporters, and importers.


Ecobank launches 2021 edition of its fintech challenge for African startups
Published: 11-08-2021 | 12:59:14 | By: Pie Kamau
The pan-African banking group, Ecobank group, is inviting African fintech entrepreneurs to join the 4th edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge.


Naspers Foundry leads $8.3m Series A investment in South African insurtech startup Naked
Published: 06-08-2021 | 14:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Naspers, through its early-stage tech investment vehicle Naspers Foundry, invested $8.3 million (R120 million) in Naked, the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven insurtech startup that offers full digital insurance to cars, homes, and valuables.


Tech executive Mark Bregman launches Quidnet Ventures, a venture capital fund based in New Zealand
Published: 03-08-2021 | 12:41:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Mark Bregman, a successful tech executive and entrepreneur, has launched Quidnet Ventures, a venture capital fund based in New Zealand and operated out of New Zealand, San Francisco and New York City.


Philadelphia Eagles Rookie Wide Receiver Devonta Smith joins tech startup LifeBrand
Published: 03-08-2021 | 12:24:40 | By: Pie Kamau
LifeBrand, a tech startup that offers solutions to help build and protect personal and corporate brands on social media, has teamed up with Philadelphia Eagles Rookie Wide Receiver DeVonta Smith to take their game to the next level.


Confluera named top cybersecurity startup in 2021 Black Unicorn Awards
Published: 03-08-2021 | 11:26:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Confluera, the provider of next-generation cloud detection and response, has been named a winner in the "Top 10 Cybersecurity Startups" category of this year's 2021 Black Unicorn Awards, by Cyber Defense Magazine.


Expert DOJO commits $5m to invest in female-founded African startups
Published: 30-07-2021 | 15:08:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Expert DOJO is committing $5 million fund to invest in early-stage African startups over the next 6-months. Expert DOJO will host the Africa-only cohort this September, marking the beginning of a long-term commitment.


Nigerian healthtech startup Field Intelligence expands into eleven new cities across East and West Africa
Published: 29-07-2021 | 14:26:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigerian healthtech startup Field Intelligence announced its expansion into Rivers, Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Delta and Kwara States in Nigeria, and Eldoret, Mombasa, Kisumu and Naivasha in Kenya.


Middle East startup Workfam joins disruptive tech portfolio of GELLIFY and Azimut
Published: 27-07-2021 | 12:20:00 | By: Pie Kamau
UAE based startup, Workfam, the employee engagement SaaS platform that supports organizations with their mission to create a happy, healthy, and highly engaged workforce, has joined the portfolio of GELLIFY.


Workflow startup Symbolic Frameworks launches from stealth to debut Protagonist, a visual and collaborative decision-making app
Published: 23-07-2021 | 16:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Symbolic Frameworks (Symbolic), a provider of workflow applications that help make idea generation, decision making, and prioritization more collaborative, faster and higher quality, is launching from stealth.


Oxford Foundry partners with FMDQ Private Markets to accelerate Nigeria’s startup ecosystem
Published: 23-07-2021 | 15:13:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Oxford Foundry and FMDQ Private Markets have launched a global partnership to accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s startup ecosystem.


BIND 4.0 opens sixth call for innovative tech startups around the world
Published: 21-07-2021 | 13:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Open Innovation & Acceleration Program, BIND 4.0, has just launched its sixth edition open call to search for the most innovative technology startups around the world.


Israeli Start-Up Nation Central appoints Avi Hasson as new CEO
Published: 16-07-2021 | 14:45:52 | By: Pie Kamau
Start-Up Nation Central, the independent not-for-profit organization connecting global corporations, investors, and governments to the Israeli tech innovation ecosystem, announced the appointment of Avi Hasson as its next Chief Executive Officer.


Frisco-based startup Apty raises $7.5m Series A funding to grow its DAP software
Published: 14-07-2021 | 13:03:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) Apty secured $7.5 million in Series A funding. Apty develops DAP software catering to Enterprises with complex business processes, enabling them to maximize the adoption of software and processes.


Banque Misr partners with Microsoft to support fintech startups in Egypt
Published: 14-07-2021 | 12:11:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Banque Misr signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with Microsoft Egypt to launch the first open innovation program in the Egyptian market, enabling a spurt in fintech startup growth.


Kenyan startup Marketforce appoints Ore Omolaja as Country Manager, Head of Business for Nigeria
Published: 14-07-2021 | 12:06:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Marketforce, the Kenyan-based B2B platform for retail distribution of consumer goods and digital financial services in Africa, announced the appointment of Ore Omolaja as the Nigeria Country Manager and Head of Business, effective 15th July 2021.


South African startup Omnisient raises $1.4m for global expansion
Published: 14-07-2021 | 11:53:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Omnisient, a secure data collaboration platform, has achieved its second raise this year totalling $1.4 million. The investments will be used to expand the Omnisient team, accelerate product development and drive international expansion.


Miami-based startup GathR Virtual Studios raises $2.7m to evolutionize hybrid working
Published: 12-07-2021 | 16:09:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Miami-based startup, GathR Virtual Studios completed a pre-seed round to fund its innovative take on the widely used two-dimensional home-office meeting "apps" made popular during the COVID-19 shutdown.


Hypersonic tech startup Velontra names Retired Major General Craig Whelden as its Inaugural President
Published: 12-07-2021 | 15:10:54 | By: Pie Kamau
Retired Major General Craig Whelden has been named the Inaugural President of Velontra, a startup with the mind power to accelerate America's development of hypersonic technology.


IFC invests in Vantage Capital’s mezzanine fund to support fast-growing companies in Africa
Published: 12-07-2021 | 14:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
IFC announced an investment in a new mezzanine fund managed by Vantage Capital, a mezzanine funding provider on the continent, which will provide capital to fast-growing companies in Africa.


Customer experience startup Officium Labs launches WorkForward brand
Published: 08-07-2021 | 11:24:59 | By: Pie Kamau
Officium Labs, a unique customer experience startup, has launched a new suite of enhanced workforce management (WFM) tools under the brand "WorkForward."


Kameo startup launches vaccine passport for the entertainment production industry
Published: 02-07-2021 | 13:00:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kameo, the provider of flexible mobile COVID-19 testing services for the entertainment production industry, announced the launch of its vaccine passport, an additional feature on its digital platform.


Tech startup Drata raises $25m Series A to accelerate rapid growth of its security and compliance automation platform
Published: 24-06-2021 | 13:15:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Drata, a next-gen security and compliance automation company, announced $25 million in Series A funding led by GGV Capital. The new financing comes six months after the company's initial seed round and launch out of stealth.


Cybersecurity startup Hive Pro secures $3m in seed funding
Published: 23-06-2021 | 14:27:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Silicon Valley-based Hive Pro, creator of Predictive Vulnerability Analytics (PVA), announced it has closed $3 million in seed financing led by Simpra Holdings.


Ethiopian-based startup Gabeya launches its revamped marketplace
Published: 22-06-2021 | 12:49:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Gabeya, the Pan-African source for freelance professional talent, has expanded its revamped marketplace, the first of its kind in terms of reach in Africa.


SynFutures startup raises $14m Series A funding to democratize derivative markets
Published: 18-06-2021 | 12:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Decentralized derivatives exchange SynFutures, announced the close of a $14 million Series A round of financing led by Polychain Capital with participation from Framework, Pantera Capital, Bybit, Wintermute, CMS, Kronos, and IOSG Ventures.


Farmtech startup Iron Ox hires first CFO, Head of Marketing as company prepares for growth
Published: 18-06-2021 | 12:30:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Iron Ox, a farming innovation company with deep expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence, hired its first Chief Financial Officer and its first Head of Marketing as the company accelerates growth and expands its commercial footprint.


IFC launches program to support startups expand across the Maghreb region
Published: 08-06-2021 | 12:24:00 | By: Pie Kamau
IFC launched a new advisory program aimed at making it easier for startups in Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, expand their operations across North Africa.


Moroccan Digital Development Agency, GrowIN Portugal launch initiative to support startups internationalization
Published: 07-06-2021 | 14:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Moroccan Digital Development Agency (ADD) and GrowIN Portugal have launched an initiative to support Moroccan and Portuguese startups internationalization by signing a strategic agreement.


Kenya's Industrialization Ministry launches Startup Savanna, a business acceleration programme for early-stage startups
Published: 04-06-2021 | 08:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Kenyan Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development (MoITED), launched Startup Savanna, an international business acceleration programme that will link Kenyan startups to global angel investors.


Cloud startup Golioth announces private beta launch and $2.5m seed round
Published: 03-06-2021 | 14:13:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Golioth, the cloud platform for hardware developers, announced a $2.5 million seed round in conjunction with a private beta launch for developers.


