Gro Intelligence

South African startup raises $17m to use drones and satellites to provide farmers with crop data

Agritech

22nd January 2021

The experiments started at a citrus farm in Cape Town where James Paterson was born. By 2014, that passion became Aerobotics – a startup that has now raised $17m from investors to help farmers grow fruits and trees using images from satellites and drones. Aerobotics is a company of engineers, agronomists, and data scientists. Its […]

Ethiopia-born Sara Menker’s Gro Intelligence raises $85m in Series B funding

Agritech

Alexander O. Onukwue

11th January 2021

Gro Intelligence, an analytics startup deploying artificial intelligence systems for food security and climate stability solutions, has closed an $85 million Series B round. Sara Menker, an Ethiopia-born former Wall Street commodities trader, founded Gro Intelligence in Kenya in 2014 to fill a global gap in the world of agricultural data. The startup builds up […]

More From TC

Mr Eazi wants his fans to eat good too

Events, Features, people

Edwin Madu

23rd January 2021

Mr Eazi’s music is synonymous with relaxed vibes, alté music, and contemporary African sounds. In July 2020, the Afropop star launched a $20 million African Music Fund dedicated to financing African creatives.

Jumia chairman Jonathan Klein shares invaluable advice for entrepreneurs doing business across Africa

Events, people

Edwin Madu

22nd January 2021

When someone in the event’s chat room says “then stop introducing yourselves as the Amazon of Africa,” Klein responded, “We never called ourselves the Amazon of Africa. We call ourselves Jumia.”

Kenyan government out to raise $45million digital tax revenue before July

Government, Internet, Policy

Bright Azuh

22nd January 2021

In Kenya, the government has started to implement the Digital Services tax it proposed last year for internet businesses. They are hoping to raise 45 million dollars in revenue before the second half of the year. A policy drafted by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in 2020 proposed taxing online goods sold in the country. […]

Samsung’s Galaxy Note: Is this goodbye?

Gadgets, News

Edwin Madu

22nd January 2021

If you were waiting for the Samsung Galaxy Note 21, which was rumoured to be coming in August, I may have some bad news for you.

Wave Out, OZÉ In: How a Ghana-based fintech wants to change SME financing

Features

Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega

22nd January 2021

Like Wave, the OZÉ app allows users to send invoices and receipts. But OZÉ goes a step further, it allows its users to apply for loans.

Sorry Kenya! Google drops balloon internet project

News

Daniel Adeyemi

22nd January 2021

A year after Google’s Moonshot Factory celebrated its first decade, it’s shutting down one of its projects: Loon. Launched in 2013, the project Loon is a cost-effective solution to the difficult challenge of bringing internet access to people in underserved remote areas. But two years after making it a separate division, Google has accepted that […]

South African startup raises $17m to use drones and satellites to provide farmers with crop data

Agritech

Alexander O. Onukwue

22nd January 2021

143 million Nigerian SIMs now linked with identity number

News, Policy

Bright Azuh

21st January 2021

Following the order from the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to suspend mobile numbers of people without a National Identity Number (NIN), there has been a rapid increase in the number of people obtaining their NINs. Between December 15th, 2020 when the order was given and the second deadline date, January 19th, 2021, Nigerian mobile operators […]