54gene | TechCabal

54gene Raises $4.5 million to Create the World’s First African DNA Biobank

Business, Funding, News, startups

2nd July 2019

Nigerian medical startup 54gene has secured a $4.5 million seed funding barely 7 months after it launched. The sum was raised from investors some of which include YCombinator, Fifty Years, Better Ventures, KdT Ventures, Hack VC and Techammer.

More From TC

Cooling technology company Sure Chill sets sights on Africa expansion with £4 million Series A investment

Funding, Products

Kay Ugwuede

19th July 2019

Sure Chill’s cooling technology harnesses a unique property of water to keep its vaccine and blood bank refrigerators cool for longer hours without power.

Berlin startup Ecoligo raises 2.5 million euros to expand solar energy service to light up Africa

Funding, startups, Venture Capital

Olanrewaju Odunowo

19th July 2019

Ecoligo will use the funds to scale up its model, which provides businesses with solar power systems through crowdfunding, in Ghana and Kenya.

Africa’s okadas go electric as climate change concerns grow

Ridesharing, Technology

Wole Olayinka

19th July 2019

Electric motorcycles may soon become the face of shuttle within several African cities, as fossil-fueled vehicles give way to electric vehicles around the world.

How Nigerian tech companies can innovate to tackle talent shortage

Business, Education, Entrepreneurship

Wole Olayinka

17th July 2019

Nigeria has a burgeoning tech industry that is attracting investment and attention from around the world, but the industry is not immune to a shortage of talent as it seeks to achieve its sky-high ambitions.

Canal+ acquires ROK studios as part of Africa expansion plans

News, startups, Stream, Technology

Abubakar Idris

16th July 2019

French media company Canal+ Group has completed the acquisition of ROK Studios, a Nollywood studio company that has produced over 550 movies and TV series as it attempts to gain a stronger foothold in French-speaking African countries.

Here’s Everything You Missed From Our Renewable Energy Townhall

people, startups

Abubakar Idris

16th July 2019

On Thursday, July 11, 2019, TechCabal hosted its second townhall of 2019 to discuss the importance of renewable energy to Africa for improving access to electricity. The event also highlighted the challenges that exist in the renewable energy market and how they should be addressed.

Some of China’s Most Innovative Companies are now Backing Nigeria’s OPay

Business, FinTech, Funding, News, Ridesharing, startups, Technology, Venture Capital

Abubakar Idris

15th July 2019

Nigeria-based OPay has closed a new $50 million funding round, the largest for any Nigerian tech startup so far in 2019. The company will use the new funding to deepen its roots in the Nigerian market for all its digital businesses including ORide and OFood. It also has plans to expand to other African markets.

Econet’s Kwese Play Not Officially Shutdown. But its Future is Highly Uncertain

Business, Entertainment, News, Products

Abubakar Idris

10th July 2019

On July 2, Kwese Play users started getting errors that the service has been shut down. The company has since denied the shut down rumours, but the service has still not being restored due to issues with its platform provider Roku. This issue and the subsequent news about financial challenges at Kwese have fueled speculations about the future of the company’s services.