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Elon Musk moves to manage paralysis with brain microchips. 2 other things and a trivia

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This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today.

1. Elon Musk vows to solve paralysis with brain microchips

Elon Musk’s ambitious brain-computer startup, Neuralink, continues research on its future-of-medicine product, a statement from the CEO has revealed.

Musk, in a recent tweet, reiterated the company’s mission to develop chips capable of supporting humans to deliver on tasks, citing how the startup’s product will enable persons with paralysis use smartphones with their mind.

He tweeted: “First @Neuralink product will enable someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs.

“Later versions will be able to shunt signals from Neuralinks in brain to Neuralinks in body motor/sensory neuron clusters, thus enabling, for example, paraplegics to walk again.

“The device is implanted flush with skull & charges wirelessly, so you look & feel totally normal.”

The startup, which aligns mission with a broader trend of technology, seeks to merge their approaches with the world of healthcare.

Solving the paralysis challenge in humans, the startup envisions drilling holes into the brain with a custom machine to embed thin threads that connect to a tiny processor, which can then be connected to a smartphone over Bluetooth.

Earlier speaking on the company’s ambition, Musk had stated that the company aimed at bringing something to the market in a bid to help with certain severe brain injuries (stroke, cancer lesion, congenital) in years ahead.

Tech Trivia: A large set of data that is almost impossible to manage and process using traditional business intelligence tools is called?
A. Data Set
B. Binary Data
C. Big Data
D. Data Build
Answer: See end of post.

2. Ghana’s BezoMoney secures $200k seed capital to expand venture

Ghanaian digital savings startup BezoMoney has secured US$200,000 in seed funding to finance its continued expansion and growth.

The 2 year old startup, which took part in the Accra-based Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) programme, was founded by Mubarak Sumaila and Diana Osei.

BezoMoney offers a digital savings platform called BezoSusu that helps users save effectively, receive bulk capital through group savings, and build a savings and credit history.

READ ALSO: Tech investor, Asemota, defends cryptocurrency against Godwin Emefiele’s claims

Recall that the startup had first raised US$100,000 in pre-seed funding after graduating from MEST, hence, the new raiser comes as a follow-up on venture milestones.

According to the startup board, the US$200,000 round was led by GOODsoil VC, a venture capital firm based in London focused on accelerating the growth of tech startups in Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK.

The board further stated that the startup is expected to use the funds to acquire a Payment and Financial Technology Service Providers (PFTSP) license in Ghana, as well as build and deploy new products, including BezoCredit, an interest-free credit product, and BezoInvest, an investment product.

3. Grindstone Accelerator opens call for applications

Launched towards scaling up high-growth and innovation-driven SMEs in South Africa, Grindstone Accelerator has opened its call for applications into the accelerator programme.

The initiative aims to play a leading role in developing the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.

According to Ketso Gordhan, CEO of SA SME Fund, the initiative has helped startups raised funds to implement breakthroughs in business as entrepreneurs, and its resultant developments have been encouraging.

He commented: “Grindstone has done an excellent job in helping to grow a pipeline of entrepreneurs that have managed to raise funding for their startups – a good early measure of success.

“We are excited by the disruptive and innovative businesses we are seeing coming through in the cohorts and encouraged by the diversity showcased.”

Also speaking on the initiative, Will Green, programme director at Grindstone stated that the sole purpose of the firm was to engineer entrepreneurial Growth.

Will added that the mission “has been their purpose from the inception of the programme in 2014.”

Tech Trivia Answer: Big Data

In 2005 Roger Mougalas from O’Reilly Media coined the term Big Data for the first time, only a year after they created the term Web 2.0. It refers to a large set of data that is almost impossible to manage and process using traditional business intelligence tools.

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