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

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FoodCourt, Tingo Mobile, Afrorama, EMGuidance, Rology, Autobia, MVNO, Zeal, Google, Trade Lenda were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Nigeria’s Trade Lenda, a digital bank supporting SMEs and farmers, has been shortlisted for the 2023 Go Global Awards.

Also, Autobia, a B2B platform for automotive aftersales and spare parts, has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round.

Let’s get into details.

Goodwell Investments and Alitheia Capital have confirmed closing a €57 million for their uMunthu II fund.

The successful raiser of the fund, which is dedicated to investing in early and growth-stage SMEs in Africa, was announced on Friday, June 9, 2023.

According to the team, the fund is particularly focused on businesses led by women in Africa. Speaking on the development, Goodwell and Altheia are highly optimistic about the potential for growth in emerging markets, particularly in Africa.

China has presented new draft of guidelines to punish online abuse as it seeks to curb the menace of perpetrators.

Globally, concerns have grown over cyber bullying and attacks that have especially targeted women and children in the world’s largest internet community.

The guidelines were drafted jointly by bodies including the Ministery of Public Security and the Supreme People’s Court, in response to the danger that online abuse poses to social order and the rights of individuals.

Nigeria’s Trade Lenda, a digital bank supporting SMEs and farmers, has been shortlisted for the 2023 Go Global Awards.

The awards, organized by the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, recognize companies for their innovation, growth, and global impact.

Trade Lenda provides quick credit access to small businesses within six hours and without the need for collateral.

Google has unveiled its latest initiative, the Google for Startups Accelerator: Climate Change, a cleantech accelerator program catering to startups in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

The program aims to support and invest in startups dedicated to sustainable technology climate solutions, cleantech, and green energy.

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

Selected startups will gain access to valuable resources, including mentorship, educational workshops, Google Cloud technical expertise, and Google Cloud credits.

An Egyptian startup, Zeal, has launched to help merchants connect with customers while providing reward services.

Founded in 2020, Zeal develops middleware that integrates on POS terminals worldwide via either Linux or Android to analyse, reward, and enable merchants to reach back to their paying customers.

Customers, on the platform, are allowed to track their payments and loyalty points via Zeal, a consumer-facing app.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced granting licenses to 25 companies to offer telco services under the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) framework.

NCC made the announcement in a press release forwarded to newsrooms on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

MVNOs, which are independent entities, lease network services from existing mobile network operators (MNOs) instead of owning their own physical network infrastructure.

Autobia, a B2B platform for automotive aftersales and spare parts, has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round.

This is contained in a press release seen by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

The funding round, according to the press statement, was led by Sadu Capital and supported by Waed Ventures by Aramco, Raz Holding, Techstars, and a group of angel investors.

Egypt-based healthtech company Rology has acquired Saudi Arabian counterpart Arkan United, with the value of the transaction undisclosed.

The acquisition will allow Rology to expand its presence in the Saudi healthcare sector.

Rology, founded in 2017, offers an on-demand teleradiology platform utilizing AI and cloud computing to deliver reports within 12 hours or 60 minutes for emergency cases.

A South African digital healthcare startup, EMGuidance, has announced launching a new digital prescription tool that is designed to transform the way prescriptions are managed and shared.

EMGuidance, which is a digital platform for clinical decision-making support in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, made the announcement in a press release on Monday, June 5, 2023.

The platform, according to the cofounder Dr Mohammed Dalwai, seeks to optimise patient-care outcomes by giving healthcare professionals access to advanced digital tools.

Afrorama, a new African encyclopaedia and information platform has been launched to provide a curated collection of articles, videos, and other multimedia content.

The packaged, dynamic content presented by Afrorama includes information on arts and literature, business and politics, entertainment, geography and nature, history, sciences and technology and philosophy from pre-colonial times to the present day.

Chloé Bertrand, platform founder and managing director of Afrorama, disclosed this in a statement seen by Ripples Nigeria on Monday, June 5, 2023.

Tingo Mobile, a leading Agri-Fintech company operating in Africa, has announced plans to provide a 3 Billion Naira (approximately USD $6.5 Million) loan facility to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.

The fund, according to the organization, is expected to support farmers cultivate 3,000 hectares of new farming land for rice and wheat production.

The loan will also be used to accelerate the onboarding of AFAN’s warehouses to the Tingo Mobile partnership with Prime Commodity Exchange (“PCX”) and AFAN as part of its target to achieve a network of 80,000 warehouses in two years, as announced on April 26, 2023.

A Nigerian foodtech startup, FoodCourt, has launched as a cloud kitchen enterprise to increase access to quality food by curating localized virtual restaurant brands.

Launched in September 2021 and based in Lagos, FoodCourt aims to provide users with an exceptional ordering experience and delightful food.

FoodCourt, which recognizes the changing consumer behavior in Africa, acknowledges the inefficiencies that persist in the food delivery space despite the presence of food delivery aggregator apps like Jumia Foods and Glovo.

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