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

Happitech, Google, Meta, Moovebeta, Zuri Health, Autochek, Topship. These are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

A Nigerian digital freight forwarding platform, Topship, during the week, announced securing a $2.5M seed round.

Also, an Adanian Labs Africa incubated fintech startup, Moovebeta, merged with 10-year-old B2B Fintech company, ImpalaPay.

Let’s get into details.

Impressive to see Africans joining forces to further develop and grow the economy.

This week, a health-tech company, Happitech, signed a new partnership deal with local startup Momentum Multiply towards boosting remote patient management.

The Chief Executive and Founder of Happitech, Yosef Safi Harb, made the disclosure in a statement on Friday.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that Happitech runs a CE Certified heart rate software development kit (SDK) on Android and iOS for Remote Patient Management Apps.

The week came with an incredible breakthrough for blind people.

Tech correspondent, Kayode Hamsat, reported that American multinational tech company, Google, announced beta testing of a new feature for Android 13 that will make reading and visuals easier for braille users.

According to the report, Google made the announcement in a blog post on its official website.

The American company noted that the device will help people with deaf blindness access mobile phones while people with blindness use their phones silently.

Also, during the week, Meta-chief, Mark Zuckerberg, hinted on the company’s launch of a new business service.

According to Mark, the launch of the API facility will support businesses customise solutions for growth.

According to the American tech businessman, the latest development would allow businesses and developers to build on top of WhatsApp, going forward to customize their experiences and respond to customers faster.

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During the week, American search engine giant, Google, announced a $4 million dedicated to fund 60 Black-founded startups in Africa.

Google’s Head of Start-up Ecosystem in charge of Africa, Folarin Aiyegbusi, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday while announcing the opening of applications for Google for Start-up Black Founders Fund for Africa.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that Google for Startups Black Founders Fund was launched after the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement.

Like South Africa, like Kenya. More African startups are merging to become stronger.

An Adanian Labs Africa incubated fintech startup, Moovebeta, during the week, merged with 10-year-old B2B Fintech company, ImpalaPay.

The co-founder and CEO of Moovebeta, Peris Wanjiru, confirmed the latest merger to the media on Thursday.

ImpalaPay is a Kenyan fintech blockchain company, while Moovebeta is an e-commerce and fintech startup that helps users move value using a voucher system.

In the healthcare sector, another startup closes funding round.

A Kenyan health-tech startup, Zuri Health, has announced securing a $1.2m seed funding to scale and expand to new markets.

Ikechukwu Anoke, CEO and Founder of Zuri Health, confirmed the latest raiser on the startup’s official website on Wednesday.

The latest funding saw investment from DOB Equity, Launch Africa and Founders Factory Africa.

Zuri Health connects mass-market patients with affordable, convenient, and quality healthcare services via SMS, WhatsApp and a dedicated app.

In addition, an African digital automotive commerce platform, Autochek, during the week, announced the acquisition of a Moroccan auto company, KIFAL Auto, for an undisclosed amount.

KIFAL co-founder and CEO, Nizar Abdalaoui Maane, made the acquisition known in a statement forwarded to Ripples Nigeria, on Wednesday.

With the latest acquisition, Autochek now has footprint in six countries across East, West, and North Africa.

KIFAL Auto links car buyers and sellers, and also, through partnerships, offers several other services including financing and insurance.

Meanwhile a Nigerian digital freight forwarding platform, Topship, has equally announced securing a $2.5m seed round.

The raise comes months after concluding the recent YC winter batch.

According to Co-founder and CEO, Moses Enenwali, the raiser was led by Flexport, a freight forwarding and customs brokerage company based in San Francisco, California.

The funding round also saw participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Starling Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, Capital X and True Capital.

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