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Published: 06-04-2018 16:44:00 | By: Nico Scherphuis | hits: 3793490 | Tags:

San Francisco, London among most developed venture capital cities in the world, report
Published: 23-04-2024 | 17:25:53 | By: Bob Koigi
This dashboard leverages PitchBook data and PitchBook Institutional Research Group methodology to provide a consistently updated ranking system for the size, maturity, and growth rates of the VC ecosystem in leading cities around the world.


Global co-working spaces market to reach $48.1 billion by 2030, study
Published: 23-04-2024 | 17:23:55 | By: Bob Koigi
The global market for coworking spaces is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the evolving dynamics of today's workforce, technological advancements, and shifts toward more agile work cultures.






[Kenya] Livestock sector players review investment opportunities, challenges in unique forum
Published: 01-03-2024 | 13:15:00 | By: Bob Koigi
With the demand for livestock products projected to grow by up to 50% by 2030, there’s a clear opportunity for strategic investments to drive growth and innovation in the sector.


Rwandan female researchers selected for food systems policy fellowship
Published: 21-02-2024 | 08:30:00 | By: Bob Koigi
The AWARD Policy Fellowship is cultivating a growing pool of African women in the policy field to catalyze the design and implementation of gender-responsive agricultural policies across Africa.




Kenya startups raised the highest amount of funding in Africa in 2023, report
Published: 11-01-2024 | 16:27:44 | By: Bob Koigi
For some time now, Nigeria has always received the biggest share of startup investments, however, in 2023, Kenya overtook the West African country, gaining the highest amount of tech funds on the continent. 




Investor-founder disconnect poses major threat to African tech funding
Published: 11-09-2023 | 11:39:00 | By: Pie Kamau
African tech investors will not invest follow-on funding in a startup failing to provide regular reporting updates.


Generative AI has become an emerging risk for enterprises, Gartner survey
Published: 14-08-2023 | 15:33:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The availability of generative AI became a top concern for enterprise risk executives.


Closing the capital gap on impact investment in Africa, report
Published: 08-08-2023 | 11:35:00 | By: Pie Kamau
African fund managers face unique obstacles that impede their access to capital for social impact.


German healthcare investor SHS Capital acquires majority stake in CAM Bioceramics
Published: 07-07-2023 | 15:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
German healthcare specialist SHS Capital is investing in CAM Bioceramics to fuel growth


New PitchBook survey finds majority of venture capitalists have invested in AI
Published: 03-07-2023 | 11:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
PitchBook has released findings from a new survey in partnership with Collision.


Africa among top 3 regions prone to mobile financial scam, report
Published: 12-06-2023 | 14:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Throughout 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, 14% of installs of potentially unwanted mobile financial apps on Android phones were made.


7 in 10 UK tech workers consider hybrid working a key factor when considering a future employer, report
Published: 17-05-2023 | 12:47:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Techspace has released The Scaleup Culture Report, a national report diving into the current state of workplace culture across the UK tech industry.


Dairy Runway program launches to provide education and support for early-stage dairy innovators
Published: 10-05-2023 | 15:09:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Cornell University's Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) and the Northeast Dairy Foods Research Center have launched the Dairy Runway program, an entrepreneurship curriculum for dairy innovators.


GRASP fellowship invests in African women researchers
Published: 06-04-2023 | 12:15:00 | By: Bob Koigi
The Kenyan women, and others selected for the GRASP Fellowship, are set to participate in a series of interventions, including leadership and mentoring training, designed to enable them to become more effective policy practitioners


Fertility treatments aren't just for the 1%, Sunfish
Published: 28-03-2023 | 11:23:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Sunfish, a fintech company founded last year, aims to make fertility treatments more accessible and has recently designed a new product to help reduce the cost of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).


5 innovation metrics (KPIs) every CEO should care about, Plug and Play
Published: 08-03-2023 | 12:27:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Are your innovative strategies paying off? As a CEO, innovating is part of the job description - but do you know if it's actually making a difference in your company? It’s time to get down to data-driven business.


Mexican TV audiences back AI dubbing over subtitles, report
Published: 07-03-2023 | 11:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The world's biggest entertainment distributors could win over millions of TV viewers currently swerving non-domestic content by deploying AI dubbing, new research suggests.


