As COVID-19 cases surged, national lockdowns got stricter, businesses cratered, and more people pivoted to online shopping in 2020, Taeillo, like many other digital-first businesses, thrived. But the Nigerian furniture company’s successes amid the pandemic wasn’t just an offshoot of a general boom in e-commerce activity. After all, buying furniture is one activity most prefer

Float, a Ghanaian cash flow and spend management platform, has completed a full acquisition of Accounteer, a Nigerian subscription-based cloud-based accounting service that combines bookkeeping, tax prep, and financial advisory services all in one platform for African businesses, for an undisclosed amount.    This deal is coming 8 months after Float closed its $17 million

Tosin Eniolorunda Source: TeamApt QED Investors, one of the world’s largest venture capital (VC) funds with over 312 investments in the global fintech space, has made its first investment in the African fintech sector. Founded in 2007 by Nigel Morris and Frank Rotman, the VC firm has almost $5 billion in assets under management and

South African logistics startup Droppa has announced that it has closed a Series A funding round led by logistics company SkyNet Worldwide Express. The deal amount was not disclosed. SkyNet had previously partnered with in Droppa in July 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic through a two-way agreement which gave Droppa customers access

South African AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) startup DataProphet has announced the completion of its $10 million Series A funding round which started in 2020 with a $6 million round led by IDC and Norican. This latest round was led by venture capital firm Knife Capital which initially invested in DataProphet in early 2018 via its KNF Ventures

One of the things we learned from the last year’s Twitter ban is that Nigeria has the ability to tell global companies what to do when it comes to who should access their platforms. In 2021, the Nigerian government shut down Twitter for deleting a presidential tweet that threatened some southeastern secessionists. Now, the Nigerian

One of Africa’s largest telecom groups Airtel Group just announced the signing of a $125 million revolving credit facility with investment banking group  Citigroup Inc through its branch offices/subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa. What does Airtel need the money for?   Airtel says the credit facility aligns with its plan to raise debt in its local operating

Cape Town-based accelerator Grindstone has announced the 25 companies who will embark on its year-long programme which assists high-growth, innovation-driven tech start-ups to become more investable, sustainable and exit-ready.  The programme, which provides startups access to knowledge, networks, funding, and markets, comprises 2 cohorts, one based in Cape Town and the other in Johannesburg. Grindstone

Owen Sakawa Source: Medium Flo by Saada, a Kenyan social commerce startup founded by Gerishon Mwaniki, has been acquired by Elloe, a conversational e-commerce startup, for an undisclosed fee. The newly acquired social commerce startup enables SMEs to build conversational commerce solutions and process payments via USSD, voice, WhatsApp Business, and programmable SMS.  “Flo by

In May 2022, after over a year of the tech stock market bull run and record billion-dollar investments raised by startups across the globe, the effects of the global economic downturn started to trickle in. Tech companies around the world laid off more than 15,000 employees that month alone, and over 65,000 tech employees have

According to several tech experts, licensing is the bane of tech innovations in Africa. Numerous tech firms, especially fintechs, have had to grapple with the pains of having their business activities suspended due to licensing struggles. Amidst a typical licensing saga in Kenya that saw the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) edge out two unicorns

L-R Kazeem Tewogbade, Olumide Soyombo Source: Bluechip Technologies Bluechip Technologies, a Nigerian software company that provides management solutions to companies, has recently announced an expansion move into Europe. Launched in 2008 by prolific investors Olumide Soyombo and Kazeem Tewogbade, the company plans, designs, implements and operates business application solutions and central strategies to create and