Singer-songwriter Doja Cat is taking the NFT world by storm and outselling major investor Jay Z as her single edition NFT sells for $188k – becoming the most oversized auctioned item in Tezos history. Doja first announced her first non-fungible token (NFT) collection earlier this month with green NFT marketplace OneOf. OneOf is built on the Tezos blockchain, recognized as an “energy efficient proof-of-stake network,” according to the company‘s website. It also claims to offer some of the most affordable transaction fees for users looking to tap into the world
Nigeria and San Francisco-based start-up, Klasha, has just announced its partnership with OpenCart, an all-in-one e-commerce builder that provides businesses with the tools to create and launch an online store. Klasha, first launched in 2018 by Jess Anuna and Kemi Oritsejafor, specializes in helping merchants worldwide sell online to Africa and receive payments in local currency. The new partnership means that OpenCart merchants can now sell more and accept payments online from customers across the continent while enjoying “superfast last-mile delivery to customers across the continent within 10 days.” Merchants who
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
Create Lab Ventures has teamed up with Trill or Not Trill to launch the world’s first artificial intelligence Afro-Latina, A. I robot, who made her debut at school systems worldwide on Monday. C.L.Ai.R.A was first introduced through Trill or Not Trill; a Black founded institution to provide innovative strategies and solutions that speak “to the culture.” Founders Jeff Dess and Lenny Williams joined forces with a social venture – Creat Lab Ventures – to continue their mission of providing underserved communities with the resources and skills needed to thrive in the media and
TV personality Steve Harvey might have just helped cryptocurrency Solana increase its value in price, which started at $37 last month and is now up to $197 as of yesterday, without even realizing it. On Thursday, the comedian and presenter swapped out his old profile picture for a unique Solana Monkey Business NFT – the picture is part of a collection of cartoonish, pixelated monkeys generated randomly. An NFT provides ownership of almost every type of digital item and now profile picture collections are on the rise in the space.
Nigeria’s Prospa has just closed a $3.8 million pre-seed round that will allow the fintech startup to offer small businesses banking and software services. The West-African-based firm caters to freelancers and entrepreneurs acting as the “operating system” for their businesses by providing bank accounts, tax support, advice on creating a unique name, and more. The start-up, launched by trio Frederik Obasi, Chioma Ugo, and Rodney Jackson-Cole, has already had some success over the last few months – in March, it was one of the 10 African startups participating in Y Combinator’s (YC)
El Salvador has become the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal currency in a move that has got the world debating whether cryptocurrency should be used in this way. The country has reportedly already bought its first 400 bitcoins, worth an estimated $21 million based on bitcoin’s value at the time of the announcement, according to a series of tweets by the country’s President – Nayib Bukele. Millions of people are now expected to download the government’s new digital wallet app which gives away $30 in Bitcoin to every
A group of tech and diversity pioneers is calling for robust action to be taken as Facebook’s facial recognition software mistakenly labeled a video featuring Black men as “about primates.” Marcel Hedman, the founder of A. I group Nural Research, a company that explores how artificial intelligence is tackling global challenges, described the long-standing issue as a “multi-layered” problem that can “definitely be solved.” Mr. Hedman, 22, based in London, said: “There was definitely no shock when I heard about the Facebook incident, and I think the reason why is
Hubspot is hiring When Mohamed Gueye was six years old, growing up in Senegal, his interest in tech began when he saw a computer for the first time. His dad bought it, and he was fascinated by the images that were shown on its screen. Today, Mohamed works at HubSpot in Massachusetts as a technical lead. In this interview, he shares his path working his way up from a supermarket into tech, his experience at HubSpot, and the importance of not getting stuck into one way of thinking. Hi Mohamed,
We are living through two pandemics. COVID-19 and the disease of racism. One we are protecting ourselves from, and the other we seem to ignore until it gets to the point of civil unrest. It does not have to be this way; if we lived our lives fighting racism at home, in government, and the workplace, we would not have the unrest we see in the streets now. I can’t control what people do in all of those areas, but economic freedom is a key to solving the problem. Venture
