| Three entrepreneurs behind Kenyan consumer goods catalogue and delivery service Copia, have been selected to join the Endeavor Entrepreneurs network. Endeavor is a non-profit organisation supporting high-growth and high-impact entrepreneurs around the world. Endeavor now supports 1967 entrepreneurs leading 1227 companies in 35 markets around the world. Copia gains access to local and international business mentors among other tailored services to increase their impact in the markets they serve or intend to venture into. |
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| Facebook says it is expanding its third-party fact-checking program to more countries across Sub Saharan Africa: in Ethiopia, Zambia, Somalia and Burkina Faso through AFP; Uganda and Tanzania through both Pesa Check and AFP; Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d’Ivoire through France 24 observers and AFP; Guinea through France 24 observers and Ghana through Dubawa. Facebook launched its third-party fact-checking program in 2016 to tackle the spread of fake news through and on its platform. The project now includes 50 partner organizations around the world, operating in 42 languages including Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo, Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Northern Sotho, Southern Ndebele and Wolof. |
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| The Zikoko #JollofRoad team (Fu’ad, Toke and Kayode) is currently in Cote D’ Ivoire. It’s their fourth country on the itinerary. In this video, Toke answers some questions about border crossings, the trip so far and much more. Go to jollofroad.com to catch up on all the stories and videos from the 16 days they’ve spent on the road. 64 days left! Lots more stories to come. |
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| Since MAX.ng got here in 2016 (by here, I mean, Lagos, Nigeria) a number of other motorbike hailing startups have since launched in an attempt to capture the population of this busy city tired of its traffic antics. But, who owns the market in Lagos? Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega attempted to answer this by using three of the motorbike hailing services at the top of the chain and rating them in terms of their rider availability, user experience on mobile apps, billing and general service delivery. Find out if/who runs things in this sector in Africa’s most populous city in his piece. |
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| A carpooling platform for kids has closed a US$400,000 seed funding round. Based in Cairo, Hive allows parents signup their children for school pick-ups or drop-offs with two-three other kids who live in the same neighbourhood. The investment came from Abdelmoneim Al-Adawy, an early Hive customer who has been using the service for his children since its launch. Hive completed over 6,000 trips last school year (September 2018 to June 2019) transporting children to 14 schools in Cairo and is also experimenting with ride-sharing service for kids where parents who have extra space in their cars take other children to school (and back home) and make some money in the process. The startup plans to use this investment to further improve the product focusing on safety and scale. |
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| Cape Town-based automated talent agency WECAST is expanding to Johannesburg and New York. Founded in May 2018 and since launching its first product in March, WECAST is building what it calls a digital and automated talent agency and job platform for on-camera talent – models, actors, etc. The company says it now has an 18,000 strong user base and was close to securing a spot in the last Y Combinator cohort. In addition to launching in these new locations, the company is looking to launch WESPACES, which is basically Airbnbs’ for shoots. |
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| Egyptian e-commerce startup ExpandCart has secured US$150,000 in funding after being selected into the Hong Kong-based Betatron accelerator. The startup is one of eight from around the world to be accepted into the fifth cohort of the three-month Betatron accelerator, which invests US$150,000 in each company in addition to helping startups accelerate business growth and prepare for its next funding round. ExpandCart is a cloud-based e-commerce platform designed specifically for the Arabic language and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. |
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| Passion Incubator is inviting you to the maiden edition of its new series “Tech Your Passion”, a knowledge-sharing program aimed at helping entrepreneurs and professionals boost their businesses through the latest technologies used by leaders in their fields. Organised in partnership with Union Bank, the maiden edition tagged “Tech Your Finances” will focus on fintech tools in enhancing savings and will feature Peace Itimi, Head of Marketing at KoraPay; Tega Edwin-Ajogun, Assistant Business Director/Marketing Strategist at Wild Fusion and Akintoye Akindele, Head, Treasury Sales at Union Bank Nigeria. Date is October 18 at Leadspace: 70, Olonode Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos. Time is 4:00 pm. Click here to register to attend. |
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That’s it,
See you tomorrow.
– Kay
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