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Supporting Farmers and Food Systems: How Crowdfunding Can Address Funding Challenges for Agricultural SMEs in Africa
Agriculture employs over 70% of the working population in Africa, making it a cornerstone of the continent's economic progress and livelihood development. But as Esther Mweru and Jerry Sellanga at 2SCALE explain, the financial strain of COVID-19 — combined with previously existing market inefficiencies — is putting many vulnerable farmers and agricultural small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at risk. They explore how crowdfunding can provide a financial lifeline to these smallholders and businesses, and discuss how 2SCALE is using it to support agribusinesses in Mali, Nigeria and Kenya.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Technology
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African Fintech pawaPay Secures $9 Million In a Seed Funding Round
According to reports the funding will be used to help scale the fintech’s operational presence, grow the existing team and expand in new markets across Africa.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Shared Mobility Startup Plentywaka Raises $1.2 Million Seed Round and Acquires Stabus Ghana
Plentywaka acquired Ghanaian mobility startup, Stabus as it looks to expand its African operations, starting with West Africa.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology, Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visa To Enable Deeper Financial Inclusion With Offline Payments in India
The technology will allow users to make transactions using chip-based Visa debit, credit, and prepaid cards even in places with low or no internet connectivity.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Mexican Neobroker Flink Raises $57 Million To Boost Financial Inclusion in Latin America
Flink, a Mexico City-based neobroker, has raised $57 million in a Series B round of funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Latin America
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Bangalore-Based Agritech Robotics Startup TartanSense Raises $5 Million in Series A Funding
TartanSense builds small agricultural robots equipped with AI-assisted computer vision to help small farms reduce their expenditures and improve their incomes.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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AgNext Technologies lands $21 million Led by Alpha Wave Incubation
AgNext Technologies has raised $21 million in its Series A round, led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), in the largest Series A funding received by an Indian agri-tech startup so far.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- startups
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Analysis: Digitizing Africa’s Small and Midsize Businesses
To ensure Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) don’t get left behind and to accelerate digitization on the continent, startups, corporations, and policymakers should encourage digital solutions for consumers and business owners.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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