Twitter restores Blue verification symbol for high-profile accounts. 2 other stories and a trivia

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today

1. Twitter restores Blue verification symbol for high-profile accounts

Twitter has reversed course on its verification policy, returning the “blue tick” without charging the social network’s famous users.

Several popular accounts (with more than 1 million followers) received their verification marks over the weekend.

Many of them, including Davido, Wizkid, Tony Elumelu, Burna Boy, author Neil Gaiman, athlete Riyad Maharez, rapper Lil Nas X, actress Janel Parrish Long, and British TV host Richard Osman, said they weren’t responsible for the cost of the blue badge.

On Friday, April 20, the social network discontinued its previous account verification mechanism, a date that was ostensibly picked due to its significance in cannabis culture.

As a result, all “legacy” users lost the blue checkmark that signified their accounts were authentic.

(and no I didn’t pay for the blue tick 😆😆)

— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22) April 23, 2023

Travis Brown, a programmer, examined accounts with more than a million followers and found that over 110 of them do not now have Twitter verification.

Elon Musk has said in the past that the company’s finances were in terrible shape when he took over and that Twitter was making a $4 million loss every single day.

Tech Trivia: What verb describes inserting data from the clipboard?
A. Add
B. Copy
C. Cut
D. Paste
Answer: see end of post

2. SAB Foundation partners Lead Impact Capital, National Treasury’s Jobs Fund to launch $4.8 Million Impact Fund

A $4.8 Million (R88 million) finance for Impact Fund has been established by the SAB Foundation in collaboration with Lead Impact Capital and the National Treasury’s Jobs Fund with the goal of offering qualified graduates of its South African entrepreneur programs access to affordable finance.

Read also:Nigeria launches $618M subvention to fund startups. 2 other stories and a trivia

Bridgit Evans, executive director of the SAB Foundation, confirmed the development in a statement Monday.

Since the Impact Fund is supported by grant capital, interest rates between prime minus 2 and prime plus 3 can stay competitive.

Entrepreneurs will be required to present sufficient documentary proof to back the loan amount requested.

Loan sizes will range from a minimum of R200 000 to a maximum of R10 million, according to the body.

Ripples Nigeria understands that entrepreneurs must present enough documentary evidence to back the loan amount requested, which can range in size from a minimum of R200 000 to a maximum of R10 million.

“The perceived risk translates into businesses either not qualifying for finance, or when they do, interest rates can often exceed 20%, with some short-term cash flow lenders charging interest rates as high as 30%,” explains Evans.

The SAB Foundation and LEAD Impact Capital claim it will show the South African financial and investment community through the Financing for Impact Fund that small enterprises with creative and worthwhile business models are investable.

3. Medtech company, Axonics, acquires lead placement solution from Radian

A global provider of medical technology, Axonics, announced on Monday that it had acquired Radian’s lead placement service.

Raymond W. Cohen, chief executive officer of Axonics, confirmed the funding in a press release on Monday.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that Axonics acquired the assets of Radian, LLC from Intermed Labs for undisclosed terms.

Axonics is a Medtech company that claims to be developing and commercializing novel products for the treatment of bladder and bowel dysfunction.

“We expect the Radian technology will improve patient comfort, increase physician confidence and SNM access, simplify the learning curve for physicians new to SNM, and increase PNE trial success rates, which should ultimately result in more adults being treated with our life-changing SNM therapy,” explained Cohen.

Cohen added that the acquired technology will complement Axonics’ existing sacral neuromodulation (SNM) offering.

Trivia Answer: Paste

Paste is a command that allows you to insert data from the clipboard into an application.

In order to use the Paste command, you must first use either the Copy or Cut command to save data to the clipboard.

By Kayode Hamsat

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