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Mecho Autotech Raises $2.15M to Expand Its Multi-Channel Service Capacity

Hassan Barakat
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Mecho Autotech Raises $2.15M to Expand Its Multi-Channel Service Capacity

Y Combinator-backed Mecho Autotech connects car owners with quality vehicle repair and maintenance providers. The company has raised a $2.15 million seed round.

The funds will be used to “grow its multi-channel service capacity, engineering team, and marketing budget for B2C acquisition,” according to the company.

Mecho Autotech, which was founded by Olusegun Owoade and Ayoola Akinkunmi, has built a network of approved in-house and third-party mechanics with client affordability (of enterprises and retail customers) in mind, according to Owoade.

“So we created a network of vetted technicians across 35 states in Nigeria to address the country’s poor vehicle maintenance culture,” he explained.

“We also devised an insurance strategy because we are aware that motor insurance is required.”

“So, if we have an insurance plan with an annual maintenance plan built-in, it’s essentially replacing for the after-sales package that individuals who buy new cars get.”

According to Owoade, Mecho Autotech chose to work with business clients first since it allowed the company to fine-tune its service.

He explained that these clients, who own large fleets, typically work with multiple workshops and spend more than $30 million each year on auto repairs and upkeep.

They will, however, interact with a single business, Mecho Autotech, which will handle all of their workshops.

Shuttlers, Moove, Tolaram Group, and Kobo are among the companies that have onboarded over 7,000 third-party mechanics across three workshops in Lagos that serve B2B customers.

It charges a 15% commission fee, with 10% coming from service charges and 5% from spare parts charges.

A portion of the seed money would be used to increase this capability. It will also aid in the scaling of Mecho Autotech’s mobile application, which was introduced last month for its B2C customers.

The two-year-old company says it wants to reach 25,000 users this year and will charge them a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription fee.

To get to this level of success, the CEO stated his firm has a success-based agreement with the Google Play Store, where it will use a pay-per-download model in exchange for the platform promoting Mecho’s app.

Another idea is to deploy mobile services to meet retail clients at their location if they do not choose to visit a Mecho Autotech workshop or one of our partner garages.

A portion of the seed money would be used to increase this capability. It will also aid in the scaling of Mecho Autotech’s mobile application, which was introduced last month for its B2C customers.

The two-year-old company says it wants to reach 25,000 users this year and will charge them a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription fee.

To get to this level of success, the CEO stated his firm has a success-based agreement with the Google Play Store, where it will use a pay-per-download model in exchange for the platform promoting Mecho’s app.

Another idea is to deploy mobile services to meet retail clients at their location if they do not choose to visit a Mecho Autotech workshop or one of our partner garages.

According to the company, the round was “oversubscribed by over 300%”.

Investors involved in the seed round include Future Africa, HoaQ Capital, Cathexis Ventures, V8 Capital, Silver Squid and Tekedia Capital.

LSETF Partners MEPB to Host Summit, Invite Tech Innovators to Proffer Solutions to Unemployment

Hassan Barakat
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LSETF Partners MEPB to Host Summit, Invite Tech Innovators to Proffer Solutions to Unemployment

The Lagos State State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), in partnership with the Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget (MEPB), will conduct the second edition of the Lagos Employment Summit with the goal of closing the state’s unemployment gap.

The summit will take place at Eko Hotel via Zoom on March 3 and 4, 2022, with the topic “sustainable employment creation strategies: joint action and prosperity for all.”

The 2022 summit will comprise 90 speakers, 15 plenary sessions, presentations, and breakout hearings, all of which will focus on progressive economic and social solutions to the state’s unemployment issues.

According to Teju Abisoye, executive secretary of the LSETF, sustainable job creation strategies are a much-needed conversation among industry players in the entire socio-economic space, and the event will feature a variety of speakers with diverse backgrounds in the entrepreneurial, advocacy, governmental, and private sectors.

“We share the belief that addressing unemployment is a shared obligation of the government, corporations, and individuals,” she said.

“As a result, we are always excited to partner and work as much as possible, and this summit further positions us in the correct direction.”

