South Africa’s DigsConnect closes Pre-Series A seed extension 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. South Africa’s DigsConnect closes Pre-Series A seed extension round

A popular South African digital student accommodation platform, DigsConnec, on Thursday announced the closure of its Pre-Series A seed extension round.

The startup, in a press release, disclosed closing the funding round after securing an undisclosed multi-million Rand investment.

Ripples Nigeria gathered Launch Africa, Goodwater Capital, Five35 Ventures, and Delta Ventures all co-invested in the funding round.

DigsConnect, which is the largest student accommodation marketplace in South Africa, runs with dual headquarters in Cape Town and London.

The Cape-town-based startup was founded in 2018 by Alexandria Claire Syrah Procter, Brendan Ardagh, and Greg Keal.

Speaking on the development, Alexandria Procter, co-founder, and chief executive of DigsConnect, said:

“The fact that we received so much early support from excellent pan-African and US investors speaks volumes about the strength of the team, the value of our strategic partnership with Student.com, our strategy of early profitability, and sound unit economics.”

The company further noted that the new funds will be used to accelerate international growth while focusing on African students in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Tech Trivia: A SIM card has a unique identifier known as what?
A. SSID
B. GUID
C. UUID
D. ICCID
Answer: see end of post

2. Kenya’s CrossBoundary Energy closes $40 million equity investment

A Kenyan Venture Capital has closed a $40 million equity investment from Norfund, and KLP, through their joint company KLP Norfund Investments AS.

Read also:Nigerian-founded fintech startup, Zazuu, secures $2m. 2 other stories and a trivia

Pieter Joubert, President, and Chief Investment Officer, CrossBoundary Energy, while confirming the co-investment in a media release on Thursday, noted that the $40 million commitment is a continuation of Norfund and KLP’s earlier investments.

CrossBoundary Energy claims to be providing tailored, fully financed renewable energy solutions to its corporate customers in a bid to allow them avoid upfront capital expenditure and technical risks.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the startup affords users the opportunity to benefit from cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable power.

Joubert expresses his excitement while welcoming Norfund and KLP as investors.

He said: “This investment validates CrossBoundary Energy’s position as a trusted provider of customer-centric renewable energy solutions to the African business community.”

Joubert further noted that Norfund’s experience will be counted upon to deliver an operational portfolio of over $300M in assets over the next 5 years.

3. Two-year-old US fintech, Capchase, secures over $400 million additional debt financing

A US-based fintech, Capchase, has announced securing over $400 million worth of additional debt financing backed by i80 Group and an international banking group.

Capchase CEO, Miguel Fernandez, confirmed the development in a media release on Thursday as seen by Ripples Nigeria.

Fernandez noted that the new funding will be used to support software-as-a-service (SaaS) start-ups across the US and Europe.

The New York-based fintech was cofounded by Ignacio Moreno Pubul, Luis Basagoiti, Luis Basagoiti Marqués, Miguel Fernandez, and Przemek Gotfryd.

The fintech company, according to local media, helps SaaS companies finance the growth of their operations with cash tied up in future monthly payments.

Commenting on the new development, Fernandez said the upgraded platform will enable customers “to better understand their business growth trends, forecast the future, make profitable decisions and feel confident in timing their raises.”

Trivia Answer: ICCID

ICCID stands for “Integrated Circuit Card Identifier.” An ICCID is a unique number assigned to a SIM card used in a mobile phone or another cellular device.

It provides a standard way to identify each mobile device connected to a cellular network.

By Kayode Hamsat

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