Nigeria’s ImaliPay secures $3M to enhance services. 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 ImaliPay secures $3M to enhance services

Nigerian fintech startup, ImaliPay, has secured a $3 million seed in debt and equity round.

The round, according to details of the deal, will fund the startup’s plan as it seeks to offer financial services to underserved gig workers across Africa.

ImaliPay, as an organization, leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to offer tailored financial products that promote the inclusion of gig economy platforms and workers across Africa.

The startup was cofounded by Tatenda Furusa and Oluwasanmi Akinmusire in 2020 after observing challenges ride-hailing drivers face when accessing financial services in the city of Nairobi.

“One time, a Bolt driver ran out of fuel in Nairobi when I was coming from the airport and couldn’t top off immediately. It triggered me to think of what other pains these gig workers might be experiencing,” Furusa said.

The company had earlier raised an $800,000 pre-seed round in 2020.

The new round, according to the founders, would be used to expand the team, improve its technology and expand to new markets like Ghana and Egypt.

Trivia Answer: What type of hardware devices support TWIAN drivers?
A Digital Cameras
B Scanners
C Printers
D Monitors

2. Lending startup, Sycamore, raises undisclosed seed round

Sycamore, a Nigerian peer-to-peer loan firm, has raised an undisclosed seed round.

The round was led by White Hibiscus Capital (WHC), a US-based venture capital firm, and saw the participation of other private investors.

READ ALSO: Kenyan fintech startup, Cashlet, launches micro-saving service. 2 other things and a trivia

Sycamore was founded in 2019 by Babatunde Akin-Moses, Onyinye Okonji, and Mayowa Adeosun.

Although, details of the deal remains sketchy, WHC’s Managing Partner, Bade Aluko, has described the Lagos-based startup as a technologically-driven venture with chances of future expansion into other African countries.

He said: “Sycamore is doing an amazing job of getting loans to small businesses in record time.

“I love the team’s technologically-driven approach to making things seamless for its customers, and WHC looks forward to having Sycamore operational in other African countries.”

3. SA’s AI startup, Locstat, closes new round from Grindstone Ventures

Locstat, a Cape Town-based advanced AI startup, Locstat, has closed an undisclosed amount of funding from Grindstone Ventures.

Co-founder and CEO of Locstat, Ryno Goosen, disclosed this on Wednesday in a statement, expressing confidence on the startup’s expansion ambition.

The startup was founded in 2016, using a technology to aggregates data from different sources into a unified environment, and allowing businesses to gain real-time insights into their operations.

Speaking on the investment, Grindstone Ventures’ Managing Partner, Catherine Young, expressed optimism that the startup will “revolutionise” how businesses deal with complicated challenges.

Catherine said: “We are pleased to welcome Locstat to our portfolio of investee firms, since graph-based AI processing functionality transforms data into valuable insights and is one of the fastest growing trends in the data industry.

“We believe Locstat will revolutionize the way businesses handle complicated challenges in real time.”

Trivia Answer: Scanner

Other than being the last name of the author of “Huckleberry Finn,” there are numerous other ideas concerning the origin of this term.

Some believe it stands for “Toolkit Without An Informative Name,” while others argue it is “Technology Without An Interesting Name.”

Though the real story behind the name may never be known, the purpose of TWAIN is quite clear.

It is a graphics and imaging standard that allows companies to make drivers for scanners and digital cameras.

Nearly all scanners on the market today are TWAIN-compliant, meaning the way they interact with your computer is based on the TWAIN standard.

By: Kayode Hamsat

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