This Week in African Tech 🌍

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Tech Roundup

• Nigerian ed-tech startup, AltSchool Africa, is now in Kenya. This is their second East African country to launch in, after kicking off in Rwanda last year. AltSchool Africa is expanding to Kenya because it has the second-highest number of users after Nigeria.

• X, formerly Twitter, has rolled out its audio and video features for Android, in a bid to become an ‘Everything App’. Great news for X users in Africa, where Android has an 84.9% market share.

• SafeBoda, the Ugandan ride-hailing champ, is making a comeback to Kenyan roads starting February 4, 2024, after a three-year break. No word yet on why they're back, but buckle up, Kenya!

• Cova, a Nigerian wealthtech startup that enables users to track their assets in one place, is shutting down on the 10th of February, 2024. The reasons for the startup’s shutdown are currently unclear.

• PesaLink, a Kenyan platform that enables real-time fund transfers between bank accounts, has announced that it will soon have a merchant payment option to take on Safaricom’s M-PESA. PesaLink announced this move following repeated service outages on M-PESA.

• Zimbabwe has threatened to arrest users and distributors of Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite Internet system. Zimbabwe’s telecoms regulator, POTRAZ, claims that using Starlink is illegal because it has not yet been licensed in the country. Interestingly, this isn’t the first African country to crack down on Starlink.

Deal Roundup

• Egyptian beauty and wellness startup, Mira, raises $200,000 from Wingoo Investment and Technology to scale up its customer base to 100,000 clients as well as expand into the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

• Shamba Pride, a Kenyan agritech startup that tackles farmers' pricing and quality worries via its digishop merchant network, raises $3.7 million in debt-equity pre-series A funding from the EU agriculture financing initiative EDFI AgriFI and Seedstars Africa Ventures (SAV). The startup plans to use this funding to scale its growth in Kenya.

• Edura, an Egypt-based ed-tech startup that connects teachers and students through recorded or live interactive lessons, raises an undisclosed pre-seed funding round led by Smart Zone Startups Studio and angel investors. This investment will help Edura grow its team and drive innovation in ed-tech.

• Crealo, a Moroccan copyright management startup, raises $1.42 million in seed funding. 212 Founders Programme led the round, while Kima Ventures, Evolem, Super Capital, and some angel investors participated. The funding will be used to improve its product quality, grow the team, and kickstart new partnerships.

• DXwand, a Cairo- and Dubai-based AI startup, raises $4 million in Series A funding. Algebra Ventures led the investment, and their existing investor Dubai Future District Fund also participated. The investment is set to boost DXwand's growth in the MENA region and scale up its conversational AI platform.

Events and Opportunities

• Founders! Want to learn how to make the most of the cloud? On the 30th of January, we are teaming up with Servercore to explain how cloud computing works, in our “Cloud Computing 101” webinar. Joining us will be Ivan Romanko, CTO at Servercore, and Bright Gameli Mawudor, PhD Cybersecurity expert and CEO, of CyberGuard Africa. Grab your spot here.

• Application for the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) Class of 2025 is now open. Check out the one-year, fully sponsored, graduate-level programme in tech entrepreneurship here before the 18th of March, 2024.

• Founders, are you ready to scale your startup with Visa? Applications are now open for the second cohort of the Visa Accelerator Program - Africa! Apply here before the 18th of February, 2024.

• Do you work in the Nigerian tech ecosystem? Then you need to be at the Lagos Tech Fest on the 15th of February, 2024. Join exciting startups, innovators, investors, and tech enthusiasts for a day of exhibitions and networking. Get your tickets here.

And that's a wrap for this week!

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