Networking startup Linq completes $2.5m seed round fundraise to accelerate growth
Published: 28-05-2021 | 13:34:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Linq, a networking tech startup, announced the successful completion of a $2.5 million seed round fundraise led by Mucker Capital. The investment will largely be used to grow the Linq team.


Aussie legaltech startup goes global wiith COVID-19 diagnosis tool
Published: 26-05-2021 | 16:15:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Australian legaltech startup Rulestar is demonstrating how its software, built to automate complex legal documents, can improve COVID-19 decision-making.


Canadian startup OpenUnit closes $1m seed round for expansion
Published: 24-05-2021 | 14:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
OpenUnit, a Y Combinator-backed all-in-one commerce platform for self-storage facilities, announced that it has raised a $1 million seed investment round with participation from luminaries in the real estate and technology industries.


Chinese AI robotics startup Mech-Mind completes Series C funding
Published: 24-05-2021 | 14:31:35 | By: Pie Kamau
Chinese AI industrial robotics startup, Mech-Mind Robotics (Mech-Mind), completed Series C funding led by tech giant Meituan, bringing Mech-Mind's total funding to over $100 million, making Mech-Mind one of the world's most funded AI+ industrial robotics startups.


Five women-led tech startups awarded $10k funding by Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator in Kenya
Published: 20-05-2021 | 14:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Standard Chartered Bank has awarded 5 women-led businesses with KES 1,000,000 each. The businesses were picked from the 4th cohort of the Standard Chartered Bank Women in Tech incubation program.


Canadian startup Agnostiq secures $2m seed round to further develop SaaS-based quantum solutions
Published: 14-05-2021 | 12:16:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Agnostiq, Inc., the quantum computing SaaS startup, has raised $2 million in seed funding to support the continued development of its software platform.


[Column] Achare Takor: Incentives for promoting innovative ICT start-ups in Cameroon
Published: 13-05-2021 | 13:56:31 | By: Bob Koigi
With ICT set to become the engine of development in Cameroon in its role as a hub in the Central Africa sub-region, the 2021 tax scheme has been updated to promote innovative ICT start-ups.


Israeli AI-powered identity and security management startup Authomize secures $16m to accelerate growth
Published: 13-05-2021 | 12:28:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Authomize, the Identity and Security Management Platform (IDSM), announced the close of $16 million in Series A funding. Innovation Endeavors led the round with participation from return investors Blumberg Capital, Entree Capital and M12.


Venture capital firm TampaBay.Ventures launches $20m seed fund to support regional tech startups
Published: 12-05-2021 | 11:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
New venture capital firm TampaBay.Ventures, has launched its first $20 million seed fund in order to support the growing tech scene in the Tampa Bay region.


Robotics startup ViaBot announces public launch with $6.1m in funding
Published: 11-05-2021 | 11:11:00 | By: Pie Kamau
ViaBot, a robotics startup bringing maintenance and management automation to large properties, announced its public launch with $6.1 million in funding.


The Batchery introduces next wave of innovative startups in Berkeley, California
Published: 06-05-2021 | 11:12:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Batchery announced its 12th Demo Day featuring eleven early-stage startups from the Berkeley-based incubator's intensive Deep Dive program.


Asset management startup JupiterOne raises $30m Series B funding to accelerate growth
Published: 05-05-2021 | 13:05:00 | By: Pie Kamau
JupiterOne, the provider of cyber asset management and governance solutions, announced a $30-million Series B funding round led by Sapphire Ventures to support the company's rapid growth in revenue, customers, and employees.


interviewIA secures $2m seed round to expand HR tech product offerings
Published: 04-05-2021 | 12:17:00 | By: Pie Kamau
interviewIA, a technology platform that manages all aspects of the job interview workflow to enable the coexistence of equitable and efficient hiring, has raised $2 million in its seed round.


South Korean Government attracts global startups with its acceleration program K-Startup Grand Challenge 2021
Published: 30-04-2021 | 12:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Startups from around the world are now able to apply to K-Startup Grand Challenge 2021, South Korea's government-backed global acceleration program.


Lacuna Fund announces second round of funding to projects supporting Natural Language Processing technologies Across Africa
Published: 29-04-2021 | 16:13:59 | By: Pie Kamau
The partner organisations behind Lacuna Fund implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, announced the second cohort of supported projects.


Israeli enterprise AI startup BeyondMinds joins NVIDIA Inception
Published: 28-04-2021 | 17:00:12 | By: Pie Kamau
BeyondMinds, the enterprise AI startup that has built the first universally applicable and easily adaptable AI platform providing production-grade AI solutions at rapid speed, announced it has joined NVIDIA Inception.


Suntory America, Runway partner to scout, engage and invest in startups
Published: 28-04-2021 | 16:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Runway Innovation Hub, a Silicon Valley innovation consulting company, announced its partnership with Suntory America, one of the world's consumer products companies.


Accenture invests in Nigerian fintech startup Okra
Published: 27-04-2021 | 15:47:20 | By: Pie Kamau
Accenture announced an investment, through Accenture Ventures, in Nigeria-based fintech company Okra, an open finance data infrastructure startup serving the rapidly expanding African financial services market.


Data transformation startup Veryfi raises Series A to unlock unstructured data power
Published: 27-04-2021 | 10:38:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Veryfi, an AI-based data transformation platform for enterprise and technology corporations, announced a $12 million Series A financing round led by NewView Capital.


Fact.MR redefines the way startups access market research
Published: 21-04-2021 | 12:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
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.


Nigerian last-mile delivery startup Kwik Delivery releases Prestashop plugin
Published: 20-04-2021 | 10:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
After the release of its plugins for Shopify and Magento, Kwik Delivery has released its plugin for Prestashop.


Twenty-two startups join second cohort of UNICEF StartUp Lab in Ghana
Published: 20-04-2021 | 10:41:00 | By: Pie Kamau
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
Published: 20-04-2021 | 09:53:34 | By: Pie Kamau
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
Published: 20-04-2021 | 09:44:00 | By: Pie Kamau
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
Published: 20-04-2021 | 09:36:42 | By: Pie Kamau
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
Published: 16-04-2021 | 09:43:00 | By: Pie Kamau
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.


SWARM Engineering startup raises $2.7m in seed funding led by S2G Ventures and Serra Ventures
Published: 16-04-2021 | 08:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SWARM Engineering, the next generation of cognitive software for the food supply chain, announced it closed funding for a $2.7 million seed round.


HawkEye 360 secures $55m Series C funding round to support expansion of satellite startup's infrastructure
Published: 13-04-2021 | 14:45:00 | By: Pie Kamau
HawkEye 360, the global commercial provider of space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, announced it has secured $55 million in additional funding, bringing its total raised to over $155 million.


Berkeley-based incubator Batchery announces new cohort of startups, "Batch 12"
Published: 12-04-2021 | 14:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Eleven early-stage startups have joined the Batchery's three-month Deep Dive program for entrepreneurs. The program focuses on helping startups get over their first set of growth hurdles.


Cyber security startup Calamu raises $2.4m seed to pioneer auto-healing data protection
Published: 09-04-2021 | 09:48:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Calamu, a data protection and resiliency trailblazer, announced it has emerged from stealth after closing $2.4 million in an oversubscribed seed round.


QBE seeks entrepreneurs and start-ups to create more resilient cities
Published: 02-04-2021 | 10:43:54 | By: Bob Koigi
QBE North America has partnered with non-profit organization Leading Cities to launch the QBE AcceliCITY Urban Resilience Challenge for the third consecutive year.


Nigerian tech start-up Newwaves Ecosystems launches Africa’s first virtual meeting solution
Published: 02-04-2021 | 08:14:17 | By: Bob Koigi
Known as Konn3ct, the new App was developed by a young company, called Newwaves Ecosystems, led by former Chams Nigeria executive, Femi Williams.


OpenBots startup secures $5m of capital in seed funding to democratize automation technologies
Published: 31-03-2021 | 14:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
OpenBots, the enterprise RPA platform with its innovative zero-cost bot licensing model, announced the raise of $5 million from undisclosed private investors in its capital seed round.


Polymer Solutions closes $1m seed round to secure SaaS platforms
Published: 31-03-2021 | 13:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Polymer Solutions, the 'virtual compliance officer' for SaaS, a next-gen data loss protection platform, announced the closing of its $1 million seed funding.


Clinical data analytics technology innovator SciMar ONE selected to join Microsoft for Startups
Published: 31-03-2021 | 13:08:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SciMar ONE has been selected as the newest member of Microsoft for Startups to help scale its proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug development platform, The Scientific Data Engine (SDE).


Angolan startup Manifexto creates fact-checker based on Artificial Intelligence
Published: 30-03-2021 | 10:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Manifexto, a startup from Angola, has created a fact-checker based on Artificial Intelligence. Known as Nuxo, the solution uses a machine learning algorithm that allows quick and accurate identification of fake news.