To stay competitive, startups must combat gender diversity debt, study
Published: 17-02-2023 | 10:25:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Entrepreneurship is booming, but women are underrepresented among its founders, investors and employees. A recent study investigates entrepreneurship's gender "diversity debt," a demographic disparity that can be difficult and costly to remedy.


[Interview] Seyi J. Matanmi, Founder, Hosteet, Nigeria
Published: 13-02-2023 | 11:21:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Seyi J. Matanmi is a technology product developer and entrepreneur. Educated in software development, research and analytics, he currently leads the cloud services outfit, Hosteet, operating out of Lagos, Nigeria.


Startup Genome partners with Endeavor to research the Detroit region's entrepreneurial ecosystem
Published: 31-01-2023 | 09:51:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Startup Genome and Endeavor are working together to study and support the Detroit region's entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem development.


Michigan State University biotech startup Iaso Therapeutics closes $1.25m equity series seed preferred financing
Published: 26-01-2023 | 13:02:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Iaso Therapeutics closed the first tranche of the company's $1.25 million series seed preferred round of financing.


African tech ecosystem raised $6.5 billion in 2022, report
Published: 25-01-2023 | 12:40:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Partech Africa, the VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa, has issued its annual report on Africa Tech Venture Capital, which reveals that despite the global VC downturn, the African tech ecosystem grew faster than all other markets globally. 


5 key insurance industry trends in EMEA region according to Plug and Play
Published: 23-01-2023 | 13:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Insurance industry trends over the past year have been significant, especially across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.


YouBiz research reveals key trends and challenges facing Southeast Asian SMEs in 2023
Published: 19-01-2023 | 11:00:00 | By: Pie Kamau
YouBiz, the SME spend management platform by YouTrip, launched its first whitepaper studying emerging business spending trends and key business priorities for SME in 2023.


Innovation scale-up Wazoku launches Mindpool SME to help small businesses capture employee insights
Published: 19-01-2023 | 10:41:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Innovation scale-up Wazoku announced it has launched Mindpool SME, an employee insights dashboard that makes it simpler & faster for SMEs to listen to, understand, and act on employee insights.


Healthcare venture capital fundraising and investment remained strong in 2022, SVB reports
Published: 11-01-2023 | 11:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SVB released its 12th annual Healthcare Investments and Exits Report which shows venture capital fundraising and investment persisted in 2022.


For women entrepreneurs, the West is the new promised land, report
Published: 04-01-2023 | 16:40:00 | By: Pie Kamau
America's original Westward Expansion was led by entrepreneurs of the day noticing great economic opportunities out of the West. A study by MerchantMaverick.com shows that a new slew of opportunities are appearing in Western states for women entrepreneurs.


[Startup Interview] James Adebisi, Founder, Oruis Medical, Nigeria
Published: 23-12-2022 | 12:23:21 | By: Bob Koigi
Orius Medical is a Nigerian health startup that provides mental care and support through psychotherapy and mental health education.


Dutch startup Aiosyn raises €2m to develop AI-powered algorithms to support pathologists with clinical diagnostics
Published: 22-12-2022 | 11:50:00 | By: Pie Kamau
 Aiosyn, a diagnostics platform that uses artificial intelligence to support pathologists with more accurate and efficient clinical diagnostics, raised an investment round of €2 million.


Ran Ziv joins Israeli proptech startup BeamUP as CTO
Published: 22-12-2022 | 11:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
BeamUP, the pioneer in enterprise data management for building system design and operations, announced it has hired Ran Ziv as CTO.


OKX Ventures, GSRV co-lead $2m seed round for decentralized identity platform Nametag
Published: 22-12-2022 | 11:02:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nametag, creators of the new standard for end-user identity verification with web3, announced a $2 million seed round co-led by GSRV and OKX Ventures.


Digital asset investment management platform ML Tech raises $1.9m strategic round
Published: 22-12-2022 | 10:37:00 | By: Pie Kamau
ML Tech, a non-custodial digital asset investment management platform providing institutional investors access to automated crypto trading strategies, raised over $1.9 million in a strategic round that included well-known investors.


Fintech enabler Ukheshe secures Series A funding to accelerate international expansion
Published: 22-12-2022 | 10:10:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Ukheshe International, the UK-headquartered division of digital-first, Banking as a Service (BaaS) enabler Ukheshe, announced the conclusion of an investment agreement that will help accelerate its international expansion.


