Women-focused initiative, WE4A, to empower 100 female-led startups. 2 other things and a trivia

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

1. Women-focused initiative, WE4A, to empower 100 female-led startups

Women Entrepreneurship for Africa, WE4A, has announced the selection of 100 female-led startups for its high impact acceleration program.

The initiative disclosed this in a press statement jointly signed by senior program manager Elizabeth Jones, and media relations officer Michaela Villaroman.

According to the press statement, the program comes in partnership with leading organisations such as SAFEEM, European Union, Tony Elumelu Foundation amongst others.

The initiative, through the program, will focus on empowering underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa comprising women, youth, and the informal sector.

The statement reads in part:

“Participants will receive €10,000 in grant funding and will be given 3 months of technical support through a virtual acceleration program.

“WE4A aims to provide female-led startups with enhanced business capacities, access to funding, market opportunities, knowledge enhancement, and technical training through the joint efforts of the European Union (EU), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with implementation from the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (E4D program).”

Tech Trivia: Which term may be used interchangeably with “username?”

A Password
B Passphrase
C Domain name
D Handle
Answer: See end of post

2. Egypt’s Orcas closes $2.1m pre-Series A funding

Orcas, an Egyptian edtech startup, has closed a US$2.1 million pre-Series A funding round.

READ ALSO: Stanbic IBTC to establish Fintech firm with N100m capital base

The funding comes as it prepares to expand into Pakistan in the early months of this year.

Orcas was co-founded by Hossam Taher and Amira El Gharib in 2019.

The startup claims to provide K-12 students with live one-on-one tutoring sessions, via online and in-person sessions.

Although Orcas was founded in Egypt, the startup now has its venture active in Saudi Arabia.

The US$2.1 million raiser was co-led by CIRA’s NFX Ventures and Access Bridge Ventures with participation from Algebra Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund, and Seedstars International.

3. Fintech startup, Float, secures $17M seed round

Ghana-based fintech startup, Float, has secured a $17 million, funding.

The fund will help the startup bolster its offerings and expand geographically.

According to Float, the seed round is a mix of $7 million equity and $10 million debt.

The deal book revealed that African private equity firm, Cauris, provided the debt financing, while Tiger Global and JAM Fund, the investment firm of Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen co-led the equity bit.

The startup was former known as Swipe before rebranding to Float in the mid of 2021.

Today, the startup is present in Ghana and Nigeria, and intends to use this new capital to set up entities in Kenya and South Africa by Q2.

Trivia Answer: Handle

In the online world, a handle is another word for a username. It can refer to the name you use in chat rooms, web forums, and social media services like Twitter.

The term “handle” dates back to the 1970s and comes from Citizens Band radio (CB radio), a short-distance radio communications medium. CB radio users would identify themselves by unique nicknames, which became known as handles.

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