The summit will be hosted by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, with over 70 speakers from the public and private sectors speaking on topics such as the future workforce, women’s economic empowerment as a tool for economic growth, the orange economy, and critical areas that drive youth employment, among other topics.

Bola Adesola, chairman of the LSETF; Sam Egube; Aloysius Uche Ordu, director of the Africa Growth Initiative; and Nnamdi Ezeigbo, CEO of Slot Systems Nigeria, are among the confirmed speakers.

In addition to the discussions and debates, there will be an innovation challenge, dubbed the Lagos State Employment Summit Innovation Challenge, in which tech innovators will propose innovative ideas to help Lagos State create more jobs.

Pitch submissions, judge evaluations, application shortlisting, and the announcement of the finalist and winners who will receive funding will all be part of this process.

Clinics will also be held to provide young professionals with cutting-edge skills for the workplace of the twenty-first century.

Although the summit is free, those interested in attending must register online at www.lagosemploymentsummit.com.

US Consulate to Organise Drone Soccer Competition in Lagos Schools

Hassan Barakat
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US Consulate to Organise Drone Soccer Competition in Lagos Schools

On Saturday, the United States Consulate General in Lagos staged Africa’s first drone soccer competition in partnership with the Global Air Drone Academy and the Lagos State Ministry of Education.

In the fiercely contested game, eight girl-led teams were chosen from 71 student teams from public high schools in Lagos Education District 1’s Agege, Alimosho, and Ifako Ijaiye neighborhoods.

The tournament was won by the Pace Setters Team from Ijaiye Housing Estate Senior Grammar School.

Alisgrams Team from Alimosho Senior Grammar School and Alpha Team from Abesan Senior High School took second and third place positions respectively.

The top three teams in the Drone Soccer Competition each received a prize of a $1,500 STEM lab for their schools.

U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Stephen Ibelli, speaking at the tournament’s grand finale, emphasized the relevance of STEM education to Nigeria’s future prosperity and economic competitiveness.

The event, he continued, was created to give children with high-quality technology learning opportunities and to pique their interest in math and science, as well as STEM-related vocations.

“We are ecstatic to be partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Global Air Drone Academy to not only bring practical, hands-on STEM education to the Lagos school district but also to give representing schools the opportunity to show off their STEM skills in drone soccer, the world’s newest sport,” Ibelli said.

One of the program’s main goals, according to Eno Umoh, Co-founder of the Global Air Drone Academy in the United States, was to educate impoverished communities, particularly young girls, about the effect they may have in STEM disciplines.

“We are ecstatic to be at the forefront of Africa’s newest burgeoning e-sport.” Drones are a fun and inventive way to encourage students to pursue higher education and employment.

The drone soccer competition was a follow-up to a series of drone technology and innovation events.

In 2021, the Lagos Education District 1 hosted a STEM program for 500 pupils and a capacity-building workshop for 50 instructors on effective approaches to teaching STEM subjects.

Drone Soccer is the world’s newest e-sport, in which players use flying quadcopters to play full-contact soccer in protective plastic exoskeletons. In 2018, the World Air Sports Federation (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) sanctioned Drone Soccer as the only educational robotics competition that is also an international sport.

Digital Health Market Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 24% in 2026

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Digital Health Market Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 24% in 2026

The global digital health market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% in 2026. There is anticipation that the digital health market will get to $596.56 billion in 2026 from $201.24 billion in 2021, $252.47 billion in 2022 at a CAGR of 25.5%.

Digital health is simply the use of information technology/electronic communication tools and services. In addition, it is the procedure to give and promote healthcare services technologically to improve healthcare.

The digital health market comprises the sales of digital health services by entities such as sole traders, organizations, and partnerships.

These entities are those who engage in providing digital health services for the smooth functioning of healthcare-related services. In the marketplace, only goods and services entities traded between entities or sold to final consumers are included.

Some of the key players of the digital health market include

  • Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.
  • McKesson Corporation
  • BioTelemetry Inc.
  • iHealth Lab Inc
  • eClinicalWorks

The regions covered in the global digital health market are Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, North America, Western Europe, South America, and the Middle East.

