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LATEST TECH NEWS: Six African startups secure grants from Catalyst Fund. 1 other thing and a trivia you need to know today, January 28, 2021

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LATEST TECH NEWS: Six African startups secure grants from Catalyst Fund. 1 other thing and a trivia you need to know today, January 28, 2021

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

1. Six African startups secure grants from Catalyst Fund

As part of Catalyst Fund’s investment in Fintech in Africa, six fintech solutions from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa has reportedly received grant funding and support from the accelerator.

The five year old Catalyst Fund, managed by BFA Global, is a global accelerator that supports inclusive fintech innovators and facilitates the growth of innovation ecosystems in emerging markets.

According to press, the receiving startups, five of which have female founders or co-founders, will join Catalyst Fund’s existing portfolio of 37 companies and receive GBP80,000 (US$110,000) in grant capital.

In addition, they will equally receive bespoke and expert-led venture building support from BFA Global, and one-on-one connections with investors and corporate innovators that can help them scale.

During its flagship inclusive fintech accelerator, the initiative was supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Besides the support from the UK, the initiative was also fiscally sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.


Tech Trivia:

Which of these digital tools doesn’t help monitor mentions online?

A. Google Alert
B. Awario
C. Agorapulse
D. AdWords

Answer: See end of post.


2. Knife Capital launches 2nd 12J Venture Capital Fund

In a bid to allow new investors participate in its alternative asset class, South African-based VC firm Knife Capital has launched a second Section 12J Venture Capital Fund.

According to reports, after having deployed most of its first ZAR250 million (US$16.4 million) Section 12J Venture Capital Fund, Knife Capital has fully launched the second KNF Ventures.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: Kenyan VC Antler invests in 2 new startups from Nairobi. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, January 27, 2021

Press noted that similar to the investment mandate in Fund I, the second venture will continue to build on the success and momentum created.

This way, By leveraging knowledge, networks and funding, KNF aims to accelerate the growth of South African innovation-driven SMEs to generate enhanced returns for entrepreneurial-minded investors.

Speaking to press on the company’s traction, Andrea Böhmert, partner at Knife Capital, said COVID-19 had had a significant impact on the broader Knife Capital portfolio, but not necessarily all negative.

She said: “The resilience of a long-term investment strategy is being tested and a diversified portfolio is a good thing in times like these. The portfolio value keeps growing and some of our companies like educational content marketplace Snapplify and pharmaceutical temperature monitoring solutions company PharmaScout really benefited.”


Tech Trivia Answer: AdWords

While Awario, Agorapulse and Google Alert are web/social mentioning tools, AdWords is an online advertising platform developed by Google, where advertisers pay to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings, video content, and generate mobile application installs within the Google ad network to web users.

Monitoring tools, on the other hand, help users keep track of the digital mentions of netizens, brands, companies, and/or products.

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