Finnish asset management firm eQ raises more than €500m for private equity and venture capital funds
Published: 21-12-2022 | 09:08:00 | By: Pie Kamau
eQ PE XIV North focusing on Northern Europe held its final close on €288 million, a more than 40 % increase compared to its predecessor.


Paris-based startup QuantCube raises Series B funding to support growth in economic nowcasting, harnessing AI and big data analytics
Published: 21-12-2022 | 08:49:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Real-time economic intelligence provider QuantCube Technology, announced it has secured funding led by Strategic Development Fund (SDF), the investment arm of UAE’s Tawazun Council.


South Korean startup Xinapse scales AI solutions in the global market
Published: 21-12-2022 | 08:35:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Xinapse, a member of the Born2Global Centre, a Korean generative AI startup that is planning to enter the U.S. publishing market and will participate in the upcoming CES exhibition in Las Vegas in 2023, is scaling AI solutions in the global market.


proteanTecs named #1 most promising startup in Israel
Published: 21-12-2022 | 08:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
proteanTecs, a global pioneer of deep data analytics for advanced electronics, has been named the Most Promising Israeli Startup 2022 by Globes, an Israeli business publication.


Hologram startup Proto secures investment from Christie’s Ventures to accelerate growth
Published: 21-12-2022 | 07:57:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Proto, the original hologram device and platform, announced that Christie's Ventures has invested in the company, solidifying the bonds of their successful collaborations.


Web3 startup Tonsnipe raises $100K to build a token and NFT aggregator on Ton blockchain
Published: 21-12-2022 | 07:44:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Tonsnipe, a web3 startup building on The Open Network has closed a $100K private funding round to develop a Ton blockchain-based native token and NFT aggregator.


Dutch scale ups face €500b financing gap, report
Published: 20-12-2022 | 12:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Venture Capital firm Lakestar released The €500 Billion Dutch Financing Gap report, which delves into the Netherland’s strong heritage in scaling growth companies and how it can create the next wave of companies for the future.


Impact Venture Capital invests $8m seed round for Web3 startup Virtualness
Published: 20-12-2022 | 11:52:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Impact Venture Capital announced its investment in Virtualness' oversubscribed $8 million seed round. Virtualness is a mobile-first platform designed to help creators and brands navigate the complex world of Web3.


Mad Capital closes $4m seed round to finance the regenerative agriculture revolution
Published: 20-12-2022 | 11:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Mad Capital, an impact-focused lender that offers equitable, flexible funding for organic and transitioning farmers, announced it has raised a $4 million Seed round, led by Trailhead Capital.


Traveltech startup Evaneos raises €20m to accelerate growth in Europe
Published: 20-12-2022 | 11:16:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Evaneos, the online platform dedicated to making travel a source of positive impact, announced a €20 million equity financing round to accelerate growth in Europe.


Healthtech startup PaxeraHealth closes series A funding round to accelerate its enterprise medical imaging and AI authoring platforms
Published: 20-12-2022 | 10:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
PaxeraHealth, the medical imaging and AI developer, announced the close of its series A financing round led by Sopris Capital, a venture capital firm focused on technology-enabled healthcare solutions.


AI-driven SaaS startup Kuona raises $6m round to solve brand pricing and promotion challenges
Published: 20-12-2022 | 10:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kuona, the intelligent SaaS platform that uses machine learning to automatically optimize product prices, promotions, and inventories for consumer packaged goods (CPGs) and retailers, announced it has raised a $6 million seed round.


Casted launches new program to democratize access to podcasting
Published: 19-12-2022 | 09:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Casted, the first and only podcast and video marketing platform made for B2B marketers, has launched Casted for Startups.


EG Capital announces anchor closing of its maiden fund to invest in startups across East Africa and Zambia
Published: 19-12-2022 | 09:04:00 | By: Pie Kamau
EG Capital, a growth-oriented private equity impact firm has announced the anchor closing of its first EG-Economic Empowerment Fund LP (EG-EEF), which will invest in medium-sized businesses.


Infinity AI startup raises $5m to build automated synthetic training data
Published: 19-12-2022 | 08:58:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Infinity AI, a startup that generates automated synthetic training data, announced a $5 million seed round led by Matrix with participation from founders and operators from companies like Snorkel AI, Tesla, and Google.


