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

Shezlong, Octiv, C. Moore Media, RiseBack, Eyowo, Duplo, Grey, Pezesha, Sony, Anchor. These are some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

A Nigerian payment solution startup, Eyowo, during the week, launched its payment offering, Better Card, after fulfilling certification requirements by Mastercard.

Also, a Nigerian B2B payment platform, Duplo, secured $4.3 million in seed funding to launch new products and expand into new business verticals in Nigeria.

Let’s get into details.

Leading our reel this week is the story of Egyptian psychotherapy startup, Shezlong, which launched its business in South Africa as ‘Upright’.

Mohamed Alaa, CEO of Shezlong, made the disclosure in a statement on Friday.

What you should know: Shezlong is a Cairo-based online mental health platform that allows patients to be connected with licensed therapists via video visit on mobile or web.

Up next is the story of Octiv’s funding raiser. Tech correspondent Kayode Hamsat reported that South African fitness management startup, Octiv, secured an undisclosed received Series A investment from Knife Capital.

Keet van Zyl, the founder of Knife Capital, confirmed investing in Octiv in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: Octiv also known as BoxChamp is a popular platform for gym management software based in South Africa.

Talking about acquisition, during the week, Allison+Partners, a San Francisco-based communication firm, announced the acquisition of African-focused tech PR agency C. Moore Media International Public Relations (CMM) in an undisclosed deal.

CMM made the deal known on its official Twitter handle seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: C. Moore Media International bills itself as a boutique independent PR agency specializing in the African, European, and American markets.

Read also:Egypt’s psychotherapy startup, Shezlong, expands to South Africa. 2 other stories and a trivia

What about Edtech? During the week, we also tracked the news of an Indian varsity-backed edtech platform, RiseBack, that announced expanding its footprint into Africa.

The founder, an Indian American Social Entrepreneur, Dr. Tausif Malik, confirmed the development in a press statement forwarded to Ripples Nigeria.

What you should know: The African launch comes on the heels of an initial launch in the USA, and is expected to open Africans to an alternative to the existing mortal and brick university.

Meanwhile, a Nigerian payment solution startup, Eyowo, has launched its payment offering, Better Card, after fulfilling certification requirements by Mastercard.

The VP of Products for Eyowo, Ope Adeyemi, confirmed the new launch in a media statement on Wednesday.

What you should know: 500 users subscribed to Better Card in the first phase of the release, and is now open to the public.

Nigeria played it big on fund raiser as another Nigerian B2B payment platform, Duplo, secured $4.3 million in seed funding to launch new products and expand into new business verticals in Nigeria.

Yele Oyekola, CEO and co-founder of Duplo, confirmed the latest funding in a media release on Wednesday.

What you should know: The latest funding saw participation from Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Tribe Capital, Commerce Ventures, Basecamp Fund, and Y Combinator while Oui Capital also re-invested after participating in the previous round.

Still on latest developments in Nigeria, another Nigerian fintech startup, Grey, secured a $2M seed funding to expand its geographical footprint.

The startup’s CEO, Idorenyin Obon confirmed the latest raiser in a media statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday.

What you should know: Venture capital firms including Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Heirloom Fund, and True Culture Fund are among the investors in the round.

Finally, popular Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, Sony, during the week, announced launching ‘PlayStation Studios Mobile’ with its acquisition of Savage Game Studio.

Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, confirmed the acquisition in a media statement on Tuesday.

What you should know: The company will operate as part of a new PlayStation Studios Mobile Division.

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