Payourse, a Blockchain firm based in Lagos, Nigeria has raised $600k in pre-seed funding to build a Web3 powerhouse.
Bashir Aminu, the CEO of Payourse told Techpoint Africa on a call that it took some time before everything came to be and before the pre-seed fund could be realized. The fundraising pre-seed saw participation from Michael Ugwu, one of the biggest NFT collectors, Flori Ventures, Olumide Soyombo of Voltron Capital, and Allegory Capital. The pre-seed funding also saw the participation of other investors like CELO co-founders, Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinseberg, Kola Aina of Ventures platform, Angel Touch Holdings, and Oluwatobi Anisere.
This funding is the company’s first real pre-seed funding, with a combination of $100,000 raise from Michael Ugwu, in March 2021, another $100,000 from Flori Ventures in July 2021, and another raise from Oluwatobi Anisere, co-founder, John Anisere’s brother in 2020.
Aminu says they never actually reached out to investors. Michael Ugwu had sent a direct message to one of the co-founders on Twitter, Flori Ventures, and Olamide Soyombo , Founder of Volton Capital got introduced through a partner.
Payourse was founded in September 2019 by Bashir Aminu (CEO) and John Anisere (CTO) with the aim and purpose of solving the issues of accessibility and adoption of the Web3 economy by way of providing the core infrastructure and necessary tools that will help African businesses build user-friendly crypto and Web3 products.
Bashir Aminu got the idea of building a platform that collects wallet addresses and generates shareable links while he was still working at Busha as its first product designer, a crypto exchange that recently just raised a $4.2 million pre-seed funding. He shared the idea with John Anisere, who was his colleague and a front-end designer at Busha.
Anisere bought the idea and they launched into action after deliberating on a few concepts. In September 2019, Coinprofile was launched as a pet project and the company’s first product.
Due to a seamless experience and ease of use, Coinprofile began to gain traction amongst crypto users. The more people got on their product, the more the founders realized how important their product is, Hence, they continued to look for products fit for the market, they also took customers’ feedbacks to improve Coinprofile.
Aminu said to TechCabal, “In May 2020, after acquiring a handful of users and considering the feedback and requests we’ve pulled, we added a remittance functionality that allows users make payment with their wallets”.
According to Aminu, the CEO, during the process of building plenty of Web3 tools and APIs around Coinprofile products, it became clear that they have not only built a great crypto tool, they have also built great infrastructures, powerful and flexible enough for other businesses to build and thrive on.
The company announced last month that it would be bringing together all its present and future products under a parent company, Payourse. The parent company has three main functions to power its infrastructure; wallets, remittances, and liquidity. The company said it has started building uses cases to show its ambition to power the next hundreds of crypto-enabled businesses, it has built Simpa, which is a fast no-code and an easy platform made available to anyone to quickly start a fully customizable crypto exchange as fast as possible.
Payourse believes that the future of finance and in Africa is on crypto, and thus, is determined to help more African businesses and individuals get in line, by being the go-to platform for anything concerning crypto anywhere in the world. Payourse already marked Kenya and Ghana as the next markets to carry out that ambition.
Payourse A Nigeria-Based Startup Raises $600 Fund To Build A Web3 Powerhouse
First Offline Event By Binance to Hold In Cameroon
Binance is the world’s biggest crypto exchange and blockchain ecosystem will hold its maiden offline event for crypto fans and enthusiasts in Cameroon. The aim is to continue its mission to increase the freedom of money, drive the adoption of blockchain and aid greater financial accessibility for Africans.
The offline event will hold on the 4th of December, 2021, and on the 11th of December, 2021. The blockchain will take its efforts into Douala and Yaounde, two major cities in Cameroon.
As a frontier in blockchain education, Binance makes sure that crypto enthusiasts have access to the right information about how the crypto ecosystem works. Binance Masterclass started in January 2020, it provided insights about crypto trading to careers in the blockchain ecosystem. Binance has provided free crypto education to over 400,000 Africans since then.
At the end of 2020, more than 70,000 Africans were educated in the first year of the Masterclass launch, Binance has since doubled down on its efforts in providing educational resources to more than 177,000 Africans in Q1 in 2021 and more than 179,500 in Q2 in 2021.
