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

Xend Finance, Twitter, Enhance Ventures, GAT SUMMIT, Qwili, M2P Fintech, Syntizen, Moove. These are some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

A UAE-based omnichannel ordering and data-driven marketing platform, ChatFood, has secured a $3 million bridge round led by Antler.

Also, a Nigerian mobility fintech startup, Moove, has announced expansion out of Africa to secure footprint in India.

Let’s get into details.

Kicking off our highlights for the week is the story of Nigerian-founded crypto bank, Xend Finance, where it launched a new payment API.

During the week, Ripples Nigeria reported that Nigerian global crypto bank, Xend Finance, launched XendBridge and SwitchWallet as two new APIs.

What you should know: The launch of XendBridge and SwitchWallet will add to Xend Finance’s portfolio of products available to access cryptocurrency payment and storage solutions.

On the international scene, popular social media platform, Twitter, announced increasing the price of Twitter Blue from $2.99 to $4.99 per month.

The Microblogging platform confirmed the hike in price in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: The new price upgrade will commence in October for existing subscribers and new users will currently have to pay the hiked rate.

Next on the line is the story of UAE and Saudi Arabia-based venture studio, Enhance Ventures.

We reported that the firm launched a $30 million Builders Fund, to create High-Tech jobs and train more business leaders in Africa and other countries.

What you should know: Enhance is focused on building innovative digital businesses for the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan and Turkey.

Read also:At GAT, participants urge stakeholders to form Tech union

Prominent amongst the stories during the week is the gathering of tech stakeholders in Nigeria at GAT SUMMIT that was held in Lagos during the week.

Central on the agenda were participants calling on stakeholders to form a Tech union that could advocate for the cause of the tech players.

What you should know: Political commentator, Rufai Oseni, said the body was necessary in the wake of observed resistance from the government, seeking to regulate their activities.

Up next is South Africa-based startup, Qwili, after securing a $1.2M series funding to scale in the market and boost technological infrastructure.

According to local media, Strat-Tech, Next Chymia, Untapped Global, Codec Ventures, and angels like Ashwin Ravichandran and Kanyi Maqubela participated in the funding round.

What you should know: Qwili was founded in 2019 as a startup providing a hybrid sales product to micro and small merchants in South Africa.

Another story we tracked is Indian API infrastructure provider, M2P Fintech, where it acquired a digital identity platform, Syntizen.

Madhusudanan R, co-founder, and chief executive officer of M2P Fintech, confirmed the acquisition in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.

What you should know: The acquisition will bolster M2P Fintech’s approach to providing a comprehensive platform for financial institutions.

All the way from UAE, an omnichannel ordering and data-driven marketing platform, ChatFood, during the week secured a $3 million bridge round led by Antler.

ChatFood’s co-founder and CEO, Benjamin Mouflard, in a media statement on Wednesday confirmed that 6G Capital and existing investors such as Guillaume Pousaz’s Zinal Growth also participated in the funding.

What you should know: The omnichannel ordering and data-driven marketing platform was founded in 2019 by Benjamin Mouflard and Vinicius Rodrigues.

Finally, a Nigerian mobility fintech startup, Moove, led an expansion out of Africa to secure footprint in India.

Ladi Delano, co-founder, and co-CEO at Moove, confirmed the first global expansion outside Africa in a media statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.

What you should know: Moove, which is reputed as the world’s first mobility fintech, is Uber’s largest vehicle supply partner in EMEA.

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