Saudi’s Rize closes $2.9M in seed round. 2 other stories and a trivia

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

1. Saudi’s Rize closes $2.9M in Seed Round

Saudi-based proptech firm, Rize, has announced closing a $2.9 million seed round from investors including Seedra Ventures, Hala Ventures, JOA Capital, RZM Investments, Bonat Investments, Nama Ventures, and a consortium of angel investors.

The Co-Founder and CTO, Mohammed Alfraihi, confirmed this raise in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday February 7, 2024.

Founded in 2021 by Ibrahim Balilah and Mohammed AlFraihi, Rize operates on a rent-now-pay-later model, offering tenants flexible monthly installment options for rent payments.

The startup plans to utilize the investment to expand its presence across Saudi Arabia.

The funding follows Rize’s debt financing announcement aimed at bolstering its investments in the real estate sector.

Speaking on the development, Mohammed said: “Our latest funding underscores our dedication to simplifying property transactions and enhancing rental processes for tenants.

“Additionally, we are excited to align with the Kingdom’s efforts to enhance and regulate the real estate market, leveraging our technology-driven solutions to contribute to this period of transformation.”

Trivia: What is another name for a location with lots of Internet servers?

A. Access point
B. Broadband station
C. Comm block
D. Data center

See Answer below

2. Nigerian Minister Bosun Tijani joins ITU’s digital innovation board

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has secured a position on the Digital Innovation Board of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Alliance for Digital Development, overseen by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), joining 17 other distinguished members in this role.

The ITU-established alliance aims to bridge the global digital innovation divide and support ITU members in achieving a fair digital future.

Each board member has been selected for their proven track record in innovation and will provide strategic guidance, expertise, and advocacy to advance the alliance’s goals and vision.

The creation of the Digital Innovation Board is part of the alliance’s efforts to foster local catalysts and promote innovation and entrepreneurship in digital development, ultimately working towards a more inclusive and equitable digital landscape worldwide.

3. Nigerian-owned Klas secures $1M to expand venture

Nigerian educational technology platform, Klas, has secured a $1 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by Ingressive Capital, with participation from Techstars, HoaQ Capital, and several angel investors.

Confirmation of this investment came from Sunil Sharma, Managing Director of Techstars Toronto, in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday, February 7th, 2024.

Founded in 2022 by Nathan Nwachuku and Lekan Adejumo, Klas is a platform enabling users to create and monetize ebooks, courses, and live classes.

With a suite of features encompassing class scheduling, payment processing, community engagement, analytics, and video conferencing, Klas caters to diverse subjects including coding, design, finance, art, and languages.

Speaking on the development, Nwachuku said: “We don’t use Zoom or Google Meet; we actually built our tool called KlasLife, which doesn’t even use any video API. This was built from scratch and with a very unique video architecture.”

With a free plan supplemented by a 5% transaction fee, Klas aims to facilitate the establishment of up to 100,000 online schools worldwide by 2027.

Sunil expressed satisfaction in supporting Klas from its inception, praising the capabilities of its co-founders. He further underlined his confidence in the platform by making a follow-on investment.

Trivia Answer: Data Center

A data center is a central location for storing and processing data. It may include anywhere from a few computers to several thousand. Most data centers contain servers, such as web, mail, and file servers. However, some are designed specifically for data storage and others for cluster computing.

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