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

Threads, Twitter, NOMU, ENGIE, Estafsar, Seedstars, Masroofi, EduTech, FUTA, alfii, Nuru, moove were some of the names that made the headlines this week.

alfii, a tech startup based in Dubai, has announced securing $2.5 million in pre-seed funding to expand its team and further develop its fintech-powered HR automation platform.

Also, Nuru, an energy company based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has closed a $40 million in equity funding as it pursues its goal of providing 24-hour power to five million people in the country.

Let’s get into details.

Moove, a mobility fintech startup, has announced securing a substantial investment of $8 million from Absa Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).

The infusion brought the total funding received by Moove from Absa to $28 million, following a previous financing facility of $20 million announced in June 2022 for Moove’s operations in South Africa.

The objective of this fresh funding was to bolster Moove’s expansion of its vehicle fleet in Ghana, thereby contributing to its mission of democratizing vehicle ownership and creating employment opportunities within gig economies across the globe.

Nuru, an energy company based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has closed a $40 million in equity funding as it pursues its goal of providing 24-hour power to five million people in the country.

Established in 2015, Nuru, previously known as Kivu Green Energy, deploys and operates renewable energy-powered metrogrids in strategic urban zones of the DRC. In 2017, it constructed the country’s inaugural mini-grid.

Nuru unveiled a 1.3-megawatt facility in the city of Goma in 2020, establishing it as the largest mini-grid in sub-Saharan Africa without reliance on a national grid connection.

alfii, a tech startup based in Dubai, has announced securing $2.5 million in pre-seed funding to expand its team and further develop its fintech-powered HR automation platform.

The funding round was spearheaded by Preface Ventures, a venture capital firm based in the United States that focuses on infrastructure enterprise companies.

Participating in the round were Kayan Ventures, a UAE-based venture capital firm, Aditum Ventures, Wayfinders, and a group of local and regional angel investors.

At least 30 million people have signed up to Meta’s new app, Threads, designed to compete with the microblogging platform, Twitter, which has undergone several changes since its acquisition by billionaire Elon Musk.

Threads is a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram.

The App is expected to pose a significant challenge to Twitter following the latter’s introduction of a feature limiting the number of daily posts users can view.

The Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) has initiated the test run of an application developed by one of its students.

In an official statement released today by Mr. Adegbenro Adebanjo, Deputy Director of Corporate Communications, the university announced the commencement of the pilot test phase for a software called TouchNut, created by a team led by Mr. Daniel Adeniyi, a 400 Level student in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

The primary purpose of TouchNut is to regulate entry and exit into the Albert Ilemobade Library, as well as monitor its activities.

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

EduTech, a Kenyan startup focused on transforming education through technology, has announced the successful closure of a $3 million funding round.

The investment was led by prominent venture capital firms, including XYZ Capital and Innovation Ventures, with participation from other strategic investors in the education and technology sectors.

EduTech aims to revolutionize the education landscape in Kenya by providing innovative and accessible learning solutions. The funding will be utilized to enhance the development of their platform, expand their reach across the country, and further empower educators and learners.

Egyptian financial technology startup Masroofi has recently concluded a successful financing round, securing $1.5 million from undisclosed investors.

Masroofi focuses on providing electronic payment services for children and aims to offer innovative solutions in this growing market.

Founders Mostafa Abdel-Khabeer and Sayed Hosni made headlines when they turned down a 16 million-pound offer from investors on the popular TV show “Shark Tank.”

Seedstars has announced the launch of the Financial Innovations for Women Affected by Migration (FIWAM) program to discover and support fintech businesses dedicated to advancing financial inclusion, specifically for migrant women and women impacted by migration in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The program, which is backed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Agency, with funding from the Impact-Linked Fund for Gender Inclusive FinTech (ILF for GIF), is managed by the Impact-Linked Finance Fund (ILFF).

Ripples Nigeria gathered that the ILF for GIF partnered with Seedstars to improve access and utilization of financial products and services for women affected by migration.

Elon Musk-led Automaker, Tesla Inc, has announced a price reduction for its Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles in Japan.

The company lowered the prices of all variants of its Model 3 by approximately 3% and reduced the prices of all Model Y variants by around 4%.

As a result, the Model 3 has become more affordable in Japan, especially when combined with various subsidies for purchases.

Estafsar, an insurtech provider in Egypt, has formed an official partnership with Al Wataniya, a prominent insurance company, to leverage technology and penetrate the Egyptian insurance market.

The CEO of Estafsar, Amr Darwish, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, highlighting that insurtech companies utilize innovative technology to streamline the insurance process, including mobile apps for insurance purchases, automated underwriting, and digital claims processing.

The partnership aims to revolutionize the insurance industry in Egypt by providing innovative solutions.

French companies, ENGIE and Meridiam, have made an agreement to acquire BTE Renewables, a prominent renewable energy company in Africa.

Previously owned by British investment firm Actis, BTE Renewables operates in Kenya and South Africa.

The acquisition will bring ENGIE a portfolio of over 3 GW of advanced development pipeline/projects in the growing renewables market, benefiting from a robust regulatory framework and a team of approximately 80 esteemed professionals.

Nigerian startup, Zuvy, has raised $4.5 million in debt and equity funding to support its expansion across Nigeria.

Zuvy, which has recently emerged from stealth mode, offers an invoice discounting platform and software that enables vendors and their buyers to manage invoices and payment schedules effectively.

Zuvy operates in the fast-moving consumer goods, healthcare, and supply chain sectors. By providing liquidity for these receivables, Zuvy helps vendors secure new contracts and grow their businesses.

NOMU, a innovative food-tech supply chain platform, has Tuesday announced concluding its first round of financing following the establishment of Nomu Group through a merger.

The seed round, according to the startup, was raised from prominent investors, including DIV Capital, Shurfah, Core Vision, Purity for Information Technology, as well as notable family offices in KSA such as Altoukhi Family Office and Bakr Family Office, alongside angel investors.

The funding will be utilized to expand NOMU’s B2B HORECA (Hotel/Restaurant/Café) offering, with a specific focus on enhancing services for restaurants and providing innovative financing solutions.

 

 

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