Google has announced that it has made the first investment from its Africa Investment Fund in Ugandan super app SafeBoda. The undisclosed investment comes two months after Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the tech giant’s intentions to commit $1 billion over the next five years in “tech-led initiatives”, which includes a $50 million Africa Investment Fund targeted at early- and growth-stage startups on the continent. SafeBoda has rarely spoken publicly of any of its funding rounds since its inception in 2017. Still, people who know the company’s dealings say it has raised over $20 million, according to TechCrunch.
A female-centered private equity fund dubbed Alitheia IDF has raised $100 million to support “gender-diverse businesses” in Africa. The news comes just one year after raising $75 million from investors. This is a massive achievement as women-only founders have received less than 1% of the nearly $5 billion raised by startups across Africa so far this year. This time around, involved in the fundraising was the African Development Bank, Bank of Industry Nigeria, FinDev Canada, Dutch Good Growth Fund, and the European Investment Bank. Closing the round, European Investment Bank (EIB) committed $24.6 million.
Microsoft has finally shared an update on promoting racial equity in the US by investing in and working with Black and African American-led financial institutions, suppliers, and partners. It reports that it has reached its goal of committing $100 million to mission-driven banks, which provide capital to diverse communities. The giant has also beat its target of doubling the percentage of transactions it conducts with Black and African American-owned financial institutions. As part of its Black Growth Partner Initiative, Microsoft created $50 million funds to invest in small businesses and startups
Kenyan-based startup Wowzi — created to transform social media users into brand influencers — has secured $3.2 million in its latest seed round. Africa-focused venture capital firm 4DX Ventures led the round. Other investors include To.org, Golden Palm Investments, LoftyInc Capital, Afropreneur Angels, and Future Africa. Andela co-founder Christina Sass and former Andela executives Jessica Chervin and Justin Ziegler. The new funds will spearhead operations in Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa to fulfill its goal to expand beyond their current scope of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The platform is designed to help brands automate
According to government figures, Nigeria has been recording massive growth in its information technology sector, but only one-fifth of IT workers are women. Now aid groups are trying to help women and girls enter the IT world by teaching them about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. And despite the lack of gender diversity on investment boards in the country, the funding gap, or even an unconscious bias that has frequently been reported – many female African tech entrepreneurs continue to impact the industry remarkably. For example, a report by The Women
Andreessen Horowitz’s Talent x Opportunity (TxO) Fund is a 6-month long accelerator program created for ambitious, underserved founders who have great ideas but lack the typical Silicon Valley startup background and resources. The effort will be led by Nait Jones, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz for the past five years; previously, he worked with their portfolio founders on their go-to-market plans. He moved to Silicon Valley from the midwest almost a decade ago when starting his own company, and as a self-described outsider, he had to overcome some of the same challenges
Social Chain founder Steven Bartlett and Furqan Rydhan, founding CTO of Bebo and AppLovin, have just launched a software startup for web3 projects. Announcing the news on Twitter, Barlett said: “BIG NEWS: Today I’m announcing the launch of my new company, third web! Web3, NFT’s, and blockchain technology is going to impact every single industry and every single job. “We’ve built the platform that makes it incredibly easy to build web3 applications in a matter of clicks.” Thirdweb reportedly launched its free tools three months ago for developers to build,
The Olympic star partnered with Cerebral — the leading online mental health provider — as its Chief Impact Officer (CIO) in October 2021, and now it’s been valued at more than $4 billion. InnovationMap reports that the San Francisco-based company has raised $300 million in venture capital — taking its value to $4.8 billion. The Series C round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and fellow investors including Prysm Capital, Access Industries, WestCap Group, and ARTIS Ventures ended on December 8. The startup focuses on providing regular assessments, video or phone appointments with patients’ prescribers,
US rapper Meek Mill has announced that he will be donating $500,000 worth of Christmas gifts to Philadelphia families in need – joining him in his quest to give back to the community is Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Roc Nation. The event is reportedly taking place on December 19. “We stepping BIGGER than ever this year for the youth of the city!” he wrote via Instagram before the official announcement. Holiday gifts for families will include MacBook Air laptops, Amazon Fire HD tablets, bikes and helmets,
A migrant rights group has condemned a US tech startup’s video pitch that shows a stun gun-armed drone attacking a migrant crossing the US-Mexico border. At the same time, Twitter users called the scenario depicted “atrocious”. CEO Blake Resnick recently appeared on Fox Business News to celebrate a venture capital coup: $25 million from Silicon Valley A-listers like Sam Altman and ex-LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s Next Play Venture. He told Fox Business’s Stuart Varney that Brinc’s quadcopter drones are helping police defuse dangerous hostage situations on a near-daily basis. The
