Africa: What Do People Want in a Co-Founder? YC Has Some Answers

If I went to Stanford and worked with some YC-backed startups, chances are that I'll find it relatively easy to find one or two co-founders, get millions in funding and build a… Read more »

Egypt: Egypt's ILLA Raises $2m to Diversify Its Offerings to FMCG Value Chain

Most FMCG brands rely on a combination of owned and outsourced assets to carry out delivery operations. The variety of both models brings about a fragmented logistics cycle and… Read more »

Kenya: Uber Tests Shared Rides in Africa As Uberpool Stays Shut in U.S., Canada

Uber is testing Pool Chance, a feature that lets riders heading in the same direction share the cost of the journey, in Kenya, with plans to roll out the low-cost service to Ghana… Read more »

Kenya: Google Eyes Taskmate Global Launch After Kenya Rollout

Google has today launched TaskMate in Kenya, a crowdsourcing app that lets people use smartphones to do tasks and get paid, tapping the growing gig economy. The tech giant said it… Read more »

Africa: More African Startups Get Into Techstars Toronto

In March, two Nigerian startups, Treepz (formerly Plentywaka) and TalentQL got into the Techstars Toronto accelerator program alongside eight other companies. Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Sendbox Raises $1.8m to Provide E-Commerce Fulfilment for Small Merchants

There is a lot of activity going on with social commerce in Nigeria. From Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp holding the keys to the marketplace-facing side of things to fintech… Read more »

Nigeria: Uzoma Dozie's Sparkle Raises $3.1m for Personal, Business Neobank Play

The neobank wave is beginning to take shape in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, where new fintechs are trying to take on legacy banks by providing cheaper and more personalized… Read more »

Nigeria: Eden Life Raises $1.4m Seed to Provide Home Services to Busy Africans

Living in Lagos, the commercial city of Nigeria, is not for the faint of heart. The city, occupied by around 14 million people, is the largest in sub-Saharan Africa. Read more »

Africa: Emerging Markets Lender Lendable Seeks $100m to Fund Fintech Companies

Emerging markets fintech financier Lendable is targeting to raise a $100 million fund to invest in African and Asian fintech companies, the firm said in an emailed statement today. Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's Telkom Ditches Netflix

South Africa's telecommunication provider Telkom SA SOC Ltd has since October discontinued Netflix Inc. from its phone and internet set-top box, said a Bloomberg report. Read more »

Ghana: Mpharma, a Telehealth Pioneer, Gets Physical With 100 Virtual Centers Across Africa

The potential for telehealth across Africa is vast and promising as mobile connectivity deepens, and innovations that could potentially bridge the doctor-patient ratio gap increase… Read more »

Africa: Tiger Global Backs African Fintech Mono in $15m Series A Round

Mono, an African startup that helps connect consumers' bank accounts to financial applications, has raised a $15 million Series A round, the company confirmed to TechCrunch today. Read more »

Africa: Insuretech, On the Heels of a Fintech Boom, Heats Up in Africa

Insurance in Kenya and Africa at large remains a marginal product, with levels of penetration across the continent half the world average as a percentage of GDP, and premiums per… Read more »

Africa: Backed By Greycroft, Klasha Gets $2.4m to Improve Cross-Border Commerce in Africa

Analysts say the value of e-commerce in Africa is expected to reach $29 billion next year, yet Africans still find it difficult to make international payments for products online. Read more »

Cameroon: Ejara Raises $2m to Offer Crypto and Investment Services in Francophone Africa

The adoption of cryptocurrency in Africa varies regionally. While countries with currently unstable currencies like the naira are seeing immense usage, other regions using the CFA… Read more »

Africa: Goldman Sachs Spinoff Juven to Back African High-Growth Companies With Large Checks

Mauritius and U.K.-based investment company Juven went live today with plans to fund growth-stage technology and consumer companies in Africa. Read more »

Africa: Google Confirms U.S.$1 Billion Investment Into Africa, Including Subsea Cable for Faster Internet

The developing world represents the best chance of growth for large internet companies, and today one of the very biggest set out its strategy for how it plans to tackle that. Read more »

Africa: Google Sets Up U.S.$50 Million Fund to Invest in African Startups

Google plans to invest up to $50 million in African early and growth-stage startups via its Africa Investment Fund, ramping up efforts to support more businesses on the continent. Read more »

Egypt: YC-Backed Amenli Raises $2.3m to Provide Insurance to Egyptian Consumers

The average penetration rate for insurance in Africa is between 3% to 5%. South Africa makes up a large bulk of it; without it, the continent is on a 1% to 2% rate even with other… Read more »

Nigeria: Twitter Ban in Nigeria to Be Lifted If Platform Sets Up a Local Office and Pays Taxes, President Says

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Friday that the ban on Twitter would be lifted, but only if the social media giant met certain conditions. Read more »

Africa: Facebook-Backed 2Africa Set to Be the Longest Subsea Cable Upon Completion

Facebook announced on Tuesday that its 2Africa cable would now extend to over 45,000 kilometers with the addition of nine landings collectively dubbed the 2Africa Pearls. The… Read more »

Africa: Softbank Sinks $200m Into Andela, Propels Company Into Unicorn Territory

Andela, a fully remote company that helps tech companies build remote engineering teams (initially from Africa but now a global market), is currently valued at $1.5 billion… Read more »

Africa: Do You Need Another App to Discover Beautiful Places When You Travel?

The founders of Backdrop, a photo-sharing app that merges tech, social media and travel, think you do Read more »

Africa: Nomad Homes Raises $20m to Create a Personalized House Hunting Platform

Not every country has a Multiple Listing Service to aid in buying and selling a home. This often makes the process complicated as buyers weed through fake and duplicate listings… Read more »

Tunisia: Flat6Labs Closes U.S.$10 Million Seed Fund for Startups

Regional seed and early-stage venture capital firm, Flat6Labs, has finished raising $10 million for its seed fund targeted at Tunisian startups, according to a statement released… Read more »