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LATEST TECH NEWS: Accelerex Holdings signs new $20m partnership agreement. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, November 27, 2020

Published

3 years ago

November 27, 2020

Ripples Nigeria

These latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Accelerex Holdings signs new $20-million partnership agreement

Accelerex Holdings has announced signing a new partnership agreement with regional private equity firm, Africa Capital Alliance (ACA). The Mauritius-based startup stated this today while informing the public about the latest development in its industry. According to the board, the Capital Alliance Private Equity IV (CAPE IV) fund invested $20-million in Accelerex which allows CAPE IV to be identified as a strategic partner. Speaking on the development, Tunde Ogungbade, CEO of Global Accelerex, expressed excitement entering into the new deal.

He said: “I am very excited by the ACA investment. In our quest for the right investment and strategic partner, we were looking for a company that shares our vision to empower businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa to exceed all their customers’ payment expectations.” In addition, the CEO stated that it is expected that the new deal will push the company’s expansion plans in Africa. “This partnership will help Accelerex to aggressively expand into Africa and accelerate product development. I see our vision becoming a reality with this move,” he said. Accelerex is the parent company of fintech player, Global Accelerex Limited, being Africa’s leading provider of electronic payment and business management solutions.

Tech Trivia:

A “clickable” web address embedded into a web document is called what?

A. Cursory
B. Clickhost
C. Hyperlink
D. Follow through

Answer: See end of post.

2. FAF supports 9 startups with $1m in Q3

Taking its portfolio size to 28, the Future Africa Fund, has reportedly made nine investments of US$1 million in the third quarter of the year 2020. Earlier launched this year by Andela and Flutterwave co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, industry insights established that the initiative was launched alongside Olabinjo Adeniran and Adenike Sheriff, with opportunity to accept further co-investors. The body noted that members began being admitted in June, and in less than six months Future Africa has built a community of over 125 angel investors from all over the world.

It added that the first deal presented to the Future Africa Collective was oversubscribed by 28 per cent within 72 hours, and the second deal was oversubscribed by 68 per cent within seven hours. According to cofounder Sherif, the aforementioned deals saw a significant subscription rate after publishing. He said: “Both deals had an allocation of US$100,000. In fact, we raised over US$250,000 for a particular company within 4 days.”

However, in total, Future Africa has backed 28 startups so far, with nine of those investments made in Q3, totalling US$1 million. They are all Nigerian startups.

3. UJ Technopreneurship Centre hosts Hackathon

Partnering with the Pan African Information Communication Technology Centre (PAICTA), the University of Johannesburg’s Technopreneurship Centre is set to host a hackathon challenge on Saturday, 28 November 2020. According to reports, the hackathon challenge will select over 100 university students that will be challenged to collaborate and create an innovative tech-driven solution to combat issues in the country. Speaking on the objective, the board noted that it was designed by the University of Johannesburg’s Technopreneurship Centre and PAICTA to assist the youth with emerging jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities through the development of technical skills. This will in turn contribute directly toward economic growth.

In addition, the challenge is expected to assist entrepreneurs in enhancing their problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial capabilities. The Hackathon Challenge will commence at 7am on 28 November 2020. However, in ensuring fair competition, the over 100 students will be separated into groups and given a Problem Statement. Each group of students will need to solve the issue presented on the Problem Statement by designing a working prototype using the Design Thinking process which selected mentors will assist in. The board noted that the selected mentors will offer expertise and experience in academia, and, are from a range of private companies such as CISCO, FNB, BMW, Iderto, HERE Technologies, Custodient Advisory Services, DFA, social enterprise, Geekculcha, and the research organisation, CSIR.

Tech Trivia Answer: Hyperlink

A hyperlink is a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document or a new section within the current document. Hyperlinks are found in nearly all Web pages, allowing users to click their way from page to page. Text hyperlinks are often blue and underlined, but don’t have to be. When you move the cursor over a hyperlink, whether it is text or an image, the arrow should change to a small hand pointing at the link. When you click it, a new page or place in the current page will open.

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