All posts by

Abbianca Makoni

Intuit is hiring on pocitjobs.com As VP, Chief of AI & Data Operations, Sharon Hutchins leads business operations and program management for Intuit’s AI+Data organization. The company, which specializes in financial software, was recently in the spotlight after announcing an important goal: to increase female representation in the company’s technology roles from 30% to 37% by 2024. It’s a mission that Sharon 100% backs as she believes there’s room for everyone at the top. Before landing her senior leadership position, Sharon’s journey has been one of taking risks and not allowing

The Lip Bar Inc., the holding company for the beauty brands The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty, has closed a new funding round. The $6.7 million round, led by Pendulum, will focus on expanding The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty’s distribution as well as incubating a third beauty brand. Endeavor and The Fearless Fund also contributed to the fund. Melissa Butler, the business’ founder and Chief Executive Officer, said the round came after years of consistent growth unencumbered by the pandemic. “Our lip sales were crazy during the pandemic—we sold

Byld Ventures, a $15 million fund launched this May, has eyes for startups mainly across Egypt and Nigeria due to the partners’ experiences in those markets. Byld Ventures reached its first close almost in June and a second close at $10 million last month. It expects to achieve its final close by year’s end, according to TechCrunch. Over a dozen athletes have backed the fund as well as the Dubai government and several unnamed institutional LPs. The early-stage fund — which has made four investments: Ceviant, Apata, Thepeer and Anchor — consists of four

When Kwasi Kwarteng delivered the new UK government’s first major fiscal policy package in last week’s “mini-budget”, all eyes were on him in regards to how he would help Britain excel it’s tech scene. His predecessor, Rishi Sunak’s brand centered around being “a startup Treasury” — an agenda cut short when he resigned earlier this year. But it seems Kwarteng has made some key policy changes that some startups say will help fuel their growth. We’ve listed some of them blow: Plan: SEIS is broadened Kwarteng plans to widen access

Twitter has appointed Bukky Ojeifo as its new global head of culture and community following the departure of God-is Rivera, who previously held the position. In her new role, the Nigerian-American marketing expert will continue to carry the company’s mission of serving diverse voices who contribute to the public conversation on the platform. Before her new role, Ojeifo was the firm’s senior manager, global culture, and community. Her main role at the time? She guided how Twitter amplifies and engages with the underrepresented communities that use the service. Speaking to

As Africa’s tech ecosystem grows, the demand for talent is soaring. For young Africans, digital skills have become ever-more important and attractive. In 2021, according to the Africa Developer Ecosystem Report (pdf), Africa’s developer community grew by 3.8%, bringing the total number of developers on the continent to 716,000. The average local developer in Africa is seven years younger than their global counterpart and has up to three years of experience. The pandemic drove increased adoption of remote work around the world, leading to international companies recruiting African developers at

Disney’s latest live-action remake, The Little Mermaid, has been engulfed in controversy ever since the casting of singer Halle Bailey was announced. The film’s trailer has been flooded with 1.5 million dislikes from angry “fans” – despite YouTube removing the dislike counter, the numbers are still available through an extension. During a recent appearance at the D23 Expo, Bailey herself reacted to the release of the clip and called the moment “surreal.” “I’m so excited about this film,” she said. “You know being here today is so surreal. I definitely

Armed with smartphones and armies of faithful fans, social media sensations such as Khaby Lame are building fortunes by redefining the rules of entertainment, advertising, and stardom. The inaugural Forbes Top Creators list highlights the 50 social superstars leveraging a combined 1.9 billion followers across social networks to earn $570 million in 2021 alone. Their average age is just 31. Next year’s windfall is significantly richer as famous personalities shift from influencers to owners, using their massive reach to start their own ventures—clothing lines, beauty empires, TV series, and fast food chains.

Y Combinator’s summer (S22) batch is notably different to its previous ones. Firstly, this batch kicked off with an in-person event – the first since the winter 2020 batch. Secondly, the summer cohort includes 240 companies, significantly fewer than the 414 companies in the winter 2022 cohort. And third, only eight startups in Africa got into the accelerator this summer compared to 24 from the previous batch, representing a 60% reduction. While the region represented about 6% of the entire winter batch, it’s 3% for this batch. When YC went

Timothy Armoo sold his influencer business Fanbytes to global digital marketing agency Brainlabs for an undisclosed eight-figure sum. He’s done what every aspiring business owner hopes to do – all at 27. We previously interviewed Timothy Armoo on the Techish podcast. Speaking to Sifted EU, Armoo, whose startup connects social media influencers with big brands for promotion work, says the acquisition is like a marriage. “You’re merging two companies, cultures and sets of people together, so you want it to be the right fit. Start “dating” partners while you’re still building

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