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

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Fixit45 raises undisclosed funds as startup acquires Parkit amid rising M&As in Nigeria

Apple, Fixit45, Alvin, Y Combinator and Windowshoppi. These are some of the names that made the headlines this week as we usher in the new year.

Apple, makers of iPhone, during the week, crossed a major milestone when it hit the $3 trillion (N1.2 quadrillion) market capitalization.

Also, during the week, Fixit45, a Nigerian startup, launched venture as a one-stop-shop and service solution platform for car owners.

Let’s get into details.

Fixit45, a Nigerian startup, launched as a one-stop-shop and service solution platform for car owners.

The startup court our attention as it seeks to connect car owners with a variety of necessary services.

According to sources familiar with the startup’s operation, Fixit45 enables car owners to connect and interact with multiple aftermarket stakeholders, including a vast network of automobile service providers, specialised technical teams, spare parts suppliers, and end-consumers.

Another startup of interest is Alvin, a Kenyan fintech startup, which during the week closed a US$740,000 pre-seed funding round.

The startup’s money manager app helps people align their daily spending around savings goals.

We reported that Alvin was founded in May of last year deploying automated budgeting, personalised offers and applied behavioural game design strategies to help people align their daily spending around their savings goals in a sustainable way.

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

Moving to Tanzania, Windowshoppi is a Tanzanian image-sharing startup that also got our mention during the week.

We profiled it after news of its product launch. The startup launched its app which allows users post photos, add locations, and recommend products.

We noticed that the development followed its intent to boost local commerce with new product rollouts in the new year.

An opportunity opened during the week with interest in startups from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

The opportunity invites startups from the three listed countries to apply for five challenges aimed at harnessing the power of innovators to reduce waste.

We explained that the challenge is managed by KTN Global Alliance Africa, and that it is a six-year project funded by UK Aid through the Innovate UK Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

And, yes, we got some good news in the pack. Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator selected Ethiopia’s beU Delivery and Nigeria’s IdentityPass as participants in the W22 edition.

The startups will feature alongside 38 others for the edition.

According to the incubator, participants will receive US$125,000 each in seed funding as well as further investment opportunities at a demo day. Good news indeed.

Perhaps, the biggest news during the week. Apple, makers of IPhone crossed a major milestone when it hit the $3 trillion (N1.2 quadrillion) market capitalization.

We noted that it broke the barrier when its share price sold at N77,131 on Monday, December 3, 2022.

Apple climbed to 2.5 per cent value on Monday, December 3, 2022 to close at N77,000 just missing the closing trading day at the N1.2 quadrillion mark.

Returning to Kenya, a fintech startup, Paylend, announced raising US$2 million in seed funding to expand operations at home.

The raiser comes as the startup sought to launch in Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria.

Paylend was founded in 2019 by Bendon Murgor and Eliutherius Juma. The startup digitises the manual, black book recording of data traditionally used by MSMEs.

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