The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has upheld the decision to restrict public access to information about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) lie detectors at EU borders. This ruling has sparked concerns among civil rights groups, shedding light on the limitations of the EU’s AI Act in safeguarding the rights of migrants and refugees. The Act is set to become the world’s first comprehensive AI law. AI-Powered Lie Detectors at EU Borders At the center of this controversy lies iBorderCtrl, an emotion recognition pilot project aimed
Okra Solar, a technology startup working with local utilities to transform communities, has closed its Series A funding round. Mesh grid technology With 770 million people living without clean, reliable access to power, the tech startup aims to transform off-grid communities with mesh grids. Mesh grids are the fastest-growing technology solution for electrifying off-grid households. With a mesh grid, neighbors are connected, sharing renewable energy 24/7, which allows them to consume more than they would on their own. Each house contains a solar panel, battery and an Okra Pod, ensuring
After closing in February, Black-owned non-profit organization Kwanda has returned with a new structure and a brand new product. On Kwanda’s new platform, Moyo, givers can come together to provide a stable monthly income to people below the poverty line. Kwanda’s Journey Kwanda launched in 2020 with a platform that brought individuals together to pool capital to fund grants and infrastructure projects across Africa. It is a modern collection pot for Black communities, modelled on the age-old practice of collective finance in African Caribbean communities, Jermaine Craig, founder of Kwanda,
Copenhagen-based Unconventional Ventures has announced the second close of its €30 million fund ($32 million), dedicated to investing in diverse founding teams and founders. Unconventional Ventures According to Tech Funding News, Unconventional Ventures (UV) is the only European fund with a diversity impact at its heart. It is an impact-focused investment firm investing in early-stage startups led by underrepresented founders in Europe. Launched by Thea Messel and Nora Barvey in 2018, UV has a VC structure and invests across the Nordics in healthcare, women’s health, diversity tech, sustainable fashion, food
Friends Benedict Owanga and Chinelo Adi launched their startup Owanga to deliver clean energy solutions to Congo, Africa. The startup launched in 2022 after Owanga had the idea during his sophomore year at Emory University School of Law. While pursuing an internship, he lost power for two hours during training. The inconvenience made him consider the experience of Congolese people back home. “It got me thinking if someone like me loses power for two hours and it takes me two weeks to figure out something, what about people back home
Tools like ChatGPT, WordPress, and React have made creating a website easier than ever, opening the doors of web design to a broader audience. However, this democratization of web design has presented opportunities and challenges, particularly for those who have long relied on it for their livelihood. In South Africa, where web design was once a lucrative profession, AI-powered web design tools bring promise and uncertainty to professionals in the field, Rest of the World reports. An oversaturated market In 2018, web designers in South Africa could earn an average
Climate-tech VC Satgana has appointed Anil Maguru, who is among the less than 10% of Black fund managers worldwide, as its newest partner. Satgana Satgana is a climate tech venture capital firm on a mission to invest in the future of Earth by investing in technology solutions. The firm aims to use business as a force for good by investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs to build a more sustainable, fair and regenerative future. They invest in European and African pre-seed and seed stage Climate Tech startups from €30K
South Africa’s Competition Commission released a report that alleged that Google and tech companies were hindering fair market competition and the growth of South Africa’s digital economy. The watchdog claimed that Alphabet Inc. -owned Google’s search dominance “distorts platform competition” in favor of prominent market players. In addition, the report recommends several remedies focused on improving visibility for smaller South African companies in search results to address the issue. What did the report find? According to the commission’s report, Google’s model disadvantages new, small and underfunded South African businesses. The
Alitheia IDF is a $100 million private equity fund that aims to grow African SMEs through gender-balanced businesses. According to a report from Africa’s The Big Deal, female-led start-ups in Africa had raised 4% funding in 2022, while male-led ventures raised 96%. Therefore, 25 times less funding had been invested in female-led startups in 2022 than their male-led counterparts. Alitheia IDF aims to identify, invest in and grow businesses led by gender-diverse teams to achieve solid financial returns and social impact for African communities. Alitheia IDF The Alitheia IDF invests
Zanifu, a Kenyan fintech company that helps millions of African businesses to access financial services, has raised $11.2 million in debt-equity funding in a pre-Series A round. Zanifu Founded by Steve Biko, the Zanifu platform allows small retailers and businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa to access inventory from their suppliers and pay later. They aim to support micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by bringing their businesses online while providing them with working capital finance. Biko told TechCrunch that the platform targets businesses that need help accessing credit from formal financial institutions for
