Nigeria’s Trade Lenda shortlisted for 2023 Go Global Awards. 2 other stories and a trivia

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

1. Nigeria’s Trade Lenda shortlisted for 2023 Go Global Awards

Nigeria’s Trade Lenda, a digital bank supporting SMEs and farmers, has been shortlisted for the 2023 Go Global Awards.

The awards, organized by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, recognize companies for their innovation, growth, and global impact.

Trade Lenda provides quick credit access to small businesses within six hours and without the need for collateral.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the event seeks to bring together government officials from 28 countries and influential industry leaders to celebrate achievements and promote international business connections.

Trade Lenda’s co-founder, Adeshina Adewumi, expressed gratitude for the nomination and highlighted their dedication to revolutionizing financial services for SMEs.

Last year, Trade Lenda received a Go Global Award for Trade Finance from the Estonia Chamber of Commerce, further motivating their commitment to innovation.

Trade Lenda aims to expand its global presence and showcase its exceptional products and services.

The event, hosted by Rhode Island’s Secretary of Commerce, Elizabeth M. Tanner, will feature various activities, including judging, panel discussions, B2B meetings, and a gala dinner to honor participants.

TECH TRIVIA:Which processor architecture is an example of a CISC processor?

A. M1
B. x86
C. PowerPC
D. ARM

Answer: see end of post

2. Google Launches Cleantech Accelerator Program for MEA Startups

Google has unveiled its latest initiative, the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change, a cleantech accelerator program catering to startups in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

The program aims to support and invest in startups dedicated to sustainable technology climate solutions, cleantech, and green energy.

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Selected startups will gain access to valuable resources, including mentorship, educational workshops, Google Cloud technical expertise, and Google Cloud credits.

Through a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, the MEA program offers high-potential startups the opportunity to grow and thrive by leveraging the extensive resources and expertise provided by Google.

The program combines both in-person and virtual activities, including personalized mentoring, group learning sessions, and various engagements to foster growth and development.

The Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change program goes beyond mentorship, incorporating deep dives and workshops focused on critical areas such as product design, business expansion, and leadership enhancement. Startups selected for the program will also have access to dedicated technical expertise from Google Cloud, as well as receive credits through the Google for Startups Cloud Program.

To be eligible for the program, startups must demonstrate traction, ideally falling between the Seed and Series A stage. Additionally, they should have a scalable product or service with a significant total addressable market and a defensible growth model.

The program specifically targets startups involved in sustainable technology climate solutions, cleantech, and green energy, and prioritizes those with a technical foundation, potentially leveraging technologies such as Machine Learning and AI.

This initiative from Google serves as a significant boost for MEA startups operating in the cleantech sector.

It provides them with access to critical support, knowledge, and resources needed to accelerate their growth and contribute to positive environmental change.

3. Egypt’s Zeal to help merchants connect with customers

An Egyptian startup, Zeal, has launched to help merchants connect with customers while providing reward services.

Founded in 2020, Zeal develops middleware that integrates on POS terminals worldwide via either Linux or Android to analyse, reward, and enable merchants to reach back to their paying customers.

Customers, on the platform, are allowed to track their payments and loyalty points via Zeal, a consumer-facing app.

“Zeal addresses the gap in the market where merchants lose a chance to identify and retain their customers every time a card transaction is made on a POS terminal,” founder and CEO Omar Ebeid stated.

The startup initially launched the Zeal App in 2020 as a QR code payment and loyalty service.

It has processed more than 250,000 transactions with about US$2.5 million.

The company charged companies 2.5 per cent per transaction, and offered merchants a sophisticated data analytics dashboard.

Trivia Answer: x86 processor

CISC stands for “Complex Instruction Set Computing,” and pronounced “sisk.”

The x86 processor architecture, which includes processors made by Intel and AMD, is the most widely-used type of CISC processor.

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