TechCabal Daily – Egyptian E-commerce Startup Sets New Record For Seed Funding

Egyptian e-commerce furniture startup, Homzart has raised a $1.3m seed round investment. It is the biggest seed round closed by an Egyptian startup.

For a company founded in 2019, it is an impressive feat. Over 10,000 products such as bed frames, chairs, and sofas are currently listed on the platform. The company says over 2000 customers have made purchases since it launched in late 2019.

What’s next for Homzart?

“We are going after a huge market valued at more than $60 billion, There are 25 million people in the Middle East and North Africa region searching for home furnishing every month with no serious player serving them online.”
– Mahmoud Ibrahim (Co-founder)

Founders Factory Africa has accepted five African tech startups into its Venture Scale programme.

What is in it for the tech startups?

$40,000 in investment as well as tailored support services.

Here are some of the startups that were accepted: LocumBase (South Africa), BwalaAfrica (Kenya), FoodLocker (Nigeria)

Here’s the full scoop.

“At the heart of our renewed venture into the improved mobile money space in South Africa is our passion to provide value-added services that meet our customers’ needs.”
– Felix Kamenga (Chief Officer, MTN SA Mobile Financial Services)

MTN South Africa in partnership with UBank has relaunched its mobile money solution, MoMo in South Africa.
MoMo can be used by all South Africans, even if they are not MTN subscribers.

MoMo will use the Ericsson Wallet platform and offers two types of accounts.

Read all about it here.

The countdown to Afrobytes 2020 continues. Afrobytes is the premier event that brings together entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and more to explore business opportunities between the African tech ecosystem and players in the global tech world. Here are key reasons why you should attend Afrobytes 2020:

• Finance: pitch world-leading Africa-focused tech funds
• Network: connect with global companies and African tech leaders
• Scale: find tech partners at the largest startup campus
• Feature: talk to international media covering African markets

Get your early bird ticket here

On January 27, the Lagos state government announced a ban on motorcycles and tricycles. For a city with an estimated population of 21 million, it threw up the question of how residents would commute.

February 3, 2020 was the first working day of the motorcycle ban and residents have had a difficult first day.

Residents are also dealing with a hike in Uber and Bolt fares because of increased demand.
Read all about it here.

Find more in this piece about Caroline Dama and Will Ruddick, founders of Grassroots Economics, the organization behind Bangla-Pesa, a community currency programme in Kenya.

Yele Bademosi is Founding Partner, Microtraction and Director at Binance Labs. Binance Labs is a fund and initiative to incubate, invest and empower top blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, projects, and communities.

Tickets to TC Townhall: Emerging Tech are now available for purchase  and a 15% early bird discount is available for readers who buy their tickets by January 31st with the code TCEM15%OFF.

Further discounts apply for companies/individuals buying at least 5 tickets. Click here to redeem our 20% corporate discount.