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African Development Bank Approves USD $170 Million for Investment in Nigeria’s Digital, Creative Start-Ups
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has approved a loan of US$170 million to finance a digital and creative enterprises program in Nigeria.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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African Climate Startups Invited to Apply for Adaptation SME Accelerator Project
Run by Village Capital and The Lightsmith Group, ASAP will accelerate 16 SMEs and startups that are scaling climate adaptation and resilience solutions in Africa and Asia.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- Global
- Tags
- accelerators, climate change, scale, startups
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Brazilian Consumer Credit Startup Open Co Raises $115m in SoftBank-led Round
Open Co, a São Paulo-based consumer credit company, announced today that it has raised $115 million in a round led by SoftBank Latin America Fund.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Scale Is Overrated: Why the ‘Unicorn Industrial Complex’ is Holding Back Social Enterprise and Emerging Markets Business
Social enterprises and small and growing businesses (SGBs) are the focus of a lot of discussion and excitement in the development sector, as seen in recent SGB coverage on NextBillion and other publications. But Jack Foreman at Foresee Advisors argues that this discussion ignores the needs – and essential natures – of the vast majority of these businesses, particularly in emerging markets. He explains why the focus on scale – and investors' search for the next potential "unicorn" startup – overlook the crucial importance of SMEs that are content to remain small or medium-sized.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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African Edtech Startup Ulesson Raises $15m, Backed by Nielsen Ventures and Tencent
Founded by Nigerian serial founder Sim Shagaya in 2019, uLesson came into the market when the pandemic hit last year.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- edtech, impact investing, startups
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Cybersecurity Startup CloudSEK Bags $7 Million in Funding Led by MassMutual Ventures
The startup will use the fresh capital to scale its team of 100 engineers to evolve and refine its machine-learning capabilities as well as in increasing the marketing muscle outside of the country.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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The Ins and Outs of Launching a Digital Savings Product in Kenya: Regulatory Guidance for Fintech Startups
Kenya is among the most advanced markets in the world in terms of fintech innovation and digital financial services. But according to Abby Butkus at BFA Global's Catalyst Fund, this innovation has yet to extend to digital savings, where the uncertain regulatory environment requires startups to be creative in their approach. She discusses four ways startups are approaching the regulatory process for their digital savings products, and shares a set of guides Catalyst Fund has released to aid founders in navigating the regulatory environments in Kenya and other countries.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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Indonesian Fintech Flip Secures $48 Million in Series B To Support Expansion
Flip, an Indonesia-based fintech startup, announced it has raised $48 million in a Series B to accelerate its growth.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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