Nigeria’s Alerzo acquires Shago Payments to boost growth. 2 other things and a trivia

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

1. Nigeria’s Alerzo acquires Shago Payments to boost growth

Ibadan-based retail-tech startup, Alerzo, has announced acquiring Lagos-based fintech company Shago Payments.

The development comes as the two year old startup looks to build on already impressive growth that saw its annualised September transaction volume exceed US$155 million.

Alerzo is an all-in-one technology and services platform that transforms how Nigeria’s informal retail stores operate.

In August, Alerzo raised a US$10.5 million Series A round, which was led by London-based Nosara Capital.

Today, the startup claims to have doubled its revenues as well as built a payments business.

Shago Payments is a financial technology company retailing digital products and services to create a localized marketplace experience for users.

With Shago’s integration into AlerzoPay, the company’s payments arm, Alerzo now provides informal retail stores with a portfolio of new digital services such as mobile airtime top-up, bill payments and peer-to-peer transfers.

Tech Trivia: Which of the following is used for data storage?
A. Motherboard
B. CPU
C. GPU
D. Hard Disk
Answer: See end of post

2. Nigeria’s Sparkle closes $3.1m seed round to scale venture

Sparkle, a Nigerian startup, has closed a US$3.1 million seed funding round.

The new raiser is expected to help it invest in infrastructure and enter new regions.

The startup was founded in mid-2020 by former Diamond Bank chief executive officer (CEO) and tech entrepreneur Uzoma Dozie.

According to sources familiar with the startup’s operation, it offers comprehensive support for individuals, including flexible payments, savings and analytics to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances and lifestyle.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Cash2Cash joins Catalyst Fund fintech accelerator. 2 other things and a trivia

The US$3.1 million funding round saw the participation an all-Nigerian group of investors including Leadway Assurance, Trium Networks and a number of Nigerian HNIs.

The new raiser brings Sparkle’s total funding to date to US$5.1 million.

Speaking on the development, co-founder Uzoma Dozie noted that the investment will help the startup further its drive for financial inclusion.

He said: “I’m delighted to be collaborating with a group of highly respected Nigerian businesses, investment firms and captains of industry – all of whom understand the real need for a digital-first platform such as Sparkle, to bring better access to financial services and, importantly, financial inclusion, to millions more people – for business, for personal means or both.”

3. Egyptian e-commerce startup Talabeyah secures $1.1m funding round

Talabeyah, a Cairo-based startup, has secured $1.1 million in funding from a group of angel investors.

The raiser will help boost Talabeyah’s growth as it looks to scale.

The startup, which was founded by Karim Nassef, Amr Abbas, Khaled Hussein and Adel Hodroj in July 2020, provides a tailored simple solution for retailers.

The startup’s end-to-end model provides FMCG suppliers with bigger reach to retailers, direct marketing communication channels, and real-time data to enable them for better planning.

Talabeyah claimed to have achieved a cumulative gross merchandise value of US$6 million in its first 15 months of operations.

According to Karim Nassef, the goal of the startup is to disrupt the digital space as a technology for supply-chain venture.

He said: “This is a highly fragmented market with multiple layers that leads to high inefficiencies and low service levels. Our aim is to disrupt and digitise this informal market by leveraging technology and innovative supply chain.”

Tech Trivia Answer: Hard Disk

A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage and one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic material.

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