[Startup Interview] Noel Wilson, Lars Evers, Founders, Jellow, Netherlands
Published: 26-03-2021 | 15:21:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Jellow is an on-demand freelance startup that seeks to connect companies with freelancers directly eliminating the hustle that comes with using intermediaries. The startup’s founders Noel Wilson & Lars Evers explain.


[Interview] Esinam Yevu, Co-Founder, PayBox, Ghana
Published: 26-03-2021 | 12:52:09 | By: Bob Koigi
Esinam Yevu is Co-Founder and Communications Lead at Ghanaian fintech startup, PayBox


SOSA teams up with the CTA to scale Canadian cyber startups in the U.S
Published: 26-03-2021 | 10:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SOSA, the global open innovation company, announced its partnership with the Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA), to launch the next CTA Cybersecurity, Privacy & Compliance Virtual Program in New York.


Tech startup Fast reopens San Francisco headquarters
Published: 25-03-2021 | 09:01:00 | By: Pie Kamau
In accordance with local guidelines, Fast became one of the first companies to reopen its San Francisco headquarters at 25% capacity on March 24.


Canadian startup Arteria AI raises $11m on oversubscribed Series A to accelerate growth in global financial institutions
Published: 23-03-2021 | 14:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Arteria AI, a global player in enterprise digital contracting, announced the closing of an oversubscribed Series A funding round, led by Information Venture Partners and Illuminate Financial Management.


No-code business intelligence startup y42 raises $2.9m for scalable and affordable data stack
Published: 23-03-2021 | 12:53:00 | By: Pie Kamau
y42 (formerly Datos Intelligence), a no-code business intelligence platform, announced a seed round of $2.9 million, led by La Famiglia VC. Additional investors include the co-founders of Foodspring, Personio and Petlab.


Czech startup Tropic Square receives €4m investment to develop first open-source security chip in the world
Published: 22-03-2021 | 15:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Czech startup Tropic Square, which is part of SatoshiLabs Group, is planning to finalize development and start testing the first fully transparent and auditable security chip in the world.


UK's Cyber vulnerability startup RankedRight secures $500K in seed funding
Published: 22-03-2021 | 15:30:00 | By: Pie Kamau
RankedRight, the new platform which has been predicted to supercharge the efficiency of IT security teams across the world, secured $500,000 in seed funding.


Kenyan startup Ajua, MTN Nigeria launch Customer Management mobile app for SMEs
Published: 15-03-2021 | 16:01:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kenyan based startup Ajua has partnered with MTN Nigeria to launch EnGauge, a digital e-Commerce customer engagement management mobile app to support SMEs.


Boost Ghana and KudiGo selected for Catalyst Fund Inclusive Digital Commerce accelerator
Published: 15-03-2021 | 15:37:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Catalyst Fund Inclusive Digital Commerce Accelerator announced the first cohort of digital commerce companies to be scaled, with the goal of improving the livelihoods of informal MSEs in Ghana.


Nigerian startup Kwik Delivery officially launches its just-in-time delivery service in Abuja
Published: 15-03-2021 | 15:25:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigerian startup Kwik Delivery announced it officially made available its breakthrough, just-in time delivery service to businesses, government agencies and merchants in Abuja.


IFC invests in Savannah Fund to support Africa’s tech startups funding growth
Published: 11-03-2021 | 12:23:00 | By: Pie Kamau
IFC announced an investment in the Savannah Fund, a technology seed fund in Africa, to increase lending to startups across sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and disruptive companies in high-growth sectors.


Riviera Partners creates Riviera Ventures through Arete Partners acquisition
Published: 11-03-2021 | 09:51:44 | By: Pie Kamau
Riviera Partners, the Executive Search firm for engineering, product, and design leadership roles, announces the strategic acquisition of Arete Partners.


Three Kenyan startups among recipients of $2m African Jua fund
Published: 11-03-2021 | 09:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Three startups from Kenya are among the recipients of the inaugural $2 million Jua Fund, the largest African venture capital fund by a private individual.


Exabel closes $9m seed round to accelerate new data partnerships, launches alternative data insights product
Published: 10-03-2021 | 15:37:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Exabel, the simple-to-use Al, analytics and data platform for investment teams, announced it has closed a fourth seed investment round from investor AWC, bringing its total capital raised to over $21 million.


British startup QUVRY launches free iOS videocasting app for high-quality video calls
Published: 10-03-2021 | 14:57:28 | By: Pie Kamau
British startup QUVRY announced the launch of its free iOS videocasting app for high-quality video calls, to transform the video call experience.


7T launches Foundation Program to propel startups forward with innovative mobile apps & custom software
Published: 10-03-2021 | 14:41:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Cutting-edge Dallas software development company 7T, Inc. has officially re-launched its Foundation Program, designed to provide startups with an actionable implementation plan for the development of a custom mobile app or software platform.


3Lines VC invests in deep tech startup Edgetensor
Published: 09-03-2021 | 14:14:07 | By: Pie Kamau
3Lines Venture Capital announced it is leading the investment in a bridge to Series A round for Dallas,TX, based Edgetensor Technologies, an early stage company pioneering a revolutionary 'AI at the Edge' technology.


Cybersecurity startup ActZero announces its public launch with $40 million investment
Published: 09-03-2021 | 14:00:00 | By: Pie Kamau
ActZero, a cybersecurity startup whose mission is to make cybersecurity accessible and scalable to small and mid-sized businesses by complementing managed detection and response services with artificial intelligence, announced its public launch.


Digital marketing startup Rollick secures $8.5m in funding
Published: 05-03-2021 | 11:49:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Rollick Inc., which operates the GoRollick Powersports, RV, and Boat Buying Program Marketplace, announced the closing of $8.5 million in funding.


Companion raises $8m seed round to use machine learning and computer vision to talk to dogs
Published: 05-03-2021 | 11:30:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Companion announced $8 million in Seed funding to transform how people train, engage and communicate with their dogs. The funding comes from leading institutional investors and VCs along with some of the largest pet companies and charities in the world.


Startup Space announces two new hires to fuel growth, continue expansion
Published: 04-03-2021 | 11:28:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Startup Space, the innovative platform for entrepreneurship community building, announced the appointment of Reneida Leon as Head of Product and Molly King as Associate Director of Client Experience.


Indian tech startup Mokusei announces $500 Press Challenge
Published: 04-03-2021 | 10:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Social impact & education centric tech startup Mokusei Intelligence (Mokusei), which funds & sponsors up to 100% of education or travel expenses of people, is on the lookout for talented communicators for their upcoming projects.


Interlace Ventures adds new venture partners to expand strategic investments in tech-enabled commerce
Published: 03-03-2021 | 09:39:48 | By: Pie Kamau
Interlace Ventures announced it has expanded its team with two commerce technology luminaries. Vibhu Norby and Sydney Werber will join as venture partners while retaining their respective roles at b8ta and Avise.


Remote collaboration startup Parabol raises $8m in Series A funding led by Microsoft's M12
Published: 03-03-2021 | 09:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Parabol, an Agile meeting platform, secured a Series A investment of $8 million led by M12, Microsoft's venture fund, with continued participation from CRV, Haystack, Techstars, and others.


Silicon Road Ventures announces $31m close of fund
Published: 02-03-2021 | 15:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Silicon Road Ventures today announced the close of its $31 million fund focused on commerce tech. Silicon Road invests in US-based technology startups ranging from seed to series A across e-commerce, retail and CPG.


Nigerian startup Kwik Delivery expands its delivery service to 4-wheels vehicles
Published: 02-03-2021 | 15:28:39 | By: Pie Kamau
Kwik Delivery has announced today that it is expanding its app-based breakthrough delivery service to 4-wheels delivery vehicles.


African focused VC HAVAÍC announces the launch of its newest fund
Published: 02-03-2021 | 15:22:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Following a successful 2020 comprising eight new investments and three international exits, African focused venture capital (VC) investor HAVAÍC has announced the launch of its newest fund.


AI startup Roviero raises $6.6m oversubscribed Seed round to deliver full stack Native Graph AI Processor
Published: 25-02-2021 | 09:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Roviero, a Silicon Valley artificial intelligence startup, received $6.6 million in Series Seed funding to build a disruptive and industry first Native Graph AI Processor.


Detroit-based tech startup InvestNext raises $600K seed round to democratize real estate investing
Published: 25-02-2021 | 09:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
InvestNext, the technology company that streamlines fundraising, communication and payout for real estate investors, announced the closing of a seed round of $600,000 to grow its team and online platform.


Fintech startup Finix exceeds $100m in funding, adds execs from Google, Tesla, and Uber to its C-Suite
Published: 25-02-2021 | 08:05:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Finix, the payments infrastructure company helping vertical SaaS companies transform their businesses through payments, surpassed $100 million in total funding, allocating 10% of its most recent funding round for Black and Latinx investors.


