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

Astron Energy, Synatic, Twitter, Moove, Customcell, BuzzFeed, Seedstars, Uber Eats, Onomotion, Kapu, OneOrder, SideUp, DeHaat were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

A Social commerce startup, Kapu, founded by former Jumia Group executive Vice President, closed a $8M funding to come out of stealth.

Also, Orda, an Nigerian and Kenyan-based restaurant cloud operating system provider, during the week, secured a $3.4 million seed round.

Let’s get into details.

Our first story this weekend is on the African Development Fund where it announced $8.9 billion to support low-income African countries.

President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, disclosed this on his Twitter handle as seen by Ripples Nigeria on Friday.

What you should know: The development partners of the African Development Fund (ADF) agreed to commit a total of $8.9 billion to the 2023 to 2025 financing cycle.

Up next, South African fuel giant Astron Energy, during the week, allocated a R220 million (approximately $13 million) development fund to empower small businesses in the fuel giant’s value chain.

The company’s Chief executive, Thabiet Booley, confirmed the development in a statement on Friday.

What you should know: The company operates the second-largest petroleum retail network in South Africa, with over 800 Caltex retail service stations.

In South Africa, local data automation and integration startup, Synatic, secured $2.5 million seed extension funding to expand its market reach in the United States.

Brendon Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Adansonia Fund Manager Private Limited and Director of APEO, confirmed in a release on Friday.

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

What you should know: Adansonia PE Opportunities VCC (APEO) is an African opportunities permanent capital structure based in Singapore.

On the latest with Twitter, CEO, Elon Musk, during the week, announced plans to charge $11 per month for subscriber on iOS.

Recall that Twitter Blue plan is already on halt but going with the latest trend will have iPhone and iPad users paying more when it resumes.

What you should know: Earlier, Twitter made the increment to offset Apple’s App Store 30% fees to the developers for the first year of subscription, which later dropped to 15% from the second year.

Also, on the fund raiser table,Moove, a global mobility FinTech startup, has secured $30 million from debut sukuk.

Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO of Moove confirmed the funding in a media release on Thursday.

What you should know: This is coming after the Nigerian mobility fintech startup announced its expansion out of Africa to secure footprint in India.

In Germany, battery company, Customcells, says it has secured about $63 million (€60 million) in Series A funding from Porsche and other climate-tech investors.

The company in a statement on Thursday said that it plans to expand outside of Germany and into the U.S. and Asia.

What you should know: Launched in 2013 by Leopold König, and Torge Thönnessen, the company claims it develops and recycles high-performance lithium-ion batteries that power products like cars, medical equipment and fossil fuel development (despite its stated decarbonization goals).

On staff layoff, an American Internet media, news and entertainment company, BuzzFeed, has said it would lay off approximately 12% of its staff.

The development will see the digital news and entertainment conglomerate become the latest media company to consider laying off a part of its workforce over deteriorating economic situation.

Jonah Peretti, the company’s founder and chief executive, in a note to affected workers, confirmed the development, citing “a combination of worsening macroeconomic conditions” and changes in how people consume media.

Finally, a Social commerce startup, Kapu, founded by former Jumia Group executive Vice President, has secured a $8M funding to come out of stealth.

Kapu founder, Sam Chappatte, confirmed the raiser in a statement on Monday.

What you should know: The B2C e-commerce service said that it was hoping to help lessen the burden of buying food for Kenyan consumers.

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