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TechCabal Daily – Okada ban aftermath: Lights dim at Gokada HQ

5th February 2020

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FLUTTERWAVE & AFROBYTES

05 – 02 – 2020

Welcome to TC Daily! Please take a moment to subscribe to our newsletter if this mail was forwarded to you. Also join us on Telegram for all the hot takes and deep dives on Africa’s technology sector.

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We kick off this day’s newsletter with one more drastic fallout from the Lagos state government’s recent enforcement of an okada/ keke ban in Nigeria’s economic capital. There are reports that bike hailing company, Gokada, has laid off about 80% of its staff. According to WeeTracker, the layoffs took place two days after the enforcement and CEO/Founder, Fahim Saleh told the publication most of the staff had to be let go off as “no revenue is coming in.” This is only the first of a wave of more job losses expected to come in the aftermath of this recent ill thought-out move by the government. Riders of the major bike hailing companies have since embarked on a rally to protest the ruling but the government remains unmoved. According to some sources however, the recent ban is only a cover for layoffs that have been ongoing since the company took a short break in August 2019 to reboot.

Egyptian food delivery startup, Elmenus, has raised US$8 million in a Series B funding round co-led by UAE-based VC fund, Global Ventures, and Egypt’s Algebra Ventures. Founded in 2011 by CEO Amir Allam, Elmenus previously raised US$1.5 million in Series A funding from Algebra Ventures back in 2017. Elmenus says it has a network of 8,000 restaurants serving approximately 1.2 million monthly active users on its platform.

Founders Factory Africa has selected five startups into its Venture Scale programme, backed by Standard Bank and Netcare. The startups include Kenya’s Bwala Africa, Nigerian Foodlocker, South African LocumBase, Akili Labs and EnvisionIt Deep AI. Founders Factory Africa’s Venture Scale programme will invest $40,000 into the startups to help them scale their product development, UX/UI, data science, engineering, business development and growth marketing.

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

At the Africa Tech Summit this week, over 150 subject expert speakers and 600 delegates will convene at the Kigali Convention Centre in Rwanda to showcase African entrepreneurship and connect stakeholders. The summit will feature three tracks – the Future Summit, the Africa Startup Summit and the Money and Blockchain Summit  – and a host of panel sessions, pitch sessions and interesting talks.

Kenyan B2B agri-tech startup Taimba, has partnered with Enviu and the DOEN Foundation for a US$277,000 funding, a mixture of equity and grant financing which will enable the startup to integrate cold logistics within its value chain, expand its product offering, optimise its operations and significantly grow its market. Taimba operates a mobile-based cashless platform connecting rural smallholder farmers to urban retailers. The company has over 2,000 farmers in its portfolio, and engages with 15 farmer savings and credit cooperatives. Last year, Taimba secured a US$100,000 funding from Gray Matters Capital’s coLABS.

Payments company, Paga, has launched a developer portal to offer African developers a wide range of application program interfaces (APIs) for mobile and web development. The Paga Developer portal supports the company’s strategy for global expansion and opens access to technology and products built by Paga. The portal has launched with 6 APIs and has a host of other features to enable developers build finch products using the company’s best tools.

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 February 7 with the code TCEM15%OFF.

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

That’s it!
We’ll be back tomorrow

– Kay

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