Browsing: Innovation
According to startup and investment platform Wamda, MENA region startups raised USD 176 million across 42 deals in May.
Egypt’s DXwand has received USD 1 million in new funding to expand its operations across the MENA region.
Timbuktoo, the headquarters of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) new innovation financing hub will be based in Kigali, Rwanda.
Online used-car retailer Sylndr has announced the raising or USD 12.6 million in a pre-seed round led by RAED Ventures, with participation from Algebra Ventures, Global Founders Capital, 1984 Ventures and Nuwa Capital along with a series of regional angel investors.
Startups saw record levels of VC investments, according to reports by CB Insights, a leading technology insights firm, which reported global investments of USD 621 billion last year.
The Central African Republic’s move echoes that of El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as an official national currency last year. The Central African Republic is the first country in Africa to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender, and only the second state in the world to do so.
Zenda was launched last year and allows families to pay school fees with pay-now and pay-later payment schemes.
Average funding round size for MENA startups grows by 23 percent year-on-year, Africa crosses the USD 1 billion mark for the period.
Saudi’s Khwarizmi Ventures has taken part in a seed funding round for Egyptian startup Pylon, an infrastructure management platform aimed at transforming electricity and water companies in emerging markets.
The exchange program will target the oil and shipping industries and make use of blockchain technologies.