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Nigeria’s Terragon launches African consumer service venture. 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 Terragon launches African consumer service venture

Lagos-based startup, Terragon, has launched a new venture to help big companies understand African customers.

The company currently operates across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, SA and Egypt.
The new service helps users receive personalised engagement from brands through preferred channels.

The venture’s launch comes as more brands struggled to engage digitally with consumers.

Digital experts link lack of actionable customer data, efficient digital channels and engagement tools amongst leading factors for the slow adoption of digital and mobile marketing on the continent.

On the part of the startup, the team developed tools to gather, aggregate and monetise first-party data collected directly from customers, while allowing advertisers to effectively target prospective customers and measure the effectiveness of their ad campaigns.

Tech Trivia: Which billionaire takes a nickname after I/T giant Oracle?
A. Mark Zuckerberg
B. Jack Ma
C. Warren Buffett
D. Jack Dorsey
Answer: See end of post.

2. Egyptian e-commerce startup, MaxAB, closes $40m Series A

Looking to fuel its expansion, Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform MaxAB has secured US$40 million in Series A funding.

According to the startup, MaxAB is seeking to expand across the country and the broader MENA region.

The startup was founded in 2018 by Egyptian and Libyan entrepreneurs Belal El-Megharbel and Mohamed Ben Halim to connects food and grocery retailers to suppliers in Egypt’s most under-served geographies.

Sources familiar with the startup noted that the company serves a network of traditional retailers across Egypt, using empowering technologies and innovative supply chains to help put the correct amount of food and groceries at the right place at the right time.

Today, the startup has supplied more than 55,000 retailers, fulfilled more than one million orders, and grown more than 5x year-on-year.

The new US$40 million raiser was led by RMBV, a prominent impact investor in North Africa, and saw the participation of IFC, Flourish Ventures, Crystal Stream Capital, Rise Capital, and Endeavour Catalyst as well as existing investors BECO Capital and 4DX Ventures.

3. Kalon raises $17.5m fund as Section 12J initiative draws to a close

Kalon Venture Partners, a South African venture capital company, has completed its final Section 12 J capital raise.

READ ALSO: TechNigeria: A weekly digest of what went down in Nigeria’s tech space

The new raiser takes the startup’s Assets Under Management up to over ZAR250 million (US$17.5 million).

The five your old startup was founded in 2016 under the Section 12J initiative that until recently offered investors in registered funds tax breaks.

Today, the firm has invested in post-revenue start-ups with high growth and high impact potential, and has so far backed nine disruptive South African technology companies.

Kalon invests in South African entrepreneurs with innovative technology solutions and assists them in scaling both locally and into global markets.

The startup’s spokesman, Butkow Daniel, described the company’s approach as what endeared entrepreneurs to their services.

He said: “Having been involved in building many technology businesses, we provide more than financial capital but operational skills in helping scale the businesses. We are the operators behind the entrepreneurs and our “High Touch” approach is what many entrepreneurs are looking for to scale their businesses.”

Tech Trivia Answer: Warren Buffett

Living and working in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett was nicknamed the “Oracle or Oracle of Omaha” due to his investment selections. Warren Edward Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, and philanthropist, who is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth of US$71.8 billion as of July 2020, making him the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.

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