Greek startups put out a call for international talent
Published: 24-02-2021 | 12:09:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Endeavor Greece, the Greek chapter of the global organisation supporting the rise of new ecosystems, announced it will launching a new platform targeting skilled tech experts abroad, both Greek and non-Greek.


[Startup Interview] Aaron Mirck, Co-Founder, Presscloud, Netherlands
Published: 24-02-2021 | 10:09:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Dutch startup Presscloud allows companies to handle public relations without the need for an agency by training users on the ABCs of PR and connecting them to a database of journalists and an online newsroom.


Tallinn-based venture capital fund Yolo invests in digital marketing specialists eCartic
Published: 23-02-2021 | 07:47:48 | By: Pie Kamau
Venture capital fund Yolo Investments has made a significant investment into digital marketing specialists and venture hub eCartic.


Teleporter mobile app 360VUZ joins first "Google for Startups Accelerator" in the MENA region
Published: 23-02-2021 | 07:34:00 | By: Pie Kamau
360VUZ, the immersive video mobile app was selected to join the first ever "Google for Startups Accelerator" in the MENA region, that is held by Google as part of its "Grow Stronger with Google Initiative"


Async Art startup secures over $2m in seed funding
Published: 19-02-2021 | 12:20:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Async Art a Silicon Valley-based art platform revolutionizing the digital art NFT space, announced it secured its primary seed funding.


Cyber security startup SPHERE secures $10m in Series A funding for expansion
Published: 19-02-2021 | 10:57:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SPHERE, a woman-owned cybersecurity business focused on providing best-of-breed software and services for access governance across data, platforms and applications, announced a $10 million series A round led by ForgePoint Capital.


HAVAÍC predicts bumper year for African tech startups
Published: 17-02-2021 | 14:48:07 | By: Bob Koigi
As one of South Africa’s most active Venture Capital investors, HAVAÍC says 2020 saw the commercial adoption of technology increase at unprecedented rates, as illustrated by the performance of HAVAÍC and its portfolio companies.


Founders Future raises additional €50m to accelerate its Tech for Good investments
Published: 15-02-2021 | 14:40:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Founders Future, a venture studio involved in Seed and Series A, announced its new investment capital. With the objective of a new €50 million vehicle by the end of 2021, Founders Future has already raised 40% of the total amount.


Nationwide doubles down on venture capital efforts, expands investment fund to $350m
Published: 12-02-2021 | 10:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nationwide announced the expansion of its venture capital investment fund to $350 million, to be directed into high-growth potential insurance and financial services startups that directly advance Nationwide's strategy.


Data privacy tech startup WireWheel raises $20m in Series B funding for market expansion
Published: 11-02-2021 | 10:01:00 | By: Pie Kamau
WireWheel, a data privacy technology platform, announced $20 million in Series B financing led by ForgePoint Capital, with existing investors also participating in the round, bringing total capital raised by the company to $45 million.


Tech startup Bodyguard expands into the US to protect social media users from toxic online content
Published: 11-02-2021 | 09:21:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Bodyguard, the technology startup that protects users from cyber harassment, hate speech and toxic content online, launched a major US expansion at CES 2021, in line with its vision of creating a safer web around the world.


Software reliability startup Nobl9 secures $21m Series B funding
Published: 11-02-2021 | 09:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nobl9, the software reliability platform company, secured $21 million in Series B funding and launched its flagship product to define the landscape of the next major innovation in cloud infrastructure operations.


Georgia startup BRAVE Innovations races to complete AI-powered voice screening tool to crush COVID-19
Published: 11-02-2021 | 08:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
With innovative AI methods and algorithms, BRAVE Innovations is working tirelessly to increase the number of confidential voice samples recorded at COVIDvoice.net to launch a voice-based COVID-19 screening tool.


Venture philanthropy platform Sparo joins Microsoft for Startups program
Published: 10-02-2021 | 11:51:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Maryland-based early-stage company Sparo has joined the Microsoft for Startups program to scale its trademarked Purchase with a Purpose platform on Microsoft Azure.


[Startup Interview] Wayne Madhlangobe, Co-Founder, Intelius AI, Canada
Published: 10-02-2021 | 08:26:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Intelius AI is a Canadian startup offering an array of advanced analytics consulting services across industries and assisting businesses to leverage artificial intelligence to make confident and informed decisions. The startup's co-founder and CTO, Wayne Madhlangobe, explains.


Startup studio 1888EC partners with Mastercard Foundation to create digital solutions for tourism sector in Ethiopia
Published: 09-02-2021 | 13:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Startup studio 1888EC announced a partnership with the Mastercard Foundation to create Ethiopia's first travel and leisure platform aimed at creating digital solutions and job opportunities within the contry's tourism sector.


Panoramic Ventures launches with $300m fund
Published: 09-02-2021 | 07:08:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Panoramic Ventures announced its formation through a partnership between highly successful entrepreneur and investor Paul Judge and BIP Capital.


Taiwanese blockchain startup ITM collaborates with Microsoft and MediaTek to create out-of-the box solutions for enterprises
Published: 05-02-2021 | 10:58:13 | By: Pie Kamau
Taiwanese blockchain solutions provider International Trust Machines Corporation (ITM) has collaborated with Microsoft and joined MediaTek AIoT Ecosystem to create out-of-the box solutions for enterprises to use blockchain for IoT.


Boston-based data insights startup Resultably helps businesses understand and predict workforce efficiency
Published: 04-02-2021 | 15:49:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Resultably, a data insights platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning launched publicly, integrating with business tools Google, Microsoft, Zoom, Slack, and Zenefits to help companies unlock business insights.


Israeli AI startup Datomize secures $6m seed round for enterprise grade synthetic data solution
Published: 03-02-2021 | 14:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Israeli AI startup Datomize announced the completion of its $6 million seed funding round for the commercialization of its synthetic data solution that accelerates time to market for artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) models and new products.


Healthtech startup HealthTensor raises $5m to augment medical diagnosis with AI
Published: 03-02-2021 | 13:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
HealthTensor, an artificial intelligence company that is creating software to help augment medical decision making, announced it has raised a $5 million seed round of financing led by Calibrate Ventures, TenOneTen Ventures, and Susa Ventures.


Belgian startup Soda raises €11.5m Series A funding to bring everyone closer to data
Published: 02-02-2021 | 13:21:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Soda announced it has raised €11.5 milion Series A financing to accelerate the development of its data monitoring platform that streamlines how teams find the data worth fixing.


Second Front Systems extends seed round funding to $8.1m for immediate impact to national security
Published: 01-02-2021 | 16:02:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Second Front Systems (2F), a public benefit software company that equips defense and national security professionals for long-term, continuous competition for access to emerging technologies, announced an oversubscribed extension of $2.1 million.


Ohio-based geometric deep-learning startup Physna raises $20m Series B funding
Published: 01-02-2021 | 15:09:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Physna, the geometric deep-learning and 3D search solutions company, announced it raised $20 million in Series B funding.


African startup StarNews Mobile launches incubator for South African youths interested in digital film
Published: 01-02-2021 | 14:23:41 | By: Pie Kamau
StarNews Mobile launched its grassroots Youth Initiative incubator in partnership with Solutions on Point to empower young individuals interested in the digital film industry in South Africa.


Former Mastercard President launches Global PayTech Ventures
Published: 29-01-2021 | 11:28:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The former President of Mastercard Europe, Javier Perez, announced the launch of Global PayTech Ventures (GPT), the first venture capital firm focused exclusively on ground-breaking payment technology.


VentureIsrael leads $2.2m seed round in Israeli's maritime cyber security startup Cydome
Published: 28-01-2021 | 12:44:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Israeli early-stage deep tech fund VentureIsrael led Cydome's seed investment round of $2.2 million with participation of private investors from Israel and Singapore.


Canadian startup Tealbook raises $14.4m Series A funding to accelerate growth
Published: 27-01-2021 | 10:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Tealbook, the Trusted Source of Supplier Data, announced it closed $14.4 million on the heels of tremendous growth, in an A round with lead investor, RTP Global.


Digital-legacy startup GoodTrust raises $2.3m in seed funding round, launches new platform
Published: 27-01-2021 | 09:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
GoodTrust, the digital-legacy platform startup, announced it closed a $2.3 million seed funding round led by Bling Capital, Synetro Ventures, Azure Capital Partners and Silicon Valley angel investors including Nikesh Arora, Bobby Lo and Christian Wiklund.


Insurtech startup Joshu raises $3.7m seed round to digitize and modernize commercial insurance
Published: 27-01-2021 | 09:08:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Joshu, an insurtech company that helps insurance carriers launch online distribution channels, announced it closed $3.7 million in seed funding led by Blumberg Capital.


British adtech startup Illuma Technology joins PwC's Raise programme
Published: 27-01-2021 | 08:39:01 | By: Pie Kamau
British adtech startup Illuma Technology, an independent contextual AI specialist, has been selected for capital fundraising through PwC's Raise programme.