The physical events taking place in Cameroon will hold on December 4, 2021, 9 am-2 pm at Aurelia Palace, Nylon Bastos in Yaounde while it will hold on December 11, 2021, 9 am-2 pm at Serena Hotel, Akwa Nord in Douala.
Blockchain enthusiast and local entrepreneur, Junie Maffock, will be joining attendees, where they will learn about the Binance ecosystem, fundamentals of blockchain, trading fundamentals, how to set up a Binance account, and lots more. There will also be loads of fun, giveaway, and engaging games.
This offline event is not, however, Binance’s first education effort in Francophone Africa. Binance hosted its first-ever masterclass in July 2021, it was dedicated to French-speaking Africans to indicate the kick-off of its crypto education efforts.
“The African continent holds some unique opportunities for cryptocurrency adoption and development. As such, we see blockchain education as vital in actualizing these opportunities. It is also clear that the potential of Francophone Africa to be a core part of this development is endless and we are committed to ensuring that more people have access to the right information”, Francophone Africa Lead at Binance, Carine Dikambi has said.
UNICEF, Liquid Technologies Partner on Giga Initiative
Giga is working to bridge Africa’s digital divide, and UNICEF, in partnership with Liquid Intelligent Technologies, is going to support the initiative.
UNICEF with Liquid Intelligent Technologies made the announcement public on Wednesday, December 1st, that they will be working together to support Giga’s project which is to connect every school to the Internet as well as expose every young African to “information, opportunity, and choice.”
Liquid Technologies is providing data needed to map and assess the location and internet access of every school in Africa. This mapping termed “Project Connect” serves as the groundwork for Giga to perform its activities.
In addition to this, Liquid will provide Giga with information about schools’ nearness to telecommunications infrastructure. It will also monitor internet connectivity along the way on a platform to be developed.
Kenya is the starting point of this collaborative project, after which other countries will be included such as Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Thomas Davin, the Director of the Office of Innovation, UNICEF, explained that the partnership will enable Giga to gather a much-needed understanding of the “connectivity landscape” in Kenya and other parts of Africa. He admitted that the knowledge gathered will help UNICEF get more schools to access the Internet.
Addressing the partnership too, Ben Roberts, Group Chief Technology Officer at Liquid Intelligent Technologies, said; “The Giga Initiative from UNICEF and ITU echoes Liquid’s sentiment of creating a digitally resilient economy in Kenya and Africa at large. There is no better place to start than our schools that shape the minds of our children, thereby securing our future.
“This initiative also reiterates the vision of our parent company – Cassava Technologies, of creating a digitally connected continent that leaves no African behind,” Roberts shared.
South African PropTech Firm, E4, Plans Expansion
E4 (styled e4), a property technology firm in South Africa, has made plans to expand to European markets, kick-starting this expansion journey in the UK. Simon Slater, the Executive Director, has moved to the UK to serve as the head of operations.
In a statement made by e4 on December 1, Slater’s role has been explained to build e4’s relationship with mortgage banks, conveyancing firms, and other UK partners.
The statement further shared that Slater will get support from a “global team” of analysts, developers as well as other staff in the expansion process.
Furthermore, e4 expressed; “Having worked on international opportunities remotely now for the past two years, we are at a stage where we need to rapidly set up a full client team on the ground in the UK and grow the international development teams in Mauritius to develop UK solutions.”
e4 has been operating for 21 years in the South African property technology industry as a provider of digital tools which aid real estate agencies and financial service providers with managing their services.
e4’s clientele in South Africa ranges from law firms to notable lenders, and as such the company will target that market in the UK.
“We are setting our clients up for the future of mortgage processing and transaction management as the world’s most valuable industry − real estate − undergoes a long-awaited digital transformation. With the backing of e4 in South Africa, we are ideally placed to make a real difference in the UK Proptech market,” Slater said.
MTN NG Offers Shares Sale to Retail Investors
MTN Nigeria has commenced a nationwide initiative to sell off about 575 million shares in MTN Group to retail Investors on December 1, 2021. To achieve this, a roadshow has been organized which started off in Abuja and will continue to every other state, over the next two weeks.