Indian AI-based asset and plant performance startup UptimeAI raises $3.5m funding to expand in the U.S.
Published: 19-12-2022 | 08:44:00 | By: Pie Kamau
UptimeAI, an AI-based digital transformation solution provider for the energy, chemicals, and heavy industries, has raised a total of $3.5 million funding led by Emergent Ventures.


Appier launches AIRIS, next-gen AI-powered CDP leveraging first-party data to activate MarTech applications
Published: 19-12-2022 | 08:17:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Shortening the time spent from data to insight and insight to action, and visualizing results from marketing campaigns remain as critical issues for most enterprises considering Customer Data Platforms (CDP).


Comedian, Actor and Host Howie Mandel Steps into the Metaverse powered by DeepBrain AI
Published: 16-12-2022 | 13:40:00 | By: Pie Kamau
DeepBrain AI, a member of the Born2Global Centre, and Howie Mandel have put their brains together to create AI Howie, a fully interactive virtual human AI replica of the famous comedian, actor, host, and technology enthusiast.


Italian biodiversity startup 3Bee raises €5m to scale the protection of pollinators in Europe
Published: 16-12-2022 | 13:29:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Italian-based scale-up 3Bee (a world with bees), which operates both in the B2C and B2B protection of ecosystems and pollinators area has raised €5 million series A funding round.


Nigerian online furniture store Taeillo raises $2.5m for expansion
Published: 16-12-2022 | 13:17:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigerian online store Taeillo, announced a $2.5 million funding round from Aruwa Capital, a growth equity and early-stage investor.


Visa announces grant to help African women fund managers grow their businesses
Published: 16-12-2022 | 13:00:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Visa has announced a grant towards the African Women Impact Fund (AWIF), a collaboration between Standard Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).


Senegalese startup Kwely launches made in Africa online store
Published: 16-12-2022 | 12:38:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kwely, a Senegalese-based startup has launched a B2B e-marketplace to provide African producers and manufacturers with a global window to sell their products at scale.


VC fund Ventures Platform closes its pan-African and early-stage fund at $46m
Published: 16-12-2022 | 12:30:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Ventures Platform, a pan-African early-stage Venture Capital firm, announced the final close of its intercontinental fund, at $46 million. 


European fintech Novicap raises €200m for its Credit platform as it hits €1b transaction volume milestone
Published: 14-12-2022 | 09:40:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Novicap, the European fintech providing end-to-end working capital solutions, announced it has raised a €200 million debt facility from London-based asset manager, Fasanara Capital. 


[Column] Thabiso Foto: Can Africa's startup sector keep up its record funding run amidst global turmoil?
Published: 14-12-2022 | 09:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Startups have become vital engines of change that can have an outsized impact on an economy. They are crucial in fueling innovation and enhancing economic and digital competitiveness.


Season Group acquires IoT tech startup Pycom to give all connected ideas an opportunity to succeed
Published: 14-12-2022 | 08:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Season Group, an international electronics design and manufacturing services provider headquartered in Hong Kong, announced its acquisition of all assets of Pycom, a full stack Internet of Things (IoT) company.


African tech startup SeamlessHR picks Nairobi as its East African Hub
Published: 14-12-2022 | 08:46:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigeria’s tech startup SeamlessHR has launched its offices in the Kenyan market, choosing Nairobi as its East African Hub.


Shield AI boosts Series E to $225m to accelerate building world's best AI pilot
Published: 14-12-2022 | 08:37:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Shield AI, a fast-growing defense technology company building AI pilots for aircraft, announced it has raised additional equity capital from the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT).


Canadian healthtech startup KeyOps raises $4m seed round to fuel expansion in the U.S.
Published: 14-12-2022 | 08:27:00 | By: Pie Kamau
KeyOps, a Toronto-based Insights-as-a-Service (IaaS) startup, announced it has raised $4 million (CAD) in seed funding.


South African early-stage VC firm 4Di Capital announces close of $25m seed fund
Published: 09-12-2022 | 13:22:00 | By: Pie Kamau
South African early-stage technology venture capital fund manager 4Di Capital has announced the close of $25 million seed fund.


First investment of Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund goes to Aruwa Capital Management
Published: 09-12-2022 | 13:05:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The first investment of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund has gone to Aruwa Capital Management, a gender-lens $20 million fund dedicated to Nigeria's SMEs, managed by a first-time woman-led fund manager.