Echelon Capital to invest $1 million in early-stage tech startups in Nigeria
Published: 25-01-2021 | 13:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Echelon Capital has announced plans to inject $1 million in funding in Nigerian tech startups beginning February 2021.


VC-backed free money transfer service Taptap Send launches in Kenya
Published: 25-01-2021 | 13:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Taptap Send, a venture-backed startup that lets immigrants send money back home to emerging markets instantly has launched in Kenya.


Analytics startup Quantifind secures $22m financing to accelerate market for automated financial crime and risk investigation
Published: 22-01-2021 | 14:02:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Quantifind, a provider of solutions that use data science to help automate financial crimes investigations announced a strategic growth funding round of $22 million.


Personio secures $125 million funding as it builds Europe’s top HR platform for SMEs
Published: 20-01-2021 | 12:44:13 | By: Bob Koigi
Personio, the all-in-one HR platform, has announced $125 million of new and preemptive Series D funding in an investment round that values the business at $1.7 billion.


University of Chicago’s Polsky Center launches tech accelerator programme for early-stage startups
Published: 20-01-2021 | 12:39:54 | By: Bob Koigi
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago has launched the Compass, a first-of-its-kind deep tech accelerator program for early-stage startups.


Investcorp acquires SaaS based e-commerce solutions provider Unilog
Published: 20-01-2021 | 12:38:04 | By: Bob Koigi
Investcorp has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Unilog, a Software as a Service (SaaS) based e-commerce solutions provider to small and medium businesses based in the United States.


Cybersecurity startup SecurityGate.io releases product update to help security leaders identify overlooked people, process risks
Published: 19-01-2021 | 14:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SecurityGate.io, a risk management SaaS (Software as a Service) for critical infrastructure cybersecurity, announced the release of their new PPT Insight.


VentureIsrael invests in Israeli startup QuantLR, developer of affordable quantum cryptography solution
Published: 19-01-2021 | 13:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
An Israeli deep tech fund VentureIsrael participated in QuantLR's investment round alongside equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd, as well as Jerusalem's early-stage fund and incubator Labs/02.


AI software startup Simporter raises $600K seed round, adds former Nielsen CEO to Board
Published: 18-01-2021 | 16:02:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Simporter, a SaaS startup that uses Artificial Intelligence to predict consumer demand for new products, closed a $600,000 seed round led by European accelerator Startup Wise Guys.


Rescale named to Y Combinator's top companies list
Published: 15-01-2021 | 12:00:25 | By: Pie Kamau
Rescale, the hybrid HPC cloud platform enabling intelligent computing for digital R&D, was named to Y Combinator's Top Companies list, reaffirming its position as a power player among startups.


Minna Technologies raises €15.5 million to expand open banking tech to banks globally
Published: 15-01-2021 | 11:20:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Subscription management software tool Minna Technologies has raised €15.5 million in Series B fundraising led by Element Ventures.


realme promises more products in 2021 as it cements Kenyan market share
Published: 14-01-2021 | 15:30:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Phone manufacturer realme is promising to grow its Kenyan foothold in 2021 through release of new products, riding on a successful 2020.


Tech startup Drata raises $3.2m in seed funding, launches platform to automate SOC 2 Compliance
Published: 14-01-2021 | 11:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Drata, a next-gen compliance and security automation company, came out of stealth and announced $3.2 million in seed funding led by Cowboy Ventures and participation from Leaders Fund, and SV Angel.


[Startup Interview] Tony Botha, Managing Director, carbonTRACK Africa, South Africa
Published: 14-01-2021 | 08:12:00 | By: Bob Koigi
carbonTRACK Africa is a South Africa technology startup that seeks to create a world where energy is consumed sustainably, shared fairly and empowers all people. The ultimate goal is establishing an energy ecosystem that will close the gap between energy supply and demand.


Delivery Hero launches venture capital fund to drive innovation in food delivery
Published: 13-01-2021 | 14:25:01 | By: Bob Koigi
Delivery Hero, the world’s delivery platform, has announced the launch of DX Ventures, an independently managed early-stage venture capital fund with a focus on investing in disruptive founder-led companies.


Ten biggest startup layoffs in 2020 hit 25,500, Uber leads with 30 per cent, report
Published: 13-01-2021 | 14:17:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Data presented by Buy Shares indicates that approximately 25,500 jobs have been lost in the top ten largest startup layoffs amid the pandemic. The layoffs were recorded between March 2020 and January 2021.


Orange launches venture capital arm, allocates €350 million
Published: 12-01-2021 | 16:29:44 | By: Bob Koigi
Orange has announced that its venture capital arm, Orange Ventures has become a separate legal entity with an increased allocation of 350 million euros.


Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro goes global to find entrepreneurs set to unlock the smart connected world
Published: 12-01-2021 | 11:07:55 | By: Pie Kamau
Cybersecurity firm Trend Micro announced it has upped the stakes for its annual tech startup pitch-off competition, the Forward Thinker Award, doubling the first-place cash prize to $20,000.


India's Z3Partners announces first close of Tech & Digital Fund, invests in Cyfirma and DealShare startups
Published: 12-01-2021 | 10:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Z3Partners Tech Fund announced its First Close of $14 million and its investments in Cyfirma, a Cyber Threat Intelligence Software startup and DealShare, a Social Commerce-led online grocery startup.


Kenyan AI startup Gro Intelligence raises $85m in Series B funding
Published: 12-01-2021 | 09:46:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kenyan AI-powered insights startup Gro Intelligence announced the raise of $85 million in Series B funding, co-led by Intel Capital, Africa Internet Ventures and the family offices of Ronald Lauder and Eric Zinterhofer.


[Startup Interview] Prof.Yakubu Makeri, Founder, ICYDT, Uganda
Published: 11-01-2021 | 14:41:00 | By: Bob Koigi
International Center for Youth Development on Technopreneurship, ICYDT, is a Uganda startup working on skills development and reduction of poverty among the youth using information technology. The institution’s founder Prof. Yakubu Makeri explains the startup’s business model and plans to launch an online university.


Italy responds to pandemic with 53 innovative startups at 2021 CES
Published: 11-01-2021 | 14:39:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Against the backdrop of the worst public health crisis in more than a century, the Italian Trade Agency will introduce a new generation of technology startups at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) All Digital from January 11 to 14.


Ntuple launches Korea railroad ticketing system in Google Maps
Published: 11-01-2021 | 14:30:45 | By: Bob Koigi
Ntuple, a South Korean tech startup that focuses on backend technology has announced that it launched the Korea railroad ticketing service ‘ga-G’ in Google maps.


Hootsuite acquires digital customer engagement platform Sparkcentral
Published: 08-01-2021 | 10:13:46 | By: Bob Koigi
Hootsuite has announced its acquisition of Sparkcentral, a SaaS provider enabling the future of digital customer engagement.


Allobee secures funding to grow women-led tech platform for small businesses and startups
Published: 07-01-2021 | 09:18:52 | By: Bob Koigi
Allobee, a managed marketplace for small businesses and startups, has announced that it has secured $500K in a funding round led by Stargazer Ventures and a network of angel investors to further support the company's rapid growth.


Dallas startup mindzie secures $2.3m in seed round for expansion
Published: 06-01-2021 | 12:12:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Dallas startup mindzie, provider of business process optimization software, announced its Seed Capital raise of $2.3 million, to support the company's growth ambitions, the further development of its software platform the mindzie studio.


US job marketplace startup Ajuma Technologies set to launch in West Africa
Published: 05-01-2021 | 10:43:00 | By: Bob Koigi
American and Ghana tech startup Ajuma Technologies, Ltd. has announced their plans to launch in early 2021.


Southeast Asia logistics startup Zeek secures $10 million financing for expansion
Published: 04-01-2021 | 13:35:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Zeek, the Southeast Asia-focused logistics technology startup, announced has secured approximately $10 million in Series Pre-A financing from regional strategic investors and investment funds.


Video template platform Biteable raises $7 million funding to grow global customer base
Published: 04-01-2021 | 13:30:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Biteable, an online video builder has raised $7 million in venture funding led by Cloud Apps Capital Partners.


realme reaches a record 50 million global shipments
Published: 31-12-2020 | 08:10:00 | By: Bob Koigi
As phone maker realme continues to break record by being among the few brands to have unveiled six new smartphones and AIot products in the Kenyan markets within four months, Kenyans consumers have responded with an appetite for the novel products.


Storyboard secures $4.5 million financing to bring consumer podcast boom to the enterprise
Published: 23-12-2020 | 13:38:09 | By: Bob Koigi
Storyboard, the enterprise podcast and audio platform, has announced the closing of $4.5 million in seed funding led by CRV.


Heathtech startup Blueprint secures $3.4m to empower mental health clinicians provide data-driven patient care
Published: 18-12-2020 | 12:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Blueprint, the software company helping mental health clinicians deliver more effective, efficient, and personalized results through measurement-based care, announced a $3.4 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures.


