Tage Kene-Okafor
TechCrunch
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Past articles by Tage:
African payment service provider Nomba raises $30M, backed by Base10 Partners and Shopify
Shopify and global investors Base10 and Khosla Ventures back Nomba as it looks to deliver bespoke payment solutions to African businesses. → Read More
Smile Identity expands African footprint with acquisition of Appruve to strengthen ID verification services
Smile Identity, a KYC and ID verification partner for many African fintechs and businesses has acquired Appruve, a Ghanaian developer of identity verification software. → Read More
Nigerian credit-led fintech FairMoney acquires PayForce in retail-merchant banking play
FairMoney has acquired YC-backed PayForce as the lender looks to broaden its financial services proposition to merchants. → Read More
Naspers shuts down Foundry, its $100M fund focused on South African startups
Naspers has winded down the operations of its $100 million South Africa-focused venture capital fund Naspers Foundry after three years. → Read More
Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup Alerzo cuts 15% of full-time staff in second round of layoffs
Alerzo, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce platform that digitizes commerce and payments processes between FMCG suppliers and informal retailers, has laid off 15% of its full-time workforce, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. This is the company’s second round of layoffs in seven months. As a first-party e-commerce business, Alerzo had a headcount of more than 2,000 […] → Read More
Alleged security breach leaves millions of dollars missing from Flutterwave accounts
Last month, African fintech Flutterwave was involved in a hack that resulted in over $4 million missing from its accounts. → Read More
South African car subscription service Planet42 raises $100M equity, debt
Planet42, an African mobility startup that buys used cars from dealerships and rents to customers, gets $100 million in equity and debt. → Read More
Chipper Cash executes second round of layoffs less than three months after axing 12.5% of staff
African fintech Chipper Cash conducted a second round of layoffs last Friday just ten weeks after it cut approximately 12.5% of its staff. → Read More
Co-Creation Hub’s edtech accelerator puts $15M towards African startups
CcHUB's new accelerator program, EdTech Fellowship Program, will back and support 72 startups across Nigeria and Kenya over three years. → Read More
Jumia laid off 20% of staff in Q4 2022 amid work to reduce losses by half this year
Jumia, as part of its streamlining efforts, reduced headcount among managerial roles by 60% in Dubai and undertook overall headcount reductions that resulted in over 900 position terminations across its 11 markets, affecting 20% of its staff. This occurred in Q4 last year, according to Jumia’s FY2022 financials. This news follows Jumia Supervisory Board’s note […] → Read More
IFC leads $17M investment in South African insurtech Naked
The IFC and DEG back South African digital insurance player, Naked, in one of the largest ever African insurtech funding rounds. → Read More
Costanoa Ventures and Norrsken22 back Smile Identity in $20M Series B round
Smile Identity provides ID verification and KYC compliance for African faces and identities; raises $20 million for its expansion plans. → Read More
Nigeria’s Curacel raises funding to power insurance offerings and expand into North Africa
Investors in Curacel's $3 million seed round include Tencent, YC and AAF Management and Elefund (investors in New York-based insurtech Sure). → Read More
Jendaya raises funding to scale its Africa-focused luxury e-commerce platform
Jendaya is a luxury e-commerce platform that wants to target African consumers while also exposing African brands to the rest of the world. → Read More
After a record 2022, 8 investors explain why it’s ‘still just Day 1’ for Africa’s startup ecosystem
What drove Africa's record deal volumes when the rest of the world was reining back the enthusiasm of 2021? We polled a few investors to find out. → Read More
Egyptian health tech Yodawy raises $16M, backed by Delivery Hero Ventures
Yodawy, an Egyptian healthtech that connects pharmacies, insurance companies and pharmaceuticals with patients, raises $16 million Series B. → Read More
Sendmarc nabs $7M to offer email protection from phishing attacks and email impersonation
Over 90% of cybercrime starts with an email impersonation. Sendmarc, which just raised $7 million, helps customers by locking down their email domains and monitoring for attempted abuse. → Read More
Partech hits first close of largest Africa-focused fund, at €245M
Partech Africa reaches the first close of its second fund at €245 million, making it the largest Africa-focused fund yet. → Read More
SunFi aims to be the fastest way for Nigerians to find, finance and manage solar
SunFi, a solar financing platform based in Nigeria has raised $2.325 million as it builds a fintech platform for the cleantech space. → Read More
South African digital lender Lulalend to launch banking product off the back of $35M Series B
South Africa’s Lulalend has secured a $35 million Series B funding round to scale its business and address South Africa’s enduring SME credit gap estimated to be over $20 billion yearly. → Read More