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Nigeria’s digital bank, Brass, raises $1.7m funding round. 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. Nigeria’s digital bank Brass closes $1.7m funding round

Brass, a Nigerian fintech startup, has announced closing a US$1.7 million in funding to accelerate its expansion into South Africa and Kenya.

Brass was founded in 2020 by Sola Akindolu and Emmanuel Okeke.

The startup equips SMEs with a full-stack, commercial-grade banking service across various business classes, enabling them to gain greater clarity and control over their money operations and the power to scale their enterprises.

One year later, the startup has served thousands of businesses – including the likes of Send.ng, Mono and Eden, as well as restaurants, schools and malls.

After disbursing over US$2 million in credit, it launched Brass Capital, a cash-flow financing service.

The raiser saw the participation of Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, co-founder of Flutterwave; Ezra Olubi, co-founder of Paystack; Hustle Fund; Acuity Ventures; Uncovered Fund; and Ventures Platform.

Speaking on the development, Akindolu, Brass’ chief executive officer (CEO), stated that the funding will play a key role in accelerating Brass’ expansion into South Africa and Kenya.

He said: “The basic needs of Africa’s SMEs are just as significant and unique as those of the customers they serve each day and now more than ever, we need innovative and world-class financial services solutions that meet their expectations.

“These local businesses have supported our economies for decades, forming the backbone of Africa’s success to-date and now is the time to bet on them.”

Tech Trivia: What is the term “Wi-Fi” short for?
A Wireless Fidelity
B Wireless Finder
C Wireless Frequency Intelligence
D Nothing
Answer: See end of post

2. Israel’s Bites secures $5M led by Israeli venture capital firm

Bites, an Israel-base startup, has raised a $5M seed round to expand its venture.

This was contained in a press release forwarded to Ripples Nigeria, sharing details of the development.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s fintech startup Mono closes $2m seed funding. 2 other things and a trivia

Bites is an employee communications and training industry, helping SMB & enterprise businesses easily create highly effective media-based professional content.

The raiser was led by Vertex Ventures Israel, a leading Israeli venture capital firm.

Speaking on the development, Aviad Ariel, General Partner at Vertex Ventures Israel, acknowledged that the startup is leading innovation in the employee communications space.

He said: “Bites is reinventing employee communications by leveraging concepts from social media and training to create a powerful platform designed for today’s distributed and remote workforce.

“We believe Bites is the answer to one of the biggest challenges organizations face relating to communications and training by enabling easy creation, distribution, and consumption of highly engaging content while moving away from long forms and complex implementation processes of new software.”

3. New accelerator programme to help Egyptian startups expand into Jordan

Galaxy, a UAE-based Fintech, has partnered with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to launch a new cross-border accelerator programme.

The programme is designed to help startups from Egypt and Jordan expand into both markets.

The two-month programme will help startup expand while promoting cross-border inclusion and knowledge sharing opportunities.

Also, the programme will provide startups with the necessary tools, resources, and network contacts to help them expand to Jordan or Egypt successfully.

The programme is powered by Fintech Galaxy’s cloud-based open innovation FinX22 platform, which will offer an open banking API sandbox that will enable tech startups in Egypt and Jordan to develop, test and deploy their apps.

Tech Trivia Answer: Nothing

The name “Wi-Fi” is similar to “Hi-Fi,” which is short for “High Fidelity.” However, “Wi-Fi” is not short for “Wireless Fidelity,” but is simply a name chosen by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

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