Social impact startup Deed announces $2m fundraise, launch of SaaS technology for brands
Published: 18-12-2020 | 11:32:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Social impact platform Deed announced a $2 million seed round and the launch of its SaaS technology for brands. Launch partners include Stripe and Sweetgreen, among other trailblazing and legacy companies.


Plug and Play partners with SEDA to establish first-mile innovation hub in Savannah, GA
Published: 17-12-2020 | 16:05:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Plug and Play, the Silicon Valley based venture capital firm and corporate innovation platform, announced its partnership with the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA) to establish a First-Mile Logistics innovation hub in Savannah, GA.


GSVlabs rebrands to OneValley to help startup communities pivot online
Published: 17-12-2020 | 15:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
GSVlabs has rebranded as OneValley following the unprecedented growth of Passport, its online platform that expands access to the resources and connections traditionally found in Silicon Valley to innovators anywhere in the world.


Australian AI startup HIVERY partners with JR East Water Business to optimize vending machines in Japan
Published: 16-12-2020 | 15:52:24 | By: Pie Kamau
Retail AI pioneer, HIVERY and JR East Water Business, have agreed to rollout HIVERY Enhance, an AI-driven vending machine optimization solution, to 6,000 vending machines across East Japan Railway's train stations.


54gene, Kobo360, myFanPark, Sokowatch among 12 startups to win AppsAfrica Awards 2020
Published: 16-12-2020 | 15:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
54gene, Kobo360, myFanPark and Sokowatch have been named among the 12 winners of AppsAfrica Awards 2020. The awards celebrates the best startups in mobile and tech from across Africa.


Minnesota-based healthtech startup Ōmcare raises $2.5m for commercialization
Published: 16-12-2020 | 14:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Ōmcare, a Minnesota-based digital health company, announced a $2.5 million investment along with future follow-on investments for its Ōmcare Home Health Hub commercialization.


South Africa agritech startup Aerobotics raises funds for global expansion
Published: 16-12-2020 | 09:05:40 | By: Bob Koigi
FMO and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation have invested in Aerobotics, a South African AgriTech startup developing intelligent tools to the feed the world.


African startup StarNews Mobile secures first funding from Investisseurs & Partenaires
Published: 15-12-2020 | 14:34:32 | By: Pie Kamau
African startup StarNews Mobile, specialized in the field of mobile video, achieved its first fundraising with Investisseurs & Partenaires, a pioneering impact investing group dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa.


Healthtech startup Ilara Health raises $3.75m to provide life-saving diagnostics across sub-Saharan Africa
Published: 15-12-2020 | 10:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Ilara Health, a healthtech startup focused on bringing essential, affordable and life-saving diagnostics to African consumers, raised $3.75 million in Series A funding to expand its diagnostic reach across the continent.


[Startup Interview] James Adebisi, Founder, Xpora Academy, Nigeria
Published: 15-12-2020 | 09:41:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Xpora Academy is a Nigeria-based e-learning platform that equips the youth with in-demand digital skills relevant to the present and future of work.


HexGn, AFRIEF launch startup program to accelerate African youth careers
Published: 15-12-2020 | 08:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
HexGn, a consulting firm known for fast-tracking entrepreneurship and upcoming technologies globally, has joined hands with the Africa Islamic Economic Foundation (AFRIEF), to launch its flagship startup program, HexGn Startup Explore, in Africa.


Smart video interview startup raises $5m to bring recruitment process into the video age
Published: 14-12-2020 | 16:28:00 | By: Pie Kamau
myInterview, a smart video interview platform prioritizing personality in the hiring process, announced a $5 million Seed round led by Aleph, with participation from previous investors Entrée Capital and SeedIL Ventures.


Danish legaltech startup Contractbook raises $9.4m to accelerate data-driven document automation
Published: 14-12-2020 | 16:05:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Contractbook, a legal tech automation company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, announced it has closed on a $9.4 million Series A investment round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from existing investors.


New York-based proptech startup Stuf raises $1.8m to reimagine self-storage for modern users
Published: 14-12-2020 | 15:03:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Self-storage startup Stuf raised $1.8 million in seed funding led by Wilshire Lane Partners and Harlem Capital, to accelerate company's first mover advantage in monetizing underutilized real estate.


Exceed.ai raises $4m for AI assistant to automatically qualify marketing leads
Published: 11-12-2020 | 15:23:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Exceed.ai has raised $4 million in funding for its AI-powered assistant that helps companies scale their marketing and sales operations by automatically qualifying leads through email, webchat, and SMS.


Cybersecurity startup Kapalya closes seed funding round to further enhance its Encryption Management Platform
Published: 11-12-2020 | 15:07:15 | By: Pie Kamau
Kapalya, an enterprise grade cybersecurity startup, closed seed funding round led by Caltrop Holdings, a global holdings company, headquartered in Irvine, California, USA.


Plug and Play launches new office in Chicago, Illinois
Published: 11-12-2020 | 13:53:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Global innovation platform, Plug and Play, announced its newest location in Chicago, Illinois, to focus on connecting startups, corporations, and investors working on innovating the food and beverage industry.


Remote work startup Turing.com announces $32m Series B financing
Published: 11-12-2020 | 13:26:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Turing.com, an automated platform that lets companies hire Silicon Valley caliber remote developers at the touch of a button, announced a $32-million Series B funding round led by $3.3-billion fund WestBridge Capital.


Industrial AI solutions startup MakinaRocks joins NVIDIA Inception
Published: 11-12-2020 | 12:42:40 | By: Pie Kamau
MakinaRocks, a startup based in Seoul and Silicon Valley, specializes in the emerging field of industrial AI software with a primary focus on anomaly detection and intelligent control technology.


Mobility technology startup Ettifos unveils world's first SDR-based 5G NR V2X solution
Published: 09-12-2020 | 15:38:44 | By: Pie Kamau
Ettifos, a U.S.-based connected mobility technology startup, released the world's first software-based 5G NR V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything). Ettifos' technology eclipses that of Qualcomm, the world's largest communication chipset company, by about one year.


Nigerian logistics startup Kobo360, IFC invite for innovative cooling solution projects in Nigeria
Published: 09-12-2020 | 08:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with Kobo360, an African digital logistics platform, announced an open call for innovators from around the world to bring climate-smart, temperature-controlled logistics (TCL) cooling solutions to Nigeria.


Canadian medtech startup Kenota Health raises $11m to bring point-of-care allergy testing to healthcare clinics
Published: 08-12-2020 | 13:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kenota Health, an innovative medical technology company based in Canada, has raised $11 million in funding with the aim of providing rapid and reliable allergy testing for physicians to test and treat more patients within a single clinic visit.


Healthcare startup Centivo raises $34m to help employers deliver affordable, high-quality healthcare to their employees
Published: 08-12-2020 | 13:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Centivo, a new type of digital health plan that is built to save 15% or more compared with traditional insurance carriers and is easy to use for employers and employees, announced it has raised $34 million in Series B funding.


Cybersecurity startup Intezer launches community edition of Intezer Protect
Published: 08-12-2020 | 12:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Cybersecurity startup, Intezer, launched the free community edition of Intezer Protect, a runtime Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP).


Trint raises £5 million to build StoryTech, a new software category
Published: 08-12-2020 | 11:05:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Trint, a UK speech-to-text platform for content creation, has announced the close of its Series A Acceleration round with an investment of £5 million.


South Korean blockchain e-contract startup FirmaChain announces partnership with DTT Alliance
Published: 07-12-2020 | 19:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
South Korea based FirmaChain, a blockchain-based global electronic contract platform, announced it has joined the DTT Alliance (Decentralized Trusted Timestamping Alliance).


Cincinnati-based startup Pay Theory launches new purpose-built payment solution for education
Published: 07-12-2020 | 19:39:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Pay Theory, a Cincinnati-based startup, launched a new payment processing platform with the mission of making school fees and payments straightforward for all involved parties: families, educators, and administrators.


Nigerian Fintech startup CredPal raises $1.5m funding round
Published: 07-12-2020 | 19:24:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigerian consumer credit startup CredPal raised a $1.5million funding round, as the startup prepares to launch its credit cards for consumers in Nigeria.


South African tech startup LetMeIn.to raises R2.2m to scale its visitor and access management platform
Published: 07-12-2020 | 19:16:00 | By: Pie Kamau
South African tech startup LetMeIn.to raised R2.2 million in funding from an undisclosed impact investor to scale up and expand its visitor and access management platform.


Climatetrade announces partnership with Algorand and Investment from Borderless Capital
Published: 04-12-2020 | 14:08:23 | By: Pie Kamau
Climatetrade, a blockchain-marketplace for CO2 carbon offsetting, announced it will leverage the Algorand, a scalable, secure and decentralized digital blockchain technology network to bring its technology to the next level.