Speaking on this development, Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO, expressed that MTN Group is set to allow broad ownership in their companies; “This offer is the first phase of that process in Nigeria, as we progressively reduce our shareholding from 78 percent to 65 percent over time.”
This initial public offering sale began on December 1, at 8:00 am, and is scheduled to end on December 14 at 5:00 pm.
The cost of a share is N169. The minimum amount of shares public retail investors can buy is 20, and there is 1 free share on every 20 purchased to attract a lot of buyers. However, the free share is subject to retail investors who will hold the shares for a minimum of 12 months.
The cost of an MTN NG share as listed on the stock market as of Tuesday, November 30, was N190, meaning that a N21 discount was provided to the public.
However, by Wednesday, December 1, the share price in the stock market depreciated to N171, a 10% reduction that came after the public offering announcement. Sources say that this price depreciation was prompted by sell-offs of the company’s shares due to investors’ “negative sentiment” to the public offering. At market close, the MTN NG share at N171 was the lowest price traded.
Operations (Tech) – Operations Advisor I at ABNL Limited
About ABNL Limited
ABNL Ltd. was incorporated in 1992, as an Oil and Gas servicing company, with a vision to provide professional engineering and technical services to the Oil and Gas exploration and production companies in Nigeria and the West African sub-region. Since its incorporation the company has grown in leaps and bound, expanding its business horizon but still within the Oil and Gas sector.
ABNL is a 100% owned indigenous firm. Its’ directors are individuals of proven integrity, who over the years have acquired the requisite experience in the Oil and Gas business, as well as in the banking and finance sector. The integrity of the directors and the staff of the company have been a priceless contributive factor in the growth and well-being of the company.
Application deadline: Dec 10, 2021
Operations (Tech) – Operations Advisor I
- Job Type Contract, Full Time
- Qualification BA/BSc/HND
- Experience: 5 years
- Location Lagos
Job Description as Operations tech advisor
- Operations Advisor has responsibilities for clusters, zone, or the global company level.
- Expert resource for specific management systems, global processes and procedures, technical matters, and coordination of improvement plans.
- Demonstrates expert operations and/or maintenance skills; ability to influence without authority and interact at all levels within an organization.
- Demonstrates strong communication and interpersonal skills to work with diverse groups; able to network effectively across organizations.
- Operations Advisor will cover some but not all of the responsibilities listed below.
Tasks and Responsibilities
- Coordinates development of operations and maintenance design philosophies including project-specific specifications.
- Demonstrates a broad understanding of the impact of changes across functional boundaries.
- Provides technical expertise and facilitates consistent coordination of Operations Integrity Management System (OIMS), Global Product Quality Management System (GPQMS)/Global Product Integrity Management System (GPIMS), Hydrocarbon Controls Practices (HCP) matters, Unit Internal Assessment (UIA), and audit preparation.
- Provides technical expertise and facilitates consistent coordination of risk assessments, incident investigation.
- Provides functional guidance with respect to technical matters and structural improvements/initiatives in operations and/or manufacturing and may include coordination of improvement plans.
- Helps coordinate cost management and productivity improvement plans.
- Provides technical support and input to training development and delivery.
- Leads or participates in cross-functional initiatives.
- Supports Operations Management as requested.
- Develops, maintains, and shares best practices.
- Guides resources that are made available to execute key initiatives.
- Networks and develops effective relationships with cross-functional representatives and teams, industry associations’ suppliers, and resellers/dealers/third parties as appropriate.
- Develops project plans while identifying application opportunities for lessons learned & best practices sharing.
- May provide technical expertise and facilitate consistent coordination of conceptual and pre-Front End Engineering Design (FEED) studies.
- May assist with Company Plan preparation and stewardship.
Skills and Qualifications
- 7-10 years of closely related experience
- Degree preferred
- Behavioral Skills: adaptability, analytical capability, collaboration, effective communication, mentorship, innovative, applied learning, shows initiative.
- Functional Skills: Safety, Security, Health, and Environment (SSHE) management – operations and maintenance, managing critical operations and workforce, plant operating technology, maintenance management.
