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

Planet3R, up4grabs.ng, Wattpad, AlGooru, Amazon, Moove, Sava, SnapChat. These are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

A Lagos-based classified marketplace, up4grabs.ng, has launched service as a platform connecting sellers and buyers.

Also, Amazon, an American e-commerce company, says it is looking to recruit qualified persons for seven positions based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Let’s get into details.

A Nigerian female-led waste to wealth social enterprise, Planet3R, was, during the week, announced ‘Business model of the year’ winner by the Lagos Waste Forum.

The company made the announcement on its official twitter handle seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: Planet3R converts textile and plastic wastes into eco-friendly products using the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).

Another story we tracked was that of popular online social reading platform, Wattpad, which launched a creator’s program that can potentially earn writers up to $25,000.

The company in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria stated that there will be strict guidelines for writers to be eligible for the payout program.

What you should know: Wattpad is not the first platform to roll out this kind of program designed to pay creators as in the past, content publishing platform, Medium, had employed similar strategy.

On fund raiser, a Saudi-based EdTech startup, AlGooru, on Friday announced securing a $1.8M in SEED funding from RAZ Group, RZM Investment, 100 Ventures, and RAY Investment.

Head of Product at AlGooru, Omer Awadat, made the confirmation on Friday in a media release, noting that AlGooru also saw investments from angels from Oqal Angel Investors.

What you should know: AlGooru, which is an online platform, that harmoniously connects students with a pool of competent private tutors on-demand.

Jobs for Nigerians: Amazon, an American e-commerce company, says it is looking to recruit qualified persons for seven positions based in Lagos, Nigeria.

The company advertised various positions on LinkedIn, the career social media site.

According to Amazon, the vacant positions include associate solutions architect, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) startup scaling team; startup segment leader, sub-Saharan Africa, Amazon web services (AWS) startups; senior partner sales manager, Nigeria, and Kenya.

Read also:Morocco’s Chari acquires Ivorian startup Diago. 1 other story and a trivia

The United Kingdom’s British International Investment (BII), has announced investing a $20 million 4-year structured credit investment in Moove.

The British High Commissioner, H.E. Catriona Laing CB, Thursday made the announcement during its change of name event monitored online by Ripples Nigeria.

What you should know: The latest funding is expected to provide more jobs and boost the economic power of many Nigerians.

Back to investment, an African money management platform, Sava, secured a $2 million pre-seed funding to expand its geographical footprint across Africa.

The startup Thursday confirmed the development in a media release, citing Quona Capital, Breega, CRE Ventures, Ingressive Capital, RaliCap, Unicorn Growth Capital, and Sherpa Ventures as major participating VCs.

What you should know: The startup was founded in South Africa by Yoeal Haile, Federico Von Bary Landesmann, and Kolawole Olajide in 2022.

Popular multimedia instant messaging app, Snapchat, has formally launched its monthly premium plan set at $3.99 per month.

The company made the announcement in a media release on Wednesday, 29th June, 2022.

What you should know: The paid subscription plan is called Snapchat+, seeing the startup follow the path of other social media apps that have launched various premium subscription plans.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State launched a recently constructed containerized technology-driven modular classroom block, at Vetland Junior Grammar School in Agege, Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu, who spoke during the unveiling on Wednesday, stated that the nine-classroom block was constructed to replace deteriorating concrete structures in the government-owned model college Vetland Junior Grammar School.

What you should know: The interactive modular classrooms were created utilizing container, also known as conventional, reusable freight compartments.

Also, a Lagos-based classified marketplace, up4grabs.ng, launched service as a platform connecting sellers and buyers.

The startup’s cofounder, Fatimot Sanni, confirmed the development to Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday.

What you should know: Founded in 2021, the classified startup runs a digital marketplace where registered users seeking to sell or auction items can connect with interested buyers.

On APP REVIEW, we published an exclusive on Tayo Oviosu’s Paga app where we acknowledged that technology had, indeed, changed how we do business, especially how we keep money, access it and retrieve it.

We wrote about how the startup made its entry into the Nigerian market back in 2009 with a mission to drive financial inclusion under the Paga brand.

In the review, we touched on the general use of the app after having a first-hand experience of the product, from downloading to registration, verification, and transaction.

Also, as part of the review, we sampled opinions of other users who used the app at a time or the other.

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