Scale Venture Partners announces close of new $600m fund
Published: 04-12-2020 | 13:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Scale Venture Partners announced it has closed Scale Venture Partners Fund VII with $600 million in committed capital.


Cinch Home Services partners with insurance technology startup GloveBox to simplify home management
Published: 04-12-2020 | 13:37:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Cinch Home Services (Cinch), provider of home service solutions, has partnered with GloveBox, an insurance technology that allows policyholders to manage all of their insurance in a single, centralized digital platform.


AI-powered home maintenance startup Dobby secures $1.7m in seed round to accelerate growth
Published: 04-12-2020 | 13:22:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Dobby, an AI-powered home maintenance platform announced its seed capital raise of $1.7 million, to strengthen the company's growth initiatives.


South African startup myFanPark merges with Starsona to create a global celebrity engagement platform
Published: 04-12-2020 | 11:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
South African startup myFanPark has announced its merger with Silicon Valley-based celebrity engagement platform Starsona.


Datawords, French startup FACIL'iti join forces to promote digital inclusion
Published: 03-12-2020 | 15:16:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Datawords Group, a global leader in multicultural technologies, announced the launch of a partnership with FACIL'iti, a French startup offering digital inclusion solution capable of adapting the display of a website to the needs of each internet user.


Mexican gig worker startup Heru raises $1.7m in seed financing
Published: 03-12-2020 | 15:03:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Heru, a new startup that provides the first comprehensive digital worker service platform in Mexico, announced it has raised a $1.7 million pre-seed venture financing.


Tech startup Fylamynt launches with $6.5m seed to automate cloud workflows
Published: 03-12-2020 | 14:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Fylamynt, a cloud automation platform, announced its launch with $6.5 million in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures, Google's AI-focused fund, with additional investment from Mango Capital and Point72 Ventures.


TechnoServe forum to point micro retailers to sustainable digital solutions
Published: 03-12-2020 | 12:45:00 | By: Bob Koigi
International nonprofit economic development organization TechnoServe is partnering with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), to host the 4th Virtual Micro Retail Stakeholder Forum.


Cloud-based startup Segmed raises $2m to advance dataset sharing for medical AI
Published: 02-12-2020 | 15:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Segmed, a cloud-based platform that curates medical data by anonymizing, standardizing and labeling, to accelerate innovation in healthcare, closed $2 million dollars in seed funding led by Blumberg Capital.


Atento's innovation hub launches startup accelerator program and open innovation platform in the U.S
Published: 02-12-2020 | 14:25:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Atento, the largest customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services provider in Latin America, and among the top five companies globally, announced the launch of two programs within the Company's Innovation Hub.


Dutch cyber security startup EclecticIQ raises €20m Series C funding for expansion
Published: 01-12-2020 | 11:26:00 | By: Pie Kamau
EclecticIQ, a global threat intelligence, hunting and response technology provider, has raised €20 million in Series C financing, led by Ace Management, Europe's leading cyber growth investor.


Community app Malaeb joins MENA's sportstech accelerator, Vooora
Published: 01-12-2020 | 07:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Vooora Ventures, the first SportsTech Accelerator in MENA, powered by Kooora.com, the digital sports platform in the Arab World, signed an acceleration partnership agreement with Malaeb, a community app that connects people through sports.


Biometrics startup Levels raises $12m seed round to mainstream Biowearables, improve metabolic health
Published: 30-11-2020 | 15:01:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Levels, the first biowearable system to provide real-time feedback on how your diet impacts your health announced a $12 million seed round led by a16z, one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital firms.


CerraCap Ventures, Exfinity Venture Partners join forces for new growth
Published: 30-11-2020 | 13:48:00 | By: Pie Kamau
CerraCap Ventures and Exfinity Venture Partners announced their global strategic partnership integrating CerraCap's unique Sales & Scale model with Exfinity's stated vision helping develop global enterprise startups leveraging the Indo-US corridor.


25 African tech startups qualify for Seedstars regional competition
Published: 30-11-2020 | 13:27:39 | By: Pie Kamau
25 African tech startups have qualified for the Seedstars World Competition 2020. The startups are among the 94 from emerging markets that were selected to advance to the regional stage of the competition.


South Korean AI startup lululab secures Series B funding led by Netmarble
Published: 30-11-2020 | 13:18:39 | By: Pie Kamau
AI startup lululab, a member company of Born2Global Centre, has successfully attracted Series B funding from Netmarble, Korea's leading game developer, as well as from other companies.


Life science startup Correlia Biosystems closes $7m Series A to enable product launch
Published: 25-11-2020 | 15:23:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Correlia Biosystems, a Berkeley, CA based life science startup, announced it has closed a $7 million Series A financing round with select global investors.


Early-stage venture firm MGV Capital announces initial closing of its new Capital Fund
Published: 25-11-2020 | 15:09:42 | By: Pie Kamau
Early-stage venture capital firm, MGV Capital Group, announced it has held an initial closing of its new fund, MGV Capital Fund, to invest in early stage software technology companies.


Equinix invests $55m to build its third data center in Osaka, Japan
Published: 25-11-2020 | 14:48:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Equinix, the world's digital infrastructure company, announced an initial investment of $55 million to build its third International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Osaka, Japan.


Kilimall targets Kenyan smartphone customers with discounts on realme brands
Published: 25-11-2020 | 13:45:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Kenya’s online shopping platform Kilimall has announced the flash sale of three flagship realme smartphones on Friday 27 November 2020 as part of Black Friday.


Contour Venture Partners closes oversubscribed $82m fourth seed fund
Published: 24-11-2020 | 13:32:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Contour Venture Partners, a New York City based seed stage venture capital firm, announced the closing of Contour Venture Partners IV with $82 million of capital commitments, exceeding its target of $75 million.


Singapore-based Plano wins world's most innovative healthtech startup
Published: 24-11-2020 | 12:45:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Up against 64 global healthtech startups, Plano has emerged as the winner of Galen Growth's World's Most Innovative Healthtech Startup 2020 Award.


Biotech startup Mekonos raises $4.6m for its gene engineering platform
Published: 24-11-2020 | 12:09:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Mekonos, a biotech company launching the first-of-its kind system-on-a-chip (SoC) for targeted ex vivo gene engineering, announced it has completed a $4.6 million financing round.


Israeli consumer intelligence startup Konnecto closes $3.5m seed round, launches 'Reveal & Disrupt'
Published: 23-11-2020 | 16:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Konnecto, the consumer intelligence platform enabling brands to gain visibility into the earliest stages of the consumer journey, announced the completion of a $3.5 million seed round, led by TPY Capital.


African fintech startup Chipper Cash raises $30m backed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
Published: 23-11-2020 | 15:02:00 | By: Pie Kamau
African fintech startup Chipper Cash has secured a $30 million Series B funding round led by Ribbit Capital with participation of Bezos Expeditions, the personal venture capital fund of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.


South African fintech startup Ukheshe to acquire Oltio, strengthens partnership with Mastercard
Published: 23-11-2020 | 07:53:00 | By: Pie Kamau
South African fintech startup Ukheshe announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Oltio, a mobile technology company that developed Mastercard’s QR payment service Masterpass in South Africa.


Kwik Delivery startup partners with Total on e-commerce fulfilment and delivery service in Nigeria
Published: 23-11-2020 | 07:44:26 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigerian e-commerce startup Kwik Delivery has partnered with Total Nigeria, to develop an e-commerce fulfilment and delivery service in Nigeria.


Venture Noire announces second fundraising cycle to support minority owned businesses
Published: 20-11-2020 | 13:18:50 | By: Pie Kamau
Venture Noire, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Black and minority entrepreneurs, announced the completion of its initial program funded by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.


South Korea's StradVision joins NVIDIA Inception program as premier partner
Published: 20-11-2020 | 12:59:59 | By: Pie Kamau
StradVision has joined NVIDIA Inception, a virtual accelerator program designed to nurture companies that are revolutionizing industries with advancements in AI and data sciences.


GR0 launches SEO studio for direct-to-consumer startups
Published: 20-11-2020 | 12:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Digital marketing agency GR0 has officially launched a startup studio located in the Playa Vista area with a main focus in organic growth for direct-to-consumer startups.


African tech startups secure funding from Orange Ventures MEA Seed Challenge
Published: 19-11-2020 | 11:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Six African tech startups and one Jordanian startup have secured funding from Orange Ventures Africa & Middle East.


Porsche Ventures invests in AI startup Drivably's breakthrough inventory technology
Published: 18-11-2020 | 14:28:47 | By: Pie Kamau
Drivably, an advanced AI company that helps dealers acquire private party inventory from the right markets at the right price, has received an investment from Porsche Ventures to help Drivably further develop its technology and expand its footprint.


