Kenya’s retail-tech startup, Wasoko, expands to Zambia. 2 other story and a trivia

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

 

1. Kenya’s retail-tech startup, Wasoko, expands to Zambia

A Kenyan retail-tech startup, Wasoko, has announced expanding into Zambia, the company’s first location in Southern Africa.

Daniel Yu, founder and global CEO at Wasoko, made the announcement in a media release on Monday, May 15, 2023.

The startup, according to media, leverages innovative technology to transform the informal retail supply chain

Launched in 2016 as Sokowatch, Wasoko provides free same-day delivery of essential goods and financing to informal retail stores across Africa.

Through the platform, retailers can order products via SMS or mobile app and receive delivery through its proprietary logistics network.

Speaking on the development, Daniel Yu, founder and global CEO at Wasoko, said:

“As we drive ahead with the next phase of our growth journey, it’s vital that the operating environments of our future markets are conducive to our ambitions and Zambia provides exactly this.

“With high smartphone usage and a pro-business government administration keen on expanding the country’s digital economy, Zambia is an ideal environment to launch our model and strongly aligns with our current core markets, both in terms of similar regulatory practices and a supplier base which is intertwined with East Africa.”

What verb describes inserting data from the clipboard?

A. Add
B. Copy
C. Cut
D. Paste

Answer: see end of post

2. South Africa’s Payment24 expands into new geographies, industries

South African digital fuel management solutions and telematics startup, Payment24, has joined a list of African startups entering into new geographies.

The startup announced on Monday its expansion into new markets in North America and Europe.

The company, according to the founder, supports companies with large fleets and has already seen wide adoption of its fuel management app via partnerships with major filling stations.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the company’s solutions are developed out of South Africa to support smart fleet and fuel management and payments on the African continent.

The startup secured funding from Standard Bank in 2020, and has now announced the significant global expansion of its operations into North America and Europe.

Speaking on the development, the CEO noted that the company had witnessed growth through the years.

“We have experienced exceptional growth over the past three years and continue to enjoy significant success in the banking and oil industries.

“Since the expansion of our platform and the modules we provide, we have made notable inroads into the retail, payments acquiring, and fleet management space, having secured several new customers in these sectors over the last two years.

To support this growth, we have more than doubled our headcount in the last two years, and because more than 50 per cent of our business comes from outside the South African borders, 33 per cent of our team is now based outside of the country.”

3. Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play invests in UAE’s Clara

UAE-based legaltech startup, Clara, has received an undisclosed investment from Silicon Valley’s innovation platform “Plug and Play”.

This is contained in a press release published by the startup on Monday, May 15, 2023.

Founded in 2018 by Patrick Rogers, Arthur Guest, Hannah McKinlay, Ahmed Arif, and Lee McMahon, Clara digitises and automates legal tasks for entrepreneurs, including setting up companies in different countries, digital company formations, cap table and data room management, and automated legal document generation.

The new partnership will enable Plug and Play to gain preferential access to Clara’s range of products and tailored educational support that Clara and Plug and Play will co-design.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Plug and Play as an investor and a partner. Plug and Play is the world’s largest global innovation platform, supporting more than 15,000 startups per year, across its 60+ accelerator programs,” said the CEO.

“It’s also one of the most active investors in the world, investing in early-stage companies globally. This investment demonstrates Plug and Play’s belief that the Clara platform can be of tremendous support to the thousands of startups it supports each year.

“Clara is helping thousands of founders navigate the complex world of startup law in a way that has not been done before.

“We are excited about our investment in Clara – a company that we believe is building a category-creating product that is proving to be of immense value to startups – and the investors who support them.”

Trivia Answer: Paste

Paste is a command that allows you to insert data from the clipboard into an application. In order to use the Paste command, you must first use either the Copy or Cut command to save data to the clipboard. Once the clipboard contains data, you can paste the saved data into any supporting program.

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