Mark Clayton, a former NFL player, raised $1 million in funding for his LIVV Audio brand of high-performance headphones he designed in high school. The wide receiver, who spent most of his seven-year career with the Baltimore Ravens, created the headphones for athletes and those interested in fitness. Clayton’s Idea Clayton started designing the concept for his headphones while studying business administration and management at Babson College. However, the idea for the headphones came to Clayton during his pool-based rehab sessions after recovering from a knee injury when he joined the
Africa’s startups raised $2.2 billion in equity, grants, and debt (excluding exits). While this is an impressive figure, it highlights a 25% decrease compared to last year, when startups in Africa secured $2.9 billion, according to ‘Africa: The Big Deal.’ Who were the major key players? The total of $2.2 billion was primarily driven by two significant deals by Nigeria’s Moniepoint and South Africa’s Tyme Group. A gross of 188 ventures secured $1 million or greater (excluding exits) in funding, 10% less given in 2023 despite the 25% dip in
Prequel, a platform tackling the challenges of application reliability through community-driven problem detection, announced it has raised $3.3 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Work-Bench, with participation from Runtime Ventures, Operator Partners, and notable tech founders such as Shay Banon (Elastic), Jon Oberheide (Duo Security), Monica Sarbu (Xata), and Andrew Morris (GreyNoise). A Fresh Approach to Reliability Engineering Engineering teams face increasing challenges to deliver reliable services in complex software environments. From open-source dependencies to service misconfigurations, the issues can disrupt releases and inflate cloud costs
Sandbox Wealth, a modern banking platform tailored for non-bank financial institutions, has raised $1.25 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by NextGen Venture Partners with additional backing from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, gener8tor, and RevTech Labs. Transforming Wealth Management Founded in 2023 by Ray Denis, Sandbox Wealth seeks to fill gaps in the wealth management sector by offering a platform that integrates deposits, lending, and advanced analytics. This innovation particularly benefits Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and Family Offices by providing tools that enhance client relationships and support business
Cleo Capital, an early-stage venture firm, has announced a cybersecurity accelerator program aimed at addressing the growing epidemic of online threats, as first announced by TechCrunch. The 12-week remote initiative seeks to support pre-seed and seed-stage companies worldwide, offering $250,000 in funding for a 7% equity stake. Applications are open until January 20, with the program starting on February 24. Tackling Cybercrime with Innovation Sarah Kunst, founder and managing partner of Cleo Capital, was inspired to create the program after witnessing the rising tide of fraud in industries like crypto,
SocialCrowd, co-founded by Raphael Akinsipe, has successfully raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Bread and Butter Ventures and Augment Ventures. This latest investment, which also saw participation from VC 414, Serac Ventures and FullCircle will support SocialCrowd’s expansion, following a $1.6 million pre-seed round in February. The startup seeks to elevate performance and engagement among frontline and shift-based workers across industries. “Fitbit for work” Platform Founded in 2022, SocialCrowd has carved a niche in helping industries with high turnover rates, such as retail, manufacturing, and hospitality,
Black Tech Saturdays (BTS), an initiative propelling Detroit’s Black tech entrepreneurs, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Gilbert Family Foundation. This two-year funding will enable BTS to widen its scope of support through increased access to mentorship, capital, and essential resources for local innovators who participate in its workshops. Investing in Detroit’s Black Tech Community Founded in April 2023 by husband-and-wife team Johnnie and Alexa Turnage, BTS has quickly become a hub for budding entrepreneurs, drawing hundreds each week to its Saturday events. This grant will be
Moniepoint, a Nigeria-based fintech company, has successfully raised $110 million in a Series C funding round. This raise gives the company a valuation of at least $1 billion for the first time, according to the Financial Times. The financing was led by Development Partners International’s African Development Partners III (ADP III) fund, with participation from investors such as Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, and Lightrock. Strategic Focus on Business Banking and Financial Access Founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, Moniepoint originally launched as TeamApt. The company
African venture capital firm Janngo Capital has closed its second fund at €73 million (approximately $78 million), surpassing its original €60 million target by 20%. Janngo Capital states that fund now positions the venture capital firm as the largest accelerating gender equality in Africa. Investment Focus on Gender Equality and Diverse Sectors Janngo Capital positions itself as a “gender-equal” investor, with 56% of its portfolio companies founded or led by women. Notable women-led investments include the Nigerian B2B platform Sabi and expense management company Expensya. According to Janngo, its investment
The NAACP has announced the launch of NAACP Capital, a new fund of funds aimed at empowering fund managers and startups focused on closing gaps facing communities of color. Developed in collaboration with Kapor Capital, Kapor Center, and nine venture fund managers, the fund seeks to raise $200 million to reshape the innovation and investment landscape. Driving Impact Through Inclusive Investing The initiative is part of the #KeepAdvancing campaign, a modernized approach to civic engagement aimed at building a more inclusive economy. “Investment is the backbone of impact, and impact
