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

X, CCDH, BFree, Bumble, MoneyHash, Helcim, Inkitt, Raqami, COTU Ventures, Truecaller, Dunes Financial, TikTok are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Elon Musk’s legal dispute with the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is scheduled to commence on Thursday, featuring oral arguments in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and will be broadcast live.

Also, The Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology has forged a partnership with Domineum/Edenbase UK, marking a significant milestone with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop Abuja Tech City.

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Elon Musk’s legal dispute with the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) is scheduled to commence on Thursday, featuring oral arguments in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and will be broadcast live.

Musk, through his entity X, filed a lawsuit against CCDH last year, alleging the organization of disseminating “false and misleading claims” about X.

Established in 2018, CCDH is a nonprofit organization focused on researching hate speech, extremism, and misinformation on social media platforms.

BFree, a Nigerian startup dedicated to ethical debt recovery, has secured $2.95 million in funding, led by Capria Ventures.

Susana García-Robles, managing partner at Capria Ventures, confirmed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday February 29, 2024.

Other participants in the funding round include Angaza Capital, GreenHouse Capital, Launch Africa, Modus Africa, Axian CVC, and several angel investors.

The Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology has forged a partnership with Domineum/Edenbase UK, marking a significant milestone with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop Abuja Tech City.

Minister Uche Nnaji, representing the Federal Government, and counterparts from Domineum/Edenbase UK formalized the agreement, laying the foundation for a strategic alliance focused on facilitating technology transfer and collaboration for the advancement of Abuja Tech City.

Expressing optimism in Nigeria’s potential, Minister Uche Nnaji drew parallels to the success of London Tech City, which amassed over 61 billion pounds in its fifth year of operation.

An American online dating platform, Bumble, has announced plans to lay off approximately 350 employees, constituting 30% of its workforce as well as a comprehensive app overhaul to achieve growth.

The CEO, Lidiane Jones, confirmed the decision in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday February 28, 2024.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the restructuring followed a weak Q4 2023 results, revealing a $32 million net loss against $273.6 million in revenue.

An Egypt-based fintech startup, MoneyHash, has announced securing $4.5 million in seed funding.

The startup specializes in streamlining payment processes for merchants across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region through its unified payment APIs.

The founder and general partner at COTU Ventures, Amir Farha, confirmed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday February 28, 2024.

Helcim, the Canada-based payment platform, has raised $20 million in a Series B fundraising round led by Californian venture capital firm.

The round saw the participation of existing backers Aquiline Technology Growth and Information Venture Partners alongside new investors SilverCircle, Clocktower Ventures, and Vasey Ventures.

Established in 2006, Helcim caters to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across North America, offering an integrated payment processing platform.

A self-publishing platform headquartered in San Francisco, Inkitt, has secured $37 million in its Series C funding round spearheaded by Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures.

The round saw the participation of previous supporters including NEA and Kleiner Perkins.

The Founder and CEO, Ali Albazaz, confirmed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday February 27, 2024.

A neobank headquartered in Pakistan, Raqami, has forged a strategic partnership with Codebase Technologies, a leading banking solutions provider, to facilitate the rollout of its Shariah-compliant digital banking offerings.

Umair Aijaz, CEO of the bank, confirmed this partnership in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday February 27, 2024.

Under the agreement, the bank will leverage Codebase Technologies’ Digibanc platform, based in the UAE, as its primary technological infrastructure in order to introduce a range of digital-native financial services tailored for Pakistani customers.

COTU Ventures, a Dubai-based early-stage venture capital firm, has announced the launch of a $54 million fund dedicated to supporting startups across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, from pre-seed to seed stages.

Founder and general partner, Amir Farha, confirmed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday February 27, 2024.

Having achieved its final close last year, COTU Ventures, known for its approach of identifying and supporting founders from inception to post-product launch, intends to invest between $1.5 million to $2 million in startups, while also earmarking capital for follow-on investments.

Truecaller, the caller identity company, has rolled out its call recording and transcription services for paid users in India, marking its largest market after its debut in the U.S. in June 2023.

The Managing Director and Chief Product Officer, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, confirmed this development in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Monday February 26, 2024.

This new feature empowers users to record both incoming and outgoing calls directly within the Truecaller app, streamlining the process of capturing and organizing significant conversations.

The European Union (EU) has launched a formal investigation into TikTok, scrutinizing the social media platform’s efforts to safeguard minors’ interests, as mandated by the Digital Services Act.

This statement is confirmed by the European Commission in a press release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Monday February 26, 2024.

The probe aims to assess whether the platform’s functionalities, procedures, and policies comply with regulations, particularly focusing on minimizing risks of user addiction and upholding privacy and safety standards for underage users.

UAE-based Dunes Financial has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to acquire a “substantial portion” of Canada-based Be Mobile Africa.

The co-founder and CEO of Be Money Africa, Dr Cédric Jeannot, confirmed this acquisition in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Monday February 26, 2024

The deal, to be completed by the end of Q2 2024 for an undisclosed sum, marked Dunes’ first public move since its exit from stealth mode, as the firm readied to unveil its new platform combining cryptocurrency and traditional banking services.

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