Nigeria’s Wicrypt closes $1.5m funding to scale venture. 1 other thing and a trivia

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

1. Nigeria’s Wicrypt closes $1.5m funding to scale venture

Wicrypt, a Nigerian blockchain-based Wi-Fi sharing startup Wicrypt has announced closing a strategic US$1.5 million funding.

The round, led by AU21 Capital, is expected to help the Enugu-based enterprise expand into new countries.

Wicrypt was founded in 2018 as a decentralised mobile internet sharing and monetisation network that allows anyone to get paid for sharing their Wi-Fi.

Speaking on the development, Ugochukwu Aronu, chief executive officer (CEO) of Wicrypt, noted that the raiser will influence and compliment its market efforts.

He said: “While we have formed substantial business partnerships in Africa, this funding allows us to grow into new countries by increasing our marketing efforts.

“Wicrypt is providing last-mile internet to people of the world who need it, while leveraging the blockchain by having hosts stake $WNT to become a part of the Wicrypt Network. This ensures overall security of the network and that hosts do not perform malicious actions while providing internet connections to clients.”

In addition, the round saw the articipation of Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal, Inclusion Capital, Outlier Ventures, Chain Capital, Pluto Digital Assets, Onega Ventures, N7 Labs, Cardano and PolkaFoundary.

Tech Trivia: Unwanted email is also known as what?
A Scam
B Bail
C Sperm
D Spam
Answer: See end of post

READ ALSO: JIC invites legal-tech startups for new incubation programme. 1 other thing and a trivia

2. Luno hits 9 million customers milestone

Luno, leading cryptocurrency exchange platform, has crossed 9 million customer milestone.

According to Luno, the milestone was crossed after adding one million new customers within the last four months.

Luno was founded by South Africans Marcus Swanepoel and Timothy Stranex in 2013.

The cryptocurrency enterprise allows users buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies.

The startup first crossed a 1 million customer base milestone in 2017.

Speaking on how the startup then experienced exponential growth after the 2017 break out, General Manager for Africa, Marius Reitz, said the startup accumulated 3.6 million more customers in 2020.

He said: “Luno’s growth has accelerated significantly since then.

“In the last year alone, we have added over 3.6 million new customers.”

Tech Trivia Answer: Spam

Spams are unsolicited usually commercial messages (such as emails, text messages, or Internet postings) sent to a large number of recipients or posted in a large number of places.

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