- Demonstrates sound business judgment, decision-making skills, and customer focus
Additional Requirements:
- ASNT Level 3 in at least 5 out of 7 NDT methods
- Minimum of 5 years NDE advisory experience (inspector training, code interpretation, 3rd party supervision)
Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to: jobs@abnl.net using the Job Title as the subject of the email.
Note: Please be informed that the requirements above must be met as they are mandatory.
Summer Research Fellowship for ETH Students in 2022 (Fully-funded)
Application Deadline: December 15, 2021
Application for Summer Research Fellowship for ETH Student in 2022 are now open. Undergraduate and graduate students can participate in the program to obtain their first research experience in a field of their choice. The fellowship offered by the ETH Computer Science Department lasts for two summer months and is open to students from all around the world. In the field of computer science, the department is committed to improving diversity.
The Student Summer Research Fellowship program at ETH Zurich is primarily focused on conducting research in one of the various fields.
- Duration are July 1 through August 31: Please note that the fellowship’s start and end dates are set to include the entire month of July and August.
- Eligibility: Bachelor’s and master’s students from all over the world who plan to graduate during the spring semester of the year after the two-month fellowship.
- Extensive research experience: As part of a research group in our department, fellows will undertake a research topic that coincides with a specified area of interest. Interacting and collaborating with group members is part of this.
- Socializing and networking: Several on-site social events will help fellows meet people outside of their research groups, including current ETH students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
- Stipend: Fellows at ETH Zurich will receive a monthly stipend of around CHF 1.750 to cover accommodation and living expenses. Travel and visa costs will also be reimbursed. At the start of the program, students can claim travel expenses against receipts.
- Accommodation: Once an applicant is accepted into the program, affordable accommodation for the duration of the research stay will be arranged. We’ll also give you information on how to apply for a visa (where required).
- Switzerland. In the summer, fellows have the opportunity to immerse themselves in Zurich’s vibrant culture as well as Switzerland’s stunning mountainous surroundings.
Eligibility
If you meet the following criteria, you are eligible for the ETH Student Summer Research Fellowship program:
- You are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in computer science or a closely related discipline (e.g., electrical engineering, mathematics, physics)
- Your present study program’s planned graduation date (bachelor’s or master’s) is in the year following the fellowship or later.
- By the time you begin the program, you will have completed two years of study (master students naturally satisfy this condition)
- The fellowship lasts for the entire months of July and August, and you must be present during that period.
- Participants must produce a valid certificate of COVID- 19 immunization with an approved vaccine or proof of recovery at the start of the program due to current COVID- 19 safety precautions, travel limitations, and quarantine requirements.
Language requirements
The program is entirely conducted in English. Despite the fact that formal proof of language competency is not necessary, the fellowship requires a decent working understanding of English, which may be examined during an interview.
Admissions process
Your application will be assessed based on the materials you submit. An interview with the shortlisted candidates may be held as the final phase of the application process.
Africa: A Growing Food Tech Hub
An Africa growing food tech hub, De Novo Dairy situated in South Africa is the continent’s first precision fermentation dairy setup. The growing food tech hub has announced the closure of its successful round of pre-seed funding that will enhance the company to push forward on R and D.
De Novo Dairy, a Cape town based food tech company was launched early this year and on a mission to pioneer animal-free foods in Africa through the use of precision fermentation technology.
The food tech hub is one of the growing startups using pioneering precision fermentation around the globe, the company is creating dairy proteins identical to the ones found in nature, without cows or cruelty.
De Novo, Africa growing food tech hub
Africa’s alt protein scene is diversely on the rise as environmental issues, changes in weather, and growth of food insecurity come to the limelight. Vegan meat brands such as Nigerian-based VeggieVictory and longstanding Durban-based player Fry’s Family Food Co. are offering more options to consumers.
So also are new companies such as Sea-Stematic, the first South African cell-cultured seafood enterprise, and Mzansi Meat, a cultivated meat startup that is also based in South Africa.
The plant-based sector has continued to enjoy tremendous growth in Africa due to concerns about the welfare and sustainability of most animals. Domestic startups coming up with innovative ways into everyday food choices has to ensure this trajectory continues.
