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Ivorian Julaya closes $2m to digitise business payments. 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. Ivorian Julaya closes $2m to digitise business payments

Ivory Coast-based fintech startup, Julaya, has announced closing a US$2 million in pre-Series A funding to grow and expand its product in West Africa.

The startup provides businesses and institutions with an online platform to disburse payments to mobile money and mobile banking wallets.

In 2018, the startup was founded by Mathias Léopoldie and Charles Talbot.

Today, the Fintech startup has a customer base that ranges from SMBs to large corporates and government institutions, and includes brands such as the e-commerce company Jumia.

Earlier in 2018, the startup raised US$250,000, following up with a US$550,000 in 2019/2020.

The new raiser saw the participation of investors to include corporate venture capital firms Orange Ventures and MFS Africa Frontiers, VC firms Saviu Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures and 50 Partners Capital, and business angels from Europe and Africa.

Julaya is expected to use the funding for further market penetration in Ivory Coast, expansion in West Africa – starting with Sénégal – and new product development.

Tech Trivia: What is the Nigerian most visited website?

A. Jiji
B. Jumia
C. Bet9ja
D. GTBANK

Answer: See end of post

2. Gupshup secures $240M to power messaging channels

Gupshup, a conversational messaging platform, has joined a list of startup sealing an equity raiser well over $200M with its latest $240 million.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s GreenHouse launches pan-African fintech accelerator. 2 other things and a trivia

The new raiser was led by Tiger Global Management, and saw the participation of Fidelity Management, Think Investments, Malabar Investments, Harbor Spring Capital, and others.

According to local media, the tranche will be used to build new tools, infrastructure, and services while expanding Gupshup’s global reach.

The raiser also takes the company’s valuation to $1.64 billion.

Gupshup was founded in 2014 as a startup to provide a chatbot authoring service that allows developers to create, deploy, and publish chatbots across over 30 channels.

Prior to starting the company, Sheth launched the freelancing platform Upwork, which went public on Nasdaq in October 2018.

3. Clubhouse rival, Greenroom, hits 140K installs on iO

Greenroom, the Spotify’s recently launched live audio app and Clubhouse rival, has crossed new milestone as it reached 140k installs on iOS.

The app, which has only reached 100k downloads on Playstore, runs like Clubhouse.

Although, the figures are still far behind, compared to other app in its category.

Clubhouse today has 30.2 million total installs, 18.7 million of which are on iOS.

Other top audio apps include Airtime, with 11.4 million iOS installs, out of a total of 14.3 million (including Android); and Spoon, with 7.6 million iOS installs, out of a total of 27.3 million.

Spotify Greenroom’s launch last month, meanwhile, seems to have attracted only a small fraction of Spotify’s larger user base, which has now grown to 365 million monthly active users.

The majority of Greenroom’s installs took place after Greenroom’s official launch on July 16, 2021 through July 25, 2021.

Tech Trivia Answer: Bet9ja

Taking the lead in Nigeria, this site ranks: #167 in global internet engagement with 7:32 Daily Time on Site.

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