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

YouTube, CutStruct, Finastra, BInk, Contro, Kuda, Twitter were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

A Nigerian construction procurement platform, CutStruct, has secured a $600k pre-seed funding round to boost its B2B construction procurement.

Also, during the week, a South African healthtech startup, Contro, has announced closing an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round of R10.1 million (~$5.6 million).

Let’s get into details.

Our package this week opens with a story on Google where its popular video streaming platform, YouTube, announced adding a new feature to help YouTubers manage Q&A sessions during a Livestream.

YouTube made the announcement on its support page seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: YouTube, which is the second most visited website, after Google Search, noted that the new Live Q&A feature would help content creators host dedicated question and answer sessions.

At home, a Nigerian construction procurement platform, CutStruct, secured a $600k pre-seed funding round to boost its B2B construction procurement.

Cofounder, John Oamen, confirmed the funding in a media release on Friday.

What you should know: The Lagos-based startup is on a mission to help builders extend the value of every dollar as well as increase the confidence of ordinary people to build.”

Up next is the story of UK-based fintech, Finastra, and Modefin where they partnered to offer solutions to ease banking in Africa and several Indian subcontinent markets.

Wissam Khoury, EVP, Partner Ecosystem and Treasury & Capital Markets at Finastra, confirmed the partnership in a statement on Friday.

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

What you should know: Finastra, as a financial software applications provider, will provide the Fusion Trade Innovation and Fusion Essence solutions to ease global trade operations.

Up North, BInk, an Egyptian fintech startup, has secured $32 million, a fund split across different stages and funding types.

Amr Sultan, co-founder, and CEO of BInk confirmed the funding in a statement on Thursday.

What you should know: The funding comprises of a $12.5 million pre-seed, seed equity round, $11.2 million debt financing and another $8.3 million securitized bond issuance.

Down South, a South African healthtech startup, Contro, announced closing an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round of R10.1 million (~$5.6 million).

Alex Schmid, Contro’s founder, disclosed this in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday.

What you should know: The investment, according to Alex, was raised from VCs, including Plug & Play, iCubed Capital, WZ Capital, the Jozi Angels Network, and other Angels.

Also, we tracked the story of a Canadian intelligent service robotic company, KEENON, where, during the week, it officially announced a new partnership with SGP Purchasing Partner Network (SGP).

May Lui, Director of Procurement at SGP, confirmed the strategic partnership in a media release on Thursday.

What you should know: Founded in 2010, KEENON Robotics had earlier completed a $200M Series D financing led by Softbank Vision Fund 2 (SVF2).

Finally, Nigerian fintech startup, Kuda, during the week, announced taking its digital banking mission to the U.K.

Kuda’s cofounder, Babs Ogundeyi, disclosed the development in a media release on Wednesday.

What you should know: The Nigerian-owned fintech is a U.K.-based fintech player, offering financial services to Africans within and outside Africa.

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