“The massive amount of international funds flowing into the African continent is an absolute game-changer for food technology companies such as De Novo Dairy. We are finally getting the opportunity to put South Africa on the map as a hub for food tech companies,” stated De Novo’s founder and CEO Jean Louwrens.
Animal-free dairy on the rise
Looking at using precision fermentation technology to create a variety of milk-based products including baby formula, De Novo is partnering with a host of other startups in the sector such as US-Australian Change Foods (which is laser-focused on animal-free cheese made from casein and Formo), a German dairy-free cheese company (that recently raised a record-breaking US$50 million Series A).
Perfect Day is undoubtedly the young industry’s de facto giant (the company has announced animal-free whey cream cheese, protein powder, and cake mix in recent months), and its Bravo Robot ice cream continues to dominate on the shelves in stores.
Earlier this month, the company food tech hub scored a big win with Starbucks, currently testing Perfect DAY’s milk at a few pilot locations.
Fourth Annual Ghana Tech Summit 2021
The 4th edition of Africa’s Ultimate Tech Summit For Innovators holding, December 10th, 2021 will bring over 10,000 leaders, investors, celebrities, tech entrepreneurs, futurists, business moguls, and politicians together to tackle challenges that affect upcoming and new industries to shape the global economy and investment landscape over the coming years.
Ghana Tech Summit aims at bringing together thousands of entrepreneurs, digital marketers, creatives, and investors under one roof, to address humanity’s biggest hurdles with technology and entrepreneurship.
The Global Startup Ecosystem comes back with the 3rd annual Ghana Tech Summit, in partnership with accelerator partners IBM Cloud, AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Sendgrid, and more. The event, which is going to be free will take place on the 10th of December, 2021, 9 am to 3 pm EST, and it will feature 8 hours of live content, 50 speakers, and partners with over 10,000 attendees.
Annually, a hundred global speakers gather alongside over a thousand attendees to reposition Africa as the next and most advanced version of innovation.
Ghana Tech Summit is part of a 12-year startup of the Global Startup Ecosystem, the first and biggest digital accelerator that accelerates 1000 companies to market yearly across over 190 countries virtually.
WHY GHANA?
Being the world’s first black nation on the African continent, Ghana has a supercilious history of encouraging leadership in culture, business, and government. Looking at the increase of tech hubs across the country, to the global embrace of azonto in pop culture mainstream dialogues internationally, Ghana is positioned to be a leading hub of technology. After successfully galvanizing the Global Afro Descendent community towards the Year of Return and Beyond the Return Campaigns.
WHO CAN ATTEND?
Ghana Tech Summit 2021 is for both local and international industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, creatives, and digital marketers who have an interest in changing the world with technology and entrepreneurship.
To attend, join via this link.
Global Digital Health Forum (GDHF) 2021
Global Digital Health Network hosts Global Digital Health Forum (GDHF) annually, every December. The meeting used to be held in Washington, DC, however, the first virtual forum with over 2,000 participants from more than 110 countries was held in 2020.
The forum features different and engaging sessions to connect with government stakeholders, donors, researchers, digital health developers, implementers, and field experts from all over the globe. The forum also features panel presentations, poster presentations, lightning talks, hands-on workshops, facilitated expert round-table discussions, digital health workshops, and interactive solution demonstrations.
The size of the GDHF event ranges from 300 to 2,000 attendees for over two or three days, with featured speakers from WHO, World Bank, USAID, Facebook, Johnson&Johnson, Microsoft, and many other well-known public health organizations.
Global Digital Health Forum is a virtual event that will be hosted by Global Digital Health Network from December 6-8th, 2021. GDHF is a leading global industry networking and relationship-building opportunity for technology donors, vendors, government representatives, researchers, and organizations working in low and middle-income countries, to advance public health results to come together and share best practices, discuss new and emerging innovations, and network with each other.
The theme for Global Digital Health Forum 2021 is “Improving Health Through Digital Transformation”.
Join GDHF virtual event as Faye Simmonds and Joseph Onuche discuss “Improving HIV and TB diagnosis and treatment in rural Tanzania through a health telematics system” and to also talk about “Digital solutions for supporting the healthcare workforce-eLearning” respectively.
To attend Global Digital Health Forum 2021, registration is required. Register here.