Digital Health Market Segmentation

Technology

By technology, this includes Health Information Technology, Mobile Health (mhealth), Telehealth and Telemedicine, and Health Analytics.

Application

Application is in the following areas, Diabetes, Sleep Apnea, Oncology, Cardiology, and Neurology.

By End Users

Final consumers of the goods and services include Healthcare payers, Healthcare providers, and Pharmaceutical companies.

The countries in the global digital health market are Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt.

In addition, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand.

Also countries like Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam.

Civic Hive Fellowship 2022

Hassan Barakat
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Civic Hive Fellowship 2022

Civic Hive Fellowship is a 20-week bootcamp and implementation program designed for early-stage Civic innovators with tech-enabled social problem-solving solutions.

About The Program

Duration: 6 months.

Through a six-month fellowship program focusing on Transparency/Accountability, Civic Participation, and Institutional Efficiency, Civic Hive will employ this process to produce new civic-tech Gen Z leaders.

We will accept various levels of ideas, regardless of scale – local or hyperlocal – and we will be open to the many uses of technology as a channel – radio, text, print, IoT, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or social media.

We’ll also look at the impact the ideas will have on people and public places, the ability of ideas to deliver value in the long run, and the participants’ unwavering spirit.

The Goal of The Program

The goal of the incubation program is to attract additional players into the civic tech space. Under the fellowship program, the Civic Hive project aims to develop a new generation of civic tech leaders who will transform governance.

Next Stage

Successful applicants will go through a series of financial, business, website, and social media management training sessions.

The fellowship program will continue throughout the project in order to develop 12 new innovative and creative civic solutions.

The fellows will be given a platform to present their work, allowing them to meet with potential donors and mentors through BudgIT’s network. During the fellowship, they will be paid a monthly salary of N200,000 and given a workspace.

Apply Here

Nigerian Healthtech Startup Reliance Health Raises $40M Series B Funding

Mena Adediran
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Nigerian Healthtech Startup Reliance Health Raises $40M Series B Funding

Reliance Health, a Nigerian healthtech startup, based in Lagos and Texas has raised $40 million in a Series B round. The startup makes use of an integrated process to offer telemedicine and health insurance through its direct services as well as partnerships with hospitals and healthcare facilities.

The startup aims to address the problems of accessibility and affordability of healthcare in Nigeria. Users get access to a number of healthcare products by subscriptions. Reliance Health provides some of these services directly — with two clinics based in Lagos; while others are provided via third-party partners such as hospitals, diagnostic centres and pharmaceutical centres.

Reliance Health was founded in 2016 by Femi Kuti, Opeyemi Olumekun and Matthew Mayaki. The trio had founded Kangpe back in 2015, a telemedicine startup, but decided to change to Reliance after facing follow-up gaps in its healthcare processes.

“Back then, for example, if a patient chats with this doctor and he recommends an x-ray checkup or after that, a surgery, what happens next?” asked Kuti, chief executive. “We weren’t able to manage all those [end-to-end] processes and that necessitated sort of a soft pivot from the whole telemedicine focus thing to this integrated healthcare provider that we’re doing today,” he said.

Reliance Health has over 200,000 users from both of its operating models — business-to-business and business-to-customers. The company’s health insurance plan ranges from N3,500 ($7) to N148,500 ($297) on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. The startup said it has reached a 3.5x year-on-year revenue growth from 2016.

The Series B round was led by General Atlantic. Other investors included Partech, Picus Capital, Tencent Exploration, Africa Healthcare Master Fund, P1 Ventures, Laerdal Million Lives Fund and M3 Inc.

“General Atlantic is thrilled to announce our first technology investment in Africa in Reliance Health, backing a team focused on improving healthcare quality for millions of patients in Nigeria and abroad,” said Chris Caulkin, the managing director of General Atlantic, in a statement.

Reliance Health plans to build two more clinic facilities in Abuja and Port Harcourt. It will also expand into new markets, leading with Egypt — with a coming launch mid-year.

