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

Coderina, NIGCOMSAT, Skyroot, BasiGo, Stable Foods, Airmed, baraka, Google, and Topicals were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

A 26-year-old Nigerian and co-founder of a skincare company, Topicals, Olamide Olowe, has become the youngest black lady to ever raised over $2 million from venture capital.

Also, during the week, we interviewed a Lagos-based health tech startup team, giving a spotlight on the startup’s mission to close the gap in Nigeria’s healthcare sector by changing the narrative.

Let’s get into the details.

First on the reel is the story of the National Senior Secondary School Education Commission (NSSEC) with the body announcing a partnership with a Not for Profit startup, Coderina Education and Technology Foundation, to help teachers prepare for future work.

The Chairman of Coderina Board of Trustees (BoT), Femi Niyi, Coderina, confirmed the development in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: The African startup bills itself as an independent non-profit organization Ed-Tech that works to promote ICT development, Youth Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in Africa.

Following closely is our report on Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited NIGCOMSAT which announced its plan to launch the NIGCOMSAT 2 satellite to boost the deployment of 5 Generation (5G) network in Nigeria.

The Deputy General Manager in charge of Satellite Control and Operations at NIGCOMSAT, Anthony Orjinta, confirmed this in a meeting with technology stakeholders in Abuja.

What you should know: Once the launch is successful, 5G operations would be able to rely on the satellite for backhaul.

Another story we tracked was the report of a four-year-old Indian aerospace company, Skyroot, which successfully launched the Vikram-S on Friday.

The Head of IN-SPACe, Department of Space, Pawan Goenka, confirmed the development in a statement.

What you should know: The rocket is the first private rocket built by a startup to make a successful launch in India.

Next on the line is Kenyan e-mobility startup, BasiGo, which secured $6.6 million in a new funding round led by Mobility54, Trucks VC, and Novastar Ventures.

The Chief Executive Officer of BasiGo, Jit Bhattacharya, confirmed the fundraising in a statement on Thursday.

What you should know: The round saw the participation of investments from Moxxie Ventures, My Climate Journey (MCJ), Susquehanna Foundation, Keiki Capital, and OnCapital.

Still in Kenya, an agrifood-tech venture, Stable Foods, has secured $600,000 in funding from Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and Mercy Corps Venture.

The founder and managing partner of Pyramidia Ventures, Ruth Bertens, confirmed this in a media release on Thursday.

What you should know: Stable Foods claimed it developed an integrated solution that includes Irrigation-as-a-service (IaaS), provision of inputs and offtake contracts, as well as training on regenerative agriculture best practices.

READ ALSO: Nigerian startup, Coderina Edtech, partners NSSEC to support teachers. 2 other stories and a trivia

Up next is the story of Airmed, a Lagos-based health tech startup leveraging technology to close the gap in Nigeria’s healthcare sector by changing the narrative.

Ridwan Adelaja noted that the country’s delicate healthcare space has for years been haunted by various challenges including but not limited to: gross mismanagement, skilled professional deficit, poor infrastructure, and poverty, especially amongst the significant majority who live below $1 per day.

For Tobechukwu Obikili, founder and chief executive officer, the humbling retrogressive state of the sector hence call for speedy attention of both local and national stakeholders if Nigeria must be repositioned on a path towards true development that is beyond lip service of political campaigns.

Another story we tracked is the story of a two-year-old commission-free investment platform, Baraka, which closed a $20 million Series A round led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.

Feras Jalbout, Founder and CEO of Baraka, confirmed the development in a press release on Wednesday.

What you should know: Valar, a venture capital firm backed by globally renowned entrepreneur, Peter Thiel, marks the first regional investment in Baraka.

Finally, during the week, 26-year-old Nigerian and co-founder of a skincare company, Topicals, Olamide Olowe, became the youngest black lady to ever raised over $ 2 million from venture capital.

The company secured $10 million series A funding led by CAVU Consumer Partners.

What you should know: Gabrielle Union, Kelly Rowland, Hannah Bronfman, Bozoma Saint John, Yvonne Orji, and Marcy Venture Partners took part in the funding round.

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