An African startup that helps connect consumers’ bank accounts to financial applications has raised a $15 million Series A round. Tiger Global led Mono’s round. The firm also had participation from new investors Target Global, General Catalyst, and SBI Investment. New investors were joined by existing ones, including Entree Capital, Lateral Capital, Golden Palm Investments, Acuity VC, and Ingressive Capital, bringing Mono’s total raise to a little over $17.5 million since launching last year, reported TechCrunch. Launched in August 2020, the company streamlines various financial data in a single API for companies
Pinterest appointed Andrea Wishom, president of real estate company Skywalker Holdings and former Harpo Studios executive, to its board of directors back in August. The appointment made her Pinterest’s first Black board member and third female board member. Wishom’s appointment came following months of meetings with other potential candidates, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann said in a statement at the time. He said Wishom stood out for several reasons. “She’s an expert in creating positive and inspirational content for global audiences and a passionate advocate for building a company culture of
Telkom has reportedly dropped Netflix Inc – meaning the app will no longer be available on the South African phone and internet company’s set-top box from October. Content Executive Wanda Mkhize announced that a deal between the parties had ended and would not be renewed. But other content partnerships will be announced in due course; she told Bloomberg. It’s not clear whether Netflix has plans to build a different route to consumers and existing subscribers in South Africa now that its relationship with Telkom has ended. The media has been
BITCON 2021‘s virtual event kicks off this Wednesday and the conference will feature some of the Black community’s tech icons – from cryptocurrency to cybersecurity. Arlan Hamilton, Judy Smith, Sherell Dorsey, Simon T.Bailey, and Kanika Tolver are among the list of speakers lined up to give away gems to those keen on trailblazing in the industry. A total of 3% of workers at the top 75 technology companies identified as Black and Black founders received just 3% of all US venture capital in 2020. BITCON hopes to change these numbers. The
Fiverr — an Israeli online freelancer platform —has awarded five Black start-up firms $24K through its Future Collective Fellowship Program to help expand their business. The business accelerator is a fellowship for Black entrepreneurs, and five businesses were selected for the program’s inaugural class, and each will receive $24,000. The program is also backed up by 1863 Ventures, a Black-led and D.C.-based nonprofit organization, and Maestra, a women of color-owned business strategy firm, according to Afrotech. “Fiverr’s purpose is to provide anyone, no matter their race, religion, background or beliefs, the opportunity
Klasha, a Lagos and San Francisco-based startup that provides multiple integrations and APIs to facilitate transactions, has raised $2.4 million in seed to scale. Jessica Anuna first founded Klasha in 2018. At the time, the company’s focus was to make it easier for African consumers to purchase products directly from global fashion retailers. Now it has several features and a new business model centered around helping Africans make payments and get the goods they want, regardless of their location, reported TechCrunch. Klasha Checkout also allows international merchants to collect payments from Africa in local currencies and it uses what
Ejara, a one-year-old company founded by Nelly Chatue-Diop, has raised $2 million to pioneer the use of crypto and investment services in Cameroon. CoinShares Ventures and Anthemis Group led the round. They are joined by Mercy Corps Ventures, Lateral Capital, LoftyInc Capital, and NetX Fund. In addition, two angel investors — Pascal Gauthier of Ledger and Jason Yanowitz of Blockworks — and a syndicate social fund participated. Ejara has more than 8,000 users from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and Senegal, as well as French-speaking Africans in the diaspora (Europe, Asia, and
Emory University is ready to shake up the VC world with its first student-run venture capital fund focused on minority entrepreneurs. The Peachtree Minority Venture Fund (PMVF) was launched at The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. The fund, funded by the Goizueta Business School endowment, was made to support Black, LatinX, and Native American entrepreneurs. It currently has $1M in assets under management, and students are responsible for souring companies, conducting due diligence, and making investment recommendations to the Peachtree Investment Committee, reported
A group of students, who created a machine to predict increases in rent and utility costs at a particular address over time, were awarded thousands by real estate marketplace Zillow during the HBCU Housing Hackathon. The competition, where more than 150 students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have to think of an innovative idea to win the top prize, has officially come to an end. Each student had to bring an innovative idea to life to help at-risk renters and struggling first-time home buyers. A total of 49 teams from 17
The Game has partnered with OneOf — a green marketplace designed for the music industry — to release his debut non-fungible token (NFT) Collection titled “Genesis.” The price point is set at $25. The drop, which landed on Wednesday, features the “Get In The Game” pack where fans will receive four randomized action figure NFTs and never-before-seen music content from an unreleased track. The Game’s passions, hobbies inspire the collection and album releases, according to the OneOf website. “I have been able to put forth my creative vision on display and show, not only the growth
