We’ve only known the swath of desert up north of Africa for mummies and..er.. the Arab spring, but when its startups begin to attract generous funding in the fashion of Silicon Valley “unicorns”, our thought processes being to recolor a little. Today, Egypt-based online recruitment platform, Wuzzuf announced it closed a $1.7 million series A from two European investors. They didn’t say at what valuation (we are sure it’s not the $1 billion unicorn standard) but it’s the largest in the country’s history. In South Africa, Tritech just bought a slice of Tuyu.
Here are the stories that made the rounds across the African technology scene today:
Wuzzuf gets $1.7 million of foreign VC money. The largest in Egypt’s history
Egypt-based online recruitment platform, Wuzzuf, closed a $1.7 million series A from Sweden-based Vostok New Ventures and UK-based Piton Capital. BasharSoft owns Wuzzuf. The startup got seed funding from 500 Startups.
South African digital media company, Tritech Media, has acquired 25% stake in mobile rewards platform, Tuyu. Tuyu wants to expand outside of South Africa. And Tritech wants to lock down its loyalty solutions activities. We have a match.
Rwanda: MERGIMS, Wins the Kigali edition of Seedstars pitch tour
MERGIMS won the Kigali pitch of the Seedstars World tour yesterday. The app connects Rwandans living abroad with merchants in Rwanda. It also helps them buy items for their relatives resident there.
Travelstart shuttered its Kenyan office
Online travel booking startup, Travelstart has closed its office in Kenya, laying off a bulk of its workforce as well. Not sure what the fate of its other offices are.
This Month’s MEST Talk is on Mobile Money in Ghana
Register to get a free ticket for the event; there are only 20 seats available.
London’s Startupbootcamp seeks you
Startupbootcamp, the global network of industry-focused accelerators is calling for entries from African startups for its Insurance London accelerator programme.
Featured on TechCabal:
Ever wondered how you can launch your startups to a room full of raving fans?
Wole Ogunlade shares tips on how to executive an effective pre-launch regimen that can make sure that when your baby is born the are 30,000 or more wise men waiting to say, “we saw the eastern star”.
Don’t miss:
Africa leads world in Internet growth
Growth in international Internet capacity connected to Africa outpaces all other regions of the world, new research shows. African Internet bandwidth grew by 41% between 2014 and 2015, and by 51% compounded annually over the past five years, to reach 2,9Tbit/s,
Shell Customers can now purchase fuel and other Shell products using MTN Mobile Money
This follows an agreement between Vivo Energy, the operators of Shell in Uganda, and MTN Uganda that will enable customers purchasing products from Shell stations nationwide to pay for the latter’s services using Mobile Money on their phones.
