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Nigerian home financing startup Bongalow secures funding. 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. Nigerian home financing startup Bongalow secures funding

Bongalow, a Nigerian home financing startup, has, on Monday, announced adding to its seed round with capital from Africa-focused Japanese venture firm, UNCOVERED FUND.

The startup, which is a mobile-powered home financing marketplace, enables Africans at home and abroad shop for the best home loan to purchase their desired property.

According to the team, the startup’s mobile-powered home financing platform enables aspiring homeowners to save towards a down payment, shop for a home loan, and access Bongalow’s rent-to-own financing facilities.

Commenting on the raiser, the startup revealed that the new investment (however, undisclosed) from UNCOVERED FUND is part of a wider seed round that also includes Future Africa, Kepple Africa Ventures, ARM, Magic Fund, a bank CEO in Nigeria, and a host of other angel investors.

Kelechi Nwokocha, Bongalow CEO, expressed excitement over the new development as the startup looks to become a go-to space for prospective homeowners.

He said: “We are happy to receive significant interest from Asian investors in our round and welcome UNCOVERED FUND onboard our journey to create what we believe will be the go-to-platform for aspiring homeowners in Africa.”

Tech Trivia: Jeff Bezos’s Amazon.com was first known as

A. Cadabra.com
B. Bookking.com
C. Lifery.com
D. Store360.com

Answer: See end of post.

2. Google files lawsuit against Russian Roskomnadzor

Tech giant Google has filed a claim against Russia’s communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, demanding it to block multiple links to what it called “illegal” YouTube content.

The content in the YouTube link had suggested calling minors to participate in unauthorized rallies.

According to local media in Russia, Google is only a defendant in the case as Roskomnadzor initially filed a lawsuit demanding that Google block 12 links to illegal content posted on YouTube.

READ ALSO: Despite CBN N5 promo, money sent home by Nigerians abroad drops 75.3% in first quarter

Before this retaliation, Roskomnadzor earlier announced its plans to slap fines on TikTok, VKontakte, Telegram, Odnoklassniki, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for failing to follow its instructions.

Also, a court spokesperson confirmed that a dozen violations had been registered on the part of Google, Facebook and Twitter as they consistently failed to delete illegal information from their platforms.

Meanwhile, court hearings have already been held on some of those cases, and as a result, Twitter was fined 8.9 million rubles (nearly $121,000) while Telegram received a fine of 5 million rubles.

Google’s lawsuit comes as an instrument to fortify it from possible court allegations and charges.

3. Ghanaian VR tours startup DOBIISON seeks to scale venture

DOBIISON, a Ghanaian startup, is set to scale its venture across Africa this year.
The 3 year old startup is a provider of virtual tours and immersive digital experiences for the real estate, construction and tourism industries.

Since its inception, the startup has built the largest collection of Ghanaian virtual reality (VR) content.

Today, still at the growth stage, the startup leverages 360º immersive, interactive content with functionality that helps large businesses like Mantrac and Rendeavour’s Appolonia City transform their online presence and drive conversion rates using VR.

Founder Selasie Awity while briefing journalists on the startup model and milestone noted that the goal was to help client companies satisfy their customers.

He said: “Our enterprise VR solutions combine multiple media types into one single asset, transforming traditional photos and videos into immersive and interactive content, while additionally capturing interest, intent, and purchases.

“We help companies transform their online presence and enable a better customer experience while driving conversion rates.

“Uptake has been great with over 20 businesses and organisations using our enterprise VR services.

“Overall, we see an increase in demand for our solutions as people and businesses respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that came with it.”

Tech Trivia Answer: Cadabra.com

The company was originally called “Cadabra,” as in “abracadabra,” according to Brad Stone’s book “The Everything Store. But CEO Jeff Bezos’ lawyer told him the reference to magic was too obscure.

While looking through the “A” section of the dictionary, Bezos discovered the word “Amazon,” which seemed fitting because it was earth’s largest river and he was building the world’s largest bookstore.

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