Africa Payments Firm, PalmPay Raises $100M Series A in 2021, Claims to Have 5 Million Users

Hassan Barakat
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Africa Payments Firm, PalmPay Raises $100M Series A in 2021, Claims to Have 5 Million Users

PalmPay, a payments firm focused on Africa, raised a $100 million Series A round last year.

Crunchbase and Tracxn, two websites that track fundraising rounds in startups and private firms around the world, disclose that the round was concluded in August 2021.

PalmPay entered the Nigerian payments industry in June of this year.

For its Series A round, the U.K-based business also received funding from Chinese investors, making it the second-largest of its sort behind unicorn Wave’s $200 million.

Chuangshi Capital, Yunshi Equity Investment Management, Trust Capital, Chengyu Capital, and private equity fund AfricaInvest were among the investors in the round.

PalmPay provides a variety of financial services to both consumers and businesses.

It offers online payment and offline POS-acquiring services to merchants through its PalmPartner app, and it expects to launch digital marketing services soon.

Consumers can take advantage of no-fee payment methods, low-cost transfers, bill payments, reward programs, and discounted airtime.

PalmPay has extended to Ghana since its introduction in Nigeria in 2019.

According to its website, it serves over 5 million customers.

PalmPay’s monthly transaction volume was over $100 million in June 2021, according to certain sources.

In a statement released in 2019, PalmPay stated that it was working to become Africa’s largest financial services platform. That is why it ventured into Ghana.

However, there is still work to be done in order to become the dominant player in a burgeoning mobile payment market.

According to information from its most recent fundraising round, its biggest competitor, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Sequoia Capital China-backed OPay, has 8 million users and monthly transaction volumes of over $3 billion.

Fintech Mobility Company Moove Receives $10M Investment

Hassan Barakat
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Fintech Mobility Company Moove Receives $10M Investment

Moove, Uber’s only vehicle financing and supply partner in Sub-Saharan Africa has received a $10 million investment to help it democratise vehicle ownership and expand throughout the continent.

Moove is NBK Capital Partners’ first investment in Africa, highlighting the potential for a digital business to fill the continent’s automotive financing deficit. The fund advised by NBK Capital Partners has made its sixth investment in asset-backed venture debt.

“We are very delighted to collaborate with Moove on its quest to revolutionise access to credit for millions of people throughout the African continent,” says Yaser Moustafa, Chief Executive Officer of NBK Capital Partners.

The million-dollar investment will initially help the company expand across West Africa.

Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, both British-born Nigerians, founded 3 different firms on the continent before creating Moove, a mobility fintech startup.

“The company is led by strong founders who have a distinct, long-term vision for success, one that is based on the empowerment of people from all socioeconomic classes across the region, as well as a true dedication to social and environmental sustainability,” Moustafa added.

The market opportunity is enormous: Africa has a population of 1.3 billion people, with 43 percent living in rapidly growing urban areas.

In 2019, the continent’s total new vehicle sales were less than 900,000, compared to 17 million in the United States.

This investment, according to Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO of Moove, takes the company’s total cash raised to $78 million, which will fuel their sustained growth trajectory as they expand regional operations to empower more mobility entrepreneurs.

“We are happy to be working with a company that shares our ambition of creating the first mobility fintech for African markets, addressing the problem of millions of people lacking access to credit.”

Through its revolutionary revenue-based finance strategy and alternative credit scoring system, Moove provides vehicle financing for cars, bikes, and trucks to mobility entrepreneurs across the continent.

The company presently works in 6 locations spanning Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, with intentions to grow across Africa.

According to Jide Odunsi, co-founder and co-CEO of Moove, their revenue-based model and alternative credit-scoring technologies have enabled more women to obtain finance and become mobility entrepreneurs.

“We’re committed to ensuring that at least 50% of our customers are female, by giving them the tools, resources, and flexibility they need to be productive and successful, even if they’ve previously been excluded from more formal work opportunities.”

