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TechCabal Daily – Armed with a $71 million warchest, TLCom targets more Kobo360s

7th February 2020









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TOGETHER WITH FLUTTERWAVE & AFROBYTES

07 – 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.

Transferwise, a Flutterwave partner, is an affordable and fast way to send money abroad. Over 6 million people get the real exchange rate with TransferWise. Click here to start sending money.

Vodacom, the South Africa division of the Vodafone Group, will take over the management of Vodafone Ghana in April, according to TechCentral. The change also affects the Group’s divisions inTanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.  

It follows a series of moves aimed at streamlining operations and keeping the UK company focused on sub-saharan Africa: In December 2019, Vodacom Group sold its Egyptian business to Saudi Telecom for US$2.4-billion. That was after Vodafone transferred a minority stake in Kenya’s Safaricom to Vodacom in an all-share deal worth about $2.6-billion.

In 2019, TLCom Capital raised $50 million for its TIDE Africa Fund. With the input of investors like the CDC, the Africa-focused VC has closed this year’s fund at $71 million. Given the fund’s antecedent investments in startups like Kobo360 and Twiga Foods, many eyes will stay glued to who the firm’s partners have coffee with over the next eighteen months. Managing partner Maurizio Caio said the firm will be looking towards “infrastructure-type” startups. In a blog, he provides further insight into the firm’s thinking on VC involvement in African tech.

Two months after Posta Kenya partnered with Safaricom to form M-Post, a digitalized Post office box, the service has now registered 150,000 subscribers. M-Post is supposed to be a revenue and customer growth avenue for Safaricom as the service can be accessed by the telco’s more than 34 million mobile subscribers. It’s a relatively impressive start but what does it mean for Posta Kenya’s scramble to be relevant again in the country’s courier market? 

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

The EchoVC team is holding office hours in Nairobi on Tuesday, the 11th of February, 2020 and would love to meet founders building companies deploying technology-enabled solutions to address local problems and pain points. EchoVC Partners is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm investing in African and Africa-focused founders of technology and technology-enabled startups across Africa. Their portfolio includes FinAccess, QuickBus, Lifebank, Migo, and Hotels.ng. Fill out this form if you are interested in meeting with the team on Tuesday – https://forms.gle/iGuzRrsFPmkRixot7

The Tech travel for good accelerator is inviting applications for its second edition beginning this month. The accelerator aims to help impact-driven tourism businesses scale their services, Disrupt Africa reports. Six startups will qualify to participate in the programme, with the event happening in three hubs across East Africa. Find application details here.

What’s on your schedule on the eve of Valentine’s day? If you are a developer, payments company Paga would love to host you at the launch of the Paga Developer Portal, their developer portal/community. The date is February 13th and the venue is Co-creation Hub from 9am. Secure your invite here.

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.

Yay, weekend!
We’ll be back Monday

– Alexander
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