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Press Release: Villgro Kenya Awards $150K to 12 Startups Fighting COVID-19 in Africa
Following the call for local innovations to fight the novel coronavirus, there has been a wave of new inventions emerging from the East African ecosystem.
- Source
- Press Release
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A New Take on Silicon Valley: Why it’s Time for the Tech Sector to Embrace Social Impact
From the rise of B Corps to the emergence of social enterprise, the world is experiencing a true revolution in what business can be. Now, according to Tristan Pollock at CTO.ai., smartphone proliferation has brought this shift toward social impact to the technology industry. He discusses the ramifications of this trend, and why the tech sector should fully embrace it.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- nonprofits, startups
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Why COVID-19 Could Delay Interswitch, Africa’s Next Big IPO
The tech firm’s path from startup to IPO aspirant traces back to the vision of founder Mitchell Elegbe, a Nigerian electrical engineering graduate whose entire career has pretty much been Interswitch.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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African Fintech Firm Flutterwave launches SME E-Commerce Portal
The service will start in 15 African countries and the only fees Flutterwave will charge (for now) are on payments. Otherwise, it’s free for SMEs to create an online storefront and for buyers and sellers to transact goods.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- e-commerce, fintech, startups
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Catalyst Fund Welcomes Four African Investors Into Its Exclusive Fintech Fold
The six will join Catalyst Fund’s Circle of Investors, a collaborative, global community of investors committed to backing inclusive fintech startups.
- Categories
- Finance
- Tags
- accelerators, fintech, startups
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Kenyan Startups Among Winners of Google’s Accelerator Program
“The start-ups accepted into the program will receive free support from Google around technology improvement, product improvement, design, growth and leadership training. They will also be paired with a Google Start-up Success Manager to work with them to improve their businesses,” said Dorothy Ooko, Google’s head of communications in Africa.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- accelerators, SDGs, startups
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Revenue Over Rounds: Why We Should Encourage Entrepreneurs to Focus on Revenue Before Fundraising
Before the fallout from coronavirus, 2019 was a banner year for startup investment in Latin America. But Daniel Cossio at Village Capital cautions that Silicon Valley-levels of funding could incentivize startups to scale too big, too fast — leading to high-profile failures. He urges investors and entrepreneurs to resist the growth-at-all costs mentality and come up with an alternative definition of startup success.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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From the Valley of Death to a $14 Million Series A: Sokowatch, Quona and the Role of Philanthropic Capital
The e-commerce company Sokowatch recently raised a $14 million Series A round, enabling it to expand its digital financial services to more merchants in Africa. But just two years ago, the company was in danger of going under. Malika Anand and Maelis Carraro at BFA’s Catalyst Fund discuss how the fund's philanthropically-funded acceleration approach has helped Sokowatch – and other promising fintech startups – survive the “valley of death” and position themselves for commercial investment.