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

TikTok, Gebeya, Twitter, Flutterwave, Alibaba Group, Kakao Entertainment, Amazon, Jetstream were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

African payment unicorn, Flutterwave, has announced plans to acquire UK fintech, Railsr.

Also, America’s e-commerce giant, Amazon, may return to laying off some of its staff members after its resolution to shut three UK warehouses.

Let’s get into details.

France slapped TikTok with 5 million euros ($5.4 million) for online tracking shortcomings.

A spokesperson for TikTok confirmed the fine in a statement on Friday.

The more widely used smartphone applications for the service were not included in the French data protection authority CNIL’s investigation, which primarily focused on the website tiktokCom.

Ethiopia’s Gebeya secures undisclosed Pre-Series A equity investment

An Ethiopian talent marketplace, Gebeya, has secured undisclosed pre-Series A funding to expand its geographical footprints.

The funding was confirmed by Amadou Daffe, Gebeya’s CEO & Co-founder, in a media statement on Friday.

The SaaS-enabled, Pan-African marketplace secured the new investment from Inclusion Japan (ICJ).

Twitter is set to launch in-app ‘coins’ that will fetch creators on Twitter money.

This new feature was spotted and shared by app researcher Jane Manchun Wong on Friday.

Her co-researcher Nima Owji, who often publishes images of unreleased features, also shared the update on his Twitter handle.

Read also:Microsoft Corp to invest $10 billion into OpenAI. 2 other stories and a trivia

African payment unicorn, Flutterwave, has announced plans to acquire UK fintech, Railsr.

This was contained in a media release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday.

As of 2022, Railsr rebranded from Railsbank to Railsr with a last raiser of Series C round $26 million in equity and $20 million in debt, at a steeply discounted valuation of $250 million.

Alibaba Group, a business trademark established in 1999 by 18 people led by Jack Ma, has reportedly sold a 3.1% stake in Indian digital payments firm, Paytm worth $125 million.

Sources close to the deal disclosed on Friday that Alibaba sold its state through a block deal.

The development comes as shares of fintech One97 Communications, which owns Paytm, fell to 8.82% as the day’s low amid a significant block transaction in the afternoon session.

South Korean internet giant, has on Thursday announced securing $966M to push for international expansion.

Kakao’s chief investment officer, Jae-Hyun Bae, disclosed this in a statement.

Launched in 2021 by merging Kakao Page and Kakao M, the company has now raised a total of $1.2 billion (1.53 trillion won).

America’s e-commerce giant, Amazon, may return to laying off some of its staff members after its resolution to shut three UK warehouses.

The decision, which is likely to affect 1,200 jobs, was reached after management concluded its consultation on the eventualities.

The three UK warehouses that will be affected include Amazon’s property in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock, in the west of Scotland.

A Ghanaian e-logistics platform, Jetstream, has secured $13 million in equity and debt funding.

The startup’s chief executive, Miishe Addy, disclosed the new funding in a media release on Tuesday.

According to the release, private equity firm, Cauris, was the sole provider of the debt financing, while the equity investors include Octerra, Wuri Ventures, Seed9, The MBA Fund, French development institution Proparco and ASCVC.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen-founded tech company Microsoft Corp., is set to invest $10 billion into OpenAI, owner of ChatGPT.

This was contained in a report seen by Ripples Nigeria on Tuesday.

At a valuation of almost $29 billion, Ripples Nigeria reported that OpenAI was negotiating to sell its existing shares, with venture capital firms like Thrive Capital and Founders Fund acquiring shares from current shareholders.

Elon Musk’s Starlink has partnered Elcome International to boost internet services in the maritime industry.

Jimmy Grewal, Elcome’s Executive Director, confirmed the partnership in a statement on Tuesday.

Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, while Elcome International is a provider of maritime systems and integration solutions.

With the rise of mental health cases amongst young children, Seattle’s public school district has filed a lawsuit against the major social media companies—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snap.

The school argued that by “exploit[ing] the vulnerable brains of youth” for a profit, Big Tech has created a mental-health epidemic in teenagers across the country.

The new lawsuit is a new filing of similar others against most Social media giants.

A Nigerian Agritech startup, Releaf, has secured $3.3 million in an oversubscribed pre-Series A round.

The startup’s co-founder and CTO, Uzoma Ayogu, made this known in a media statement on Monday.

Ayogu said the startup supplies ingredients to consumer goods manufacturers and their food factories.

The owner of the viral ChatGPT chatbot, OpenAI, has announced plans to sell shares at a $29 billion valuation.

The development was contained in a release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Monday.

ChatGPT, launched by OpenAI in November 2022, is an impressive new AI chatbot that many people have noted has some severe flaws.

Mexico-based proptech, Pulppo, has secured a $5 million Seed funding round from Saudi Arabia-based VC DAAL, alongside Y Combinator, 1984VC, Boost Capital, and others.

The company’s co-founder, Matias Gath, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

The company says it operates as an online broker, offering a complete solution for everything an agent needs to manage, from property appraisals to home visits.

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