Afya Rekod Kenyan Startup Raises $2M Seed Round To Expand Across Africa

Boluwatife Aponmade
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Afya Rekod Kenyan Startup Raises $2M Seed Round To Expand Across Africa

Afya Rekod, a Kenyan startup, has raised $2 million in a seed round to expand across Africa. The seed round was led by US venture capital, Mac Venture Capital which invests in outstanding startups building category-leading technology companies at the seed phase.

Afya Rekod is a health data startup that focuses on the patient and enables both health facilities and patients to capture, store, and access the mobility of the patients’ health records. The new startup has seen interest from different health parties in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the United States increase progressively since it started operations in April 2020. Health data has become one of the most pressing concerns for global health management in the wake of the pandemic.

The platform includes a variety of features for providers, including hospital management, patient management, knowledge management, and inventory management. The technology allows patients to record health data and gain access to medical intervention. In addition, the platform compiles information on pharmacies and other important resources for simple access.

John Kamara, founder of Afya Rekod said, “We have spent the last year and a half focusing solely on developing a dynamic platform that integrates health data with analytics and connects users to specialized clinics and specialists. This provides high-quality healthcare in a way that is necessary at this time. This investment excites us since it will help us expand in important markets on our way to becoming the world’s premier patient mobility-focused health platform. Our goal is to empower patients by providing them with access to their health data and connecting them to the ecosystem, which includes hospitals, pharmacies, insurances, and more.”

“This financing will allow us to expand into more African areas and speed up the launch of our patient portal. This will provide patients with the information and tools they need to retain and manage their health data, which is a key function for patients with chronic illnesses and their doctors”, Kamara added.

Marlon Nichols, Founding Managing Partner of Mac Venture Capital said, “One of the things we liked the most about Afya Rekod was its commitment to patient-centered on health innovation and how its addresses the gaps of current healthcare issues. The pandemic has pressed the fast-forward button, bringing about an urgency into health data accessibility and analytics. This is a global problem that can be addressed by innovative private companies like Afya Rekod. We are excited to partner with the team to tackle this challenging problem in healthcare”.

Afya Rekod has more than 150,00 users across five countries and it is accessed via android and ios apps, and web portals. His startup partnerships include The Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya (AOSK) with more than 500 hospitals throughout Kenya; Healthy Mind Foundation to train psychiatrists in Lagos, Nigeria; Alchemy in South Africa to onboard private and public hospitals in the Southern parts of Africa.

Irene Kiwia, Co-founder and CGO, Adanian Labs also said, “We are proud to see one of our flagship startups, Afya Rekod, growing its impact globally. We are set out to build disruptive technology that will solve some of the most important challenges in Africa and beyond, and health is one of the sectors that require a multitude of interventions to improve quality access. We believe in Afya Rekod’s aims and visions and as we continue to support the company, we are confident that the impact it will create will be phenomenal”.

Dell Plans to Spend $20bn in 3 Years as Data is the World’s New Oil

Abidemi Ogunyemi-Aderibigbe
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Dell Plans to Spend $20bn in 3 Years as Data is the World’s New Oil

Dell Technologies is planning to invest $20 billion over the next 3 years in 6 major technologies as data is becoming the world’s new oil. The 6 technologies include 5G, artificial intelligence, edge computing, multi-cloud, cybersecurity, and machine learning.

According to the company’s senior vice president of the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, Mohammed Amin who said

” These 6 technologies are going to be the trend in a couple of years to now. We are investing a lot of dollars and initiatives around it with lots of customers in the Arab kingdom”

Mohammed Amin laid emphasis on the importance of data in the nearest future stating that it will be the “new oil”. By 2030, the future of data is such that 50% of the global economy will be digital.

Edge computing is is another area of great interest to Dell. This is because 85% of data will be done using this technology in 3 years to this time.

Saudi Arabia is among Dell’s top 10 countries where the company has its largest office within emerging market areas with 300 employees.

Amin pointed out that ” due to our closeness to the customer, we understand the needs of customers in the Kingdom. Also, because we are a part of the customer-business transformation”

In conclusion, the vision 2030 and the company’s digital plans were as well cited by Amin as a key aspect of the Kingdom’s transformation.

 

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