Connect with us

News

LATEST TECH NEWS: Senegal’s Oolu secures $8.5-million. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, December 24, 2020

Published

on

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

1. Senegal’s Oolu secures $8.5-million

Led by RP Global, Senegal-based startup Oolu has secured $8.5-milliom in a Series B round of investment.

Leading the investment, RP Global, an independent renewable energy developer, joined forces with other investors (namely: Persistent Energy Capital, Shell-seeded impact investor All On, Gaia Impact Fund, and DPI Energy Ventures) to make the round successful.

Commenting on the development, Leo Schiefermueller, Director of RP Global Africa, described Oolu as a promising solar home systems provider in West Africa.

He said: “We are looking forward to working with the most promising solar home systems provider in West Africa.

Further praising the company, he added that, “Having found a partner with such an efficient structure and excellent management makes us optimistic that this will be our greatest venture in Africa to date. The fantastic team at Oolu is prepared to lead the company towards a whole new level of success and growth in all areas of one of Africa’s most important challenges – ‘access to energy’.”

Meanwhile, 5 year old Oolu has stated that the new raiser will be used to expand the startup’s offering of pay-as-you-go solar energy and develop its operations in West Africa.


Tech Trivia:

Which of these tech giants started as a grocery store, selling vegetables?

A. Apple
B. Tecno
C. Samsung
D. Microsoft

Answer: See end of post.


2. Kenyan e-health startup Damu-Sasa secures $20k from Villgro Africa

In a bid to enhance COVID-19 capabilities Villgro Africa has awarded Kenyan e-health startup Damu-Sasa US$20,000 in grant funding.

The startup, operating an innovative end-to-end blood services information management platform, is expected to channel the fund into enhancing its mitigation against the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier, Damu-Sasa has been on the frontline working across the entire blood ecosystem by helping hospitals source blood from donors and from each other, while also supporting screening, preparation of blood products and inventory and transfusions management.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: China’s WeRide closes $200M in funding. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, December 23, 2020

Aside its mandate around sourcing and screening of blood, Damu-Sasa system also helps mobilise donors and tracks their donations, by way of giving them digital access to their donation history.

Reviews further indicate that the team works with hospitals and other multi-sectoral partners to increase voluntary donations from across the population, with the goal of delivering sufficient supply of safe blood while improving tracking and reporting of utilisation countrywide.

3. My WashBay digitises car wash service in South Africa

Three year old startup My Washbay, running as a local tech startup, has entered into focusing on digitising and reinventing the car wash industry by providing a tech-based service for car wash owners.

Speaking to press, Prinesh Pillay, founder of My Washbay explained that the startup aims to shake up the car wash industry with technological advancements and tools to enhance the customer experience.

He said: “A large number of car washes are still utilising legacy or manual systems of dealing with their operation, inclusive of reports and customer experience.”

Although, an app is currently in the development stages, notwithstanding, My Washbay is currently web-based and offers a unique service for both car wash owners and customers.

As it looks to expand across the country, the service is currently available in Johannesburg.


Tech Trivia Answer: Samsung

Samsung was founded as a grocery trading store on March 1, 1938, by Lee Byung-Chull. He started his business in Taegu, Korea, trading noodles and other goods produced in and around the city and exporting them to China and its provinces. After the Korean War, Lee expanded his business into textiles and opened the largest woolen mill in Korea.

He focused heavily on industrialization with the goal of helping his country redevelop itself after the war. During that period his business benefited from the new protectionist policies adopted by the Korean government, whose aim was to help large domestic conglomerates (chaebol) by shielding them from competition and providing them easy financing.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now