Infibranches Technologies Limited has secured $2million in funding from ‘All On,’ an investment company backed by oil and gas giant Shell. The Nigerian firm, founded in 2019 by Olusola Owoyemi, aims to provide digital financial services for service providers in the energy sector. Through its flagship products – OmniBranches and Green Energy Plug – Infibranches helps companies with extensive distribution networks. With the support of The Nigerian Off-Grid Market Acceleration Programme, it has also developed a payment system that helps to facilitate payment collection for providers of solar home systems and mini-grid developers through
Netflix Inc has launched a free mobile plan in Kenya as part of its strategy to spark growth in the East African nation, home to over 20 million internet users. The plan will be rolled out to all users in the country; it will be available on Android mobile phones and will not have any ads. Some shows will not be included in the free plan, and they will be marked with a lock icon. Clicking on one of those titles will encourage the user to sign up for a
Digital Harbor, a technology specialist school in Baltimore, has received dozens of laptops for its students from TODAY’s Al Roker and Comcast after its principal was named Maryland’s Principal of the Year for 2021. Thanks to Comcast, a telecommunications conglomerate, the students were gifted 1,400 brand new Dell laptops and a free year of internet access. Taiisha Swinton-Buck was left in shock from the surprise and told the TODAY Programme: “It means everything to us.” She added: “At Digital Harbor High School, we’re focused on technology. Computers kept us connected during the COVID
Yonas Beshawred, the CEO of StackShare and countless other ventures, is a man not afraid to tell it as it is and this skill has worked in his favor. His venture, StackShare, a platform that allows software developers and tech companies to share their tools and how they use them, has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2014. What first started as a side project on a WordPress blog, StackShare has raised $7 million and reached 1M developers, engineers, CTOs, VPEs, architects, and founders. Although the journey
Rappers Pusha-T and Nas have jumped the bandwagon and followed the likes of Jason Derulo by investing in a new streaming platform, Audius, which is looking to rival Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal. The free-to-use streaming platform built on blockchain technology launched in 2018 and also supports NFTs or non-fungible tokens. Last week the venture also announced a $5 million round of strategic funding. “I believe [blockchains] might be the most important technology to ever hit the music industry,” Nas said in a statement. “Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner. You can’t say that about any
Black Tech Twitter started an interesting debate earlier this week after speculations spread that Mailchimp employees may not have been adequately compensated with stock after the company’s exit. Prominent Black figures in the tech world, including legend Arlan Hamilton and founder and investor Jewel Burks Solomon joined the stage and shared their concerns. Ms. Solomon, said: “I do really hope Mailchimp employees are taken care of in the deal. Would be huge for Atlanta for that cash to be well distributed.” Her tweet soon got the attention of quite a
NBA Star Klay Thompson Takes On The Tech World With New Investment In Fantasy Sports Startup Sleeper
Basketball superstar Klay Thompson has just invested in fantasy sports startup Sleeper, reportedly contributing to the quadrupling of its value to more than $400 million. Sleeper is a compilation of football and basketball games that people can play online with friends. Its initial focus was on the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), but the pandemic’s impact pushed the firm to get into esports as well. The company has gone from strength to strength despite pushback from coronavirus, with an average user reportedly spending between 20 to 35 minutes on
Black Engineers Feel More Confident Entering Tech Industry With Technical Interview Practice – Study
According to a new report published by Karat, a technical interviewing company, and Howard University, Black engineers feel more confident entering the tech industry if given several interview practices. Black engineers comprised just 6 percent of all computer programmers in the U.S. in 2020. This research aims to shine a light on the challenges and opportunities that exist to improve representation. The two firms teamed up and hosted focus groups to survey 300 Black computer science students and alumni from Howard University, Morehouse College, and North Carolina Charlotte. They asked
Former ESPN data scientist Tiffany Kelly has just raised $2.1million in a seed round of funding for her adtech startup Curastory. The company, first launched in 2019, is a creator tool helping student-athletes by “connecting brands in need of video content with athletes, influencers, and actors who create video content and are willing to create directly for brands,” according to Sport Techie. Lightspeed, Techstars, and Mindspring Capital led the funding round to help Curastory’s staff expansion, market growth, and sales and engineering footprint. The milestone seed comes after the firm secured a deal with
US tech giant Adobe has donated $3million to historically Black colleges and universities and a Hispanic serving institution to help minority students get into tech. Bowie State University, Winston-Salem State University, and a school catering to Hispanic students will receive $1 million donations under Adobe’s new Anchor School Program. The program aims to “provide students with training, career readiness programs, internships, financial assistance, and digital tools.” Adobe’s chief talent, diversity, and inclusion officer, Brian Miller, told Fortune that it’s a “deep, focused partnership” that “really” allows the company to expose