Contentsquare unveils incubator accelerator programme to fuel growth of data-driven startups
Published: 18-11-2020 | 13:10:33 | By: Bob Koigi
Digital experience analytics player Contentsquare has launched its first incubator-accelerator programme, Atomic Labs.


Techstars launches sustainability challenge
Published: 18-11-2020 | 13:02:25 | By: Bob Koigi
Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, has announced it is accepting entries for the Techstars Sustainability Challenge from anyone with ideas for how to reduce the significant toll global supply chains have on the environment.


South Africa's MetroFibre Networx completes new capital raise from AIIM and STOA
Published: 18-11-2020 | 11:25:26 | By: Pie Kamau
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), Africa’s infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, has acquired a minority equity stake in MetroFibre Networx, a South African open access fibre network operator.


Ibnsina Pharma acquires 75% stake in Egyptian health and beauty products startup 3elagi
Published: 18-11-2020 | 10:25:12 | By: Pie Kamau
Ibnsina Pharma signed an agreement to acquire 75% stake in Egyptian health and beauty products startup 3elagi Tech, a platform that links pharmacies with patients to order medicines and cosmetics online.


Readout Health startup partners with Apollo Health for management of neurodegenerative disease
Published: 17-11-2020 | 14:10:20 | By: Pie Kamau
Readout Health, a digital biomarker startup, announced partnership with Apollo Health, a health technology leader in neurodegenerative medicine.


UAE fintech startup Sarwa unveils next gen Sarwa X, announces partnership with Saxo Bank
Published: 17-11-2020 | 13:09:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Sarwa, online investment advisory platform for young professionals has unveiled its next-generation Sarwa X, a new product powered by a strategic partnership with Saxo Bank, a Fintech and Regtech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment.


Burges Karkaria joins AI startup Censia as CTO
Published: 17-11-2020 | 12:23:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Burges Karkaria, former Chief Technology Officer of Enterprise at Intel Corporation, has joined Bay Area startup Censia, a provider of talent intelligence, recruiting and workforce management technology, as CTO.


realme announces official sale of realme C12 in Kenya
Published: 17-11-2020 | 12:15:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Smartphone manufacturer realme has partnered with online shops like Kilimall and other offline platforms for the sale of realme C12 which was launched in Kenya last week alongside realme 7i.


[Startup Interview] Jon Cooper, CEO, Life.io, USA
Published: 17-11-2020 | 12:14:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Life.io is a US-based startup that helps companies accelerate the development of their end-to-end digital client experience with the Life.io Solution Suite: Grow, Engage and Empower. Jon Cooper the startup’s co-founder and CEO elaborates.


Bridge for Billions launches Global Investors Network to connect entrepreneurs with investment opportunities
Published: 16-11-2020 | 13:06:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Bridge for Billions has launched its Global Investors Network, which aims to help make the investment ecosystem accessible to all promising purpose-driven ventures.


Africa-focused VC fund Outlierz Ventures invests in three Nigeria startups
Published: 16-11-2020 | 12:56:28 | By: Pie Kamau
Africa-focused Morocco-based B2B VC fund Outlierz Ventures has announced new investments into three Nigerian startups - Bamboo, Youverify and Healthlane.


AI Media Group launches Africa’s first AI-focused free investment matchmaking service for African startups
Published: 16-11-2020 | 12:45:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The AI Media Group has launched The Deal Room, Africa’s first artificial intelligence (AI) focused, free investment matchmaking service which aims to connect African AI focused startups to interested investors and venture capitalists (VCs).


Bentley Systems commits $100m venture funding to accelerate infrastructure digital twins
Published: 13-11-2020 | 14:13:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company, announced the establishment of Bentley iTwin Ventures to invest in promising technology companies addressing the emerging opportunity for infrastructure digital twin solutions.


Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program supports emerging companies to drive innovation
Published: 13-11-2020 | 11:39:07 | By: Pie Kamau
Blackbaud, cloud software company powering social good, is accepting applications for the Blackbaud Social Good Startup Program, a unique, yearlong program designed to drive innovation.


Digital investment platform Clim8 smashes target for latest funding campaign by 600%
Published: 13-11-2020 | 11:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
As interest in sustainable investing continues to grow apace, Clim8 Invest (Clim8), a digital investment platform that help consumers invest exclusively in companies focused on tackling the climate crisis, has raised a further £2.4 million in funding.


Industrial software startup Aperio Systems secures $8.5 million funding to scale operations
Published: 12-11-2020 | 14:35:59 | By: Bob Koigi
Industrial IoT Data Integrity Market startup Aperio Systems has announced the close of an $8.5 million Series A funding round led by National Grid Partners.


British fintech startup ilumoni raises $450,000 to transform borrowing behaviours, help people repay debt
Published: 12-11-2020 | 13:34:00 | By: Pie Kamau
ilumoni, the fintech startup helping people to borrow better, save on unnecessary interest and time in paying off debts has raised $450,000 pre-seed investment backed by Move Ventures.


Tech startup Roots Automation secures $3.2m to expand AI capabilities, accelerate customer acquisition
Published: 12-11-2020 | 13:17:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Roots Automation, the NYC-based Digital Coworkers as a Service company, has raised a $3.2 million seed round led by Vestigo Ventures.


Remote selling startup Demoflow secures $1.6 m seed round to build additional key product features
Published: 11-11-2020 | 14:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Collaborative remote selling platform Demoflow announced its Seed Capital raise of $1.6 million led by FirstMile Ventures with other major participants including Slack Fund, RTP Seed, Next Frontier Capital and Heroic Ventures.


Former Bitcoin.com CEO launches Sonic Capital, Asia's first tokenized venture investment fund
Published: 10-11-2020 | 12:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Former Bitcoin.com CEO Stefan Rust announced the launch of Sonic Capital, Asia's first venture capital and impact investment fund to be tokenized on the blockchain.


[Startup Interview] Almasi Ndangili, Founder, Imarisha East Africa Productions, Kenya
Published: 10-11-2020 | 11:57:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Almasi Ndangili is the founder of Imarisha East Africa Productions Ltd, a Kenya-based talent academy promoting education through edutainment. The startup has invested in TV Shows, event organization, book launches, talent development, TV Script writing, Africanized animations, digital publishing and branding.


Accenture launches investment programme for emerging tech software startups
Published: 10-11-2020 | 11:52:48 | By: Bob Koigi
Accenture has launched a new immersive engagement and investment program targeting emerging technology software startups to help fill strategic innovation gaps for the Global 2000.


Tech startup Cellwize secures $32m Series B financing to expand its global footprint
Published: 10-11-2020 | 11:33:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Cellwize, a global leader in mobile network automation and orchestration, announced a $32 million Series B funding round in its parent company, Cellwize Wireless Technologies, led by Intel Capital and Qualcomm Ventures.


Launch of realme 7i and reame C12 heralds new dawn for Kenyan smartphone industry
Published: 10-11-2020 | 10:15:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Riding on the warm reception its flagship products continue to receive among Kenyan customers, smartphone manufacturer realme has launched realme C12 and realme 7i in Kenya.


Israeli cybersecurity startup ReSec Technologies raises $4m Series A funding for expansion
Published: 10-11-2020 | 09:51:00 | By: Pie Kamau
ReSec Technologies, a cyber security company that protects organizations from file-based malware threats, announced the completion of its $4 million Series A round of financing.


Mastercard co-innovates with 10 new fintechs to reshape the future of commerce
Published: 10-11-2020 | 07:30:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Mastercard has welcomed 10 fintechs from around the world to participate in its startup engagement program, Start Path, to scale the future of commerce.


Kenyan fintech startup Kwara launches Customer Success Traineeship Program for university graduates
Published: 09-11-2020 | 15:24:05 | By: Pie Kamau
Kwara, a digital banking platform in Kenya announced the launch of a Customer Success Traineeship Program. The program is part of the company’s broader agenda to build capacity for rising young Kenyan professionals.


Swedish fintech startup Payer launches beta test program to revolutionize customer registration in B2B e-commerce
Published: 09-11-2020 | 14:51:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Financial Services startup Payer has developed a new registration product that revolutionizes how customer relationships are made between companies online.


Nigerian HR startup SeamlessHR raises seven-figure funding to expand across Africa
Published: 09-11-2020 | 09:30:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigeria’s HR startup SeamlessHR has closed a seven-figure deal as it seeks to expand across other African markets.


African startups more investible now than ever
Published: 09-11-2020 | 09:20:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Africa’s startups have never been more investible than now. There is a growing number of professional ‘super angels’ involved in record-breaking deals, and private equity investments have doubled since last year.


Mohammed VI Polytechnic University partners with Plug and Play to launch accelerator programme in Morocco
Published: 09-11-2020 | 09:13:33 | By: Pie Kamau
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), an academic and research institution, has partnered with global innovation platform, Plug and Play, to launch an Open Innovation Hub in Morocco, with the support of OCP Group.