TechCabal Daily - SOLD! Two years after $86m acquisition, Uzabase sells Quartz

In the last few years, the Digital lending business in Nigeria has grown.

Access to credit has long been a problem in the lending space. Before digital lenders came along, this credit problem was said to be the fault of retail banks. Why were retail banks so risk averse that they happily waved away the chance to make revenue from
interest payments?

Well, digital lenders are finding out first hand.

With no effective credit bureaus, the average Nigerian does not have a credit history. There are also no real institutional disincentives to prevent people from owing lenders.

The summary: Nigeria’s digital lending space could use some startups that could help with some structure. Those structures would benefit the
lenders and borrowers.

Last month, we talked about Evolve Credit providing a loan marketplace where people can compare rates from digital lenders.

Enter CARMA, a data startup helps lenders make better credit assessment decisions by giving them access to a “real time credit data on a peer to peer basis.”

While CARMA was launched in Nairobi this year, it has now received funding in a
round led by Nigerian VC, Microtraction.

Up next: CARMA has now launched in Nigeria and it will mean an extra tool in the digital lenders arsenal to make better lending decisions.

While MultiChoice’s half year results aren’t due until November 12, the PayTV company is expecting a surge in profits.

The
company says it is expecting a 45% increase in profits for HY 2020. One reason profits are up is because it cut cost.

While we’re not entirely certain what that means right now, November 12 will provide a clearer picture. What we can say for certain is that MultiChoice has had an interesting year.

It has responded well to competition from Netflix, launching its own digital products and pushing
adoption for them. It has also seen some interest from the Canal Group, with the French company buying a 12% stake in MultiChoice.

What to watch out for: Our analysis of MultiChoice’s HY 2020 results later this week

The online business news website, Quartz, has become an independent company, two years after it was acquired by Uzabase for $86 million.

A timeline of events

Quartz was founded in 2012 by Atlantic media

In 2016, it had
achieved an operating profit, a feat it has not achieved again

In 2018, it was sold to a Japanese company that was largely unknown in the US, Uzabase

At the time, Uzabase’s goal was to turn Quartz into the number one business news site in the world within five years

Rubber meets the road: The business reality for Quartz has been harder than Uzabase anticipated. In 2019, Quartz reported an $18.4 million loss on $26.9 million in revenue.

In May 2020, it laid off nearly half of its staff. It also adopted a subscription model, hoping that it would augment its revenue from adverts.

So it didn’t come as a surprise when the Wall Street Journal broke the news that Uzabase was looking to sell Quartz.

Who’s buying? Co-founder and CEO Zach Seward, editor-in-chief Katherine Bell and the rest of the Quartz staff taking equity in the new company.

It’s why Quartz is calling it a management buyout.

While it’s another brutal reminder of the difficulty of the media business, it will be interesting to see if going private is just what Quartz needs.

Go Deeper: Uzabase sells Quartz to the site’s CEO and staff

When the TC team talks about our vision for the TechCabal Daily, one of the things we say is that we want it to be visually appealing.

We also want it to be a newsletter you really care about, because you’re a part of our community.

Those are only two of the reasons we went
back to the drawing board to redesign a TechCabal Daily we’re sure you’ll be proud to be a part of.

But I’m not giving all the details away just yet. That will happen bit by bit until launch day.

Thanks to Henry and Rotimi who wrote to us yesterday and are already part of our launch
campaign.

Want to be a part of our relaunch campaign? Send me an email: muyiwa@bigcabal.com