Paychant launches platform for Nigerians to buy airtime with Bitcoin. 2 other things and a trivia

These latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Pan-African Fintech Accelerator selects 10 startups in Africa

To kick off its maiden edition, Pan-African Fintech Accelerator hosted by the Entrepreneurship Academy of the SANAD Fund for MSME in partnership with IMPACT Lab and MEST, has selected 10 Fintech startups to participate in its six-month virtual acceleration and immersion programme.

Earlier in December, the initiative had announced seeking for high-potential technology businesses looking to scale their business, create partnerships, and explore North African markets.

Designed to accelerate the growth of fintech startups in Africa, the initiative further looks to equip them with the skills and knowledge to successfully scale their solutions into North Africa through training, mentorship, acceleration, and market expansion.

According to reports, six of the selected companies are from Ghana while Senegal and Ivory Coast are represented by 2 startups each.

With the listing, the selected businesses will receive industry-specific training on how to assess and enhance their fintech product for the North African market as well as invaluable access to pre-identified potential clients, corporate investors, industry experts, and an ecosystem of institutional partners.

Tech Trivia: What’s the biggest tech acquisition in history?

A. Dell’s buyout of EMC in 2015
B. Google’s buyout of Motorola in 2011
C. Nvidia’s buyout of Arm in 2020
D. HP’s buyout of Compaq in 2002

Answer: See end of post.

2. Paychant launches platform for Nigerians to buy airtime with Bitcoin

Nigerian Fintech startup, Paychant, has launch a new service platform, Quick, to enable users in Nigeria to buy air-time, data, cable TV, and electricity with Bitcoin.

Quick, as an “all-in-one” platform, will support everyday purchases in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Aside catering for users in Nigeria, the platform will serve 10 other African countries, making it possible for users to buy airtime, internet data, electricity, tv subscription, airline tickets, book hotels, food, and event tickets using their bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies.

According to the company, digital currency should be spendable without exchanging it for fiat, and users holding these crypto-assets should have the option to make purchases with it directly.

Speaking on the development, the board of directors, in a memo, noted that the platform will support exchanges through Bitcoin, Celo, Dollar, Ethereum and others.

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

The memo reads:
“As our core mission is to make cryptocurrency spendable just as cash in Africa, there should be a place where people can make almost all their daily purchases in cryptocurrency.”

“That is why we created Quick, a platform where people can buy electricity, food, tickets, airtime, internet data, and many more) with cryptocurrencies like Celo Dollar, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether.”

3. Ghana’s Redbird raises $1.5m seed round

To expand access to rapid medical testing and digitised health records in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghanaian e-health startup Redbird has raised a US$1.5 million seed round.

Since its inception in 2018, Redbird has been providing patients with easy access to their digital health records via five-minute tests available at community pharmacies.

According to media reports, its pharmacy platform is currently available at over 350 community pharmacies, and offers 10 rapid tests.

Upon assessment, results are saved to a user’s personal Redbird health record, which can be accessed by the patients via their app or at any partner pharmacy.

Towards improving health services within the country, the team looks to provide doctors with access to these health records under patients’ consent, providing a more complete picture of a patient’s history.

The new US$1.5 million seed round sees the participation of Johnson & Johnson Foundation and Newtown Partners via the Imperial Venture Fund.

Tech Trivia Answer: Dell’s buyout of EMC in 2015

Dell’s acquisition of enterprise storage company EMC for $67 billion in cash and stock stands as the tech industry’s largest buyout. This took place in 2015.

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