Identity verification startup Verified.Africa launches in Kenya
Published: 09-12-2022 | 12:59:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Verified.Africa, the pioneer of ID verification, document verification and digital KYC compliance solutions, announced it has launched in Kenya.


Japanese home health lab startup Bisu collaborates with Polaris Dawn to develop new ways to monitor astronaut health
Published: 05-12-2022 | 11:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Traveling in space leads to bone loss, muscle loss, and an increased risk of kidney stone formation, often starting within the first 24 hours of spaceflight as calcium levels in bone and tissue decrease.


Patria Investments announces expansion into venture capital
Published: 05-12-2022 | 11:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Patria Investments (Patria), a global alternative asset manager in Latin America, announced the launch of a new Venture Capital strategy, anchored by the acquisition of Igah Ventures, one of the pioneers of the sector in Latin America.


VENCO secures $670K pre-seed funding to deliver digital solutions for residential and commercial properties in Africa
Published: 05-12-2022 | 10:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
VENCO, a technology company that provides solutions to enhance living experiences in residential and commercial communities in Africa, has secured $670K pre-seed funding round.


Plug and Play Japan selects 74 startups for its Winter/Spring 2023 Batch accelerator program
Published: 05-12-2022 | 10:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Global innovation platform, Plug and Play Japan has selected 74 startups from Japan and overseas for the Winter/Spring 2023 Batch accelerator program which will be carried out from December 2022 to March 2023.


HashKey and SEBA Bank partner to accelerate institutional adoption of digital assets in Hong Kong and Switzerland
Published: 05-12-2022 | 10:18:00 | By: Pie Kamau
HashKey and SEBA Bank announced a partnership to leverage their digital asset service offerings as well as custody and asset management products to accelerate institutional adoption of digital assets.


Israeli blockchain security startup CyVers raises $8m to bring proactive security to Web3 economy
Published: 05-12-2022 | 09:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
CyVers, the provider of state-of-the-art proactive Web3 Security for the centralized, decentralized finance and smart contract applications via detection and interception of crypto attacks across blockchains, announced a $8 million in funding.


645 Ventures closes $347m fourth fund and first opportunity fund to invest in technology startups
Published: 02-12-2022 | 12:17:00 | By: Pie Kamau
645 Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with exceptional founders building iconic technology companies, announced its oversubscribed fourth fund, Fund IV, alongside the launch of the firm's first opportunity fund, Select I.


Canadian B2B automotive trading startup TRADE X opens new trading facilities in Kenya
Published: 02-12-2022 | 11:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
TRADE X, a B2B cross-border automotive trading platform based in Ontario, Canada, announced it has opened a new Kenyan trading corridor, which includes both a shared bonded warehouse in Mombasa and an office in Nairobi.


[Nebulab Case] How this e-Commerce tech studio went global to fight talent shortage and improve diversity
Published: 02-12-2022 | 11:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Hiring talent has become one of the top challenges for technology companies. The global talent shortage and emerging trends have made finding and retaining skilled professionals more difficult.


Identity hygiene startup SPHERE raises $31m Series B funding to accelerate growth, expand its SaaS platform
Published: 02-12-2022 | 11:21:00 | By: Pie Kamau
SPHERE Technology Solutions (SPHERE), a pioneer in identity hygiene, announced a $31 million Series B investment led by Edison Partners, a Princeton-based growth equity firm.


Yida Gao and Shima Capital invest in Web3 gaming startup Midnight
Published: 02-12-2022 | 10:52:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Shima Capital, led by founder and Managing General Partner Yida Gao, announced their investment in Web3 gaming startup Midnight.


Swedish automotive manufacturer Scania launches Scania Growth Capital II at €182.8m
Published: 01-12-2022 | 11:32:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Sweden-based automotive company Scania, announced it is launching a new €182.8 million investment vehicle, Scania Growth Capital II, following the success of its first venture capital fund, Scania Growth Capital I.


Netail closes $5m seed funding to advance retail-focused AI development
Published: 01-12-2022 | 10:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Netail, a technology that enables retailers to auto-identify competitors across the internet and track their assortments, availability and optimize prices in real time, announced the closing of $5 million in seed funding.


Travel startup Wander raises $100m credit facility from Credit Suisse to scale smart vacation homes across the U.S.
Published: 01-12-2022 | 10:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Wander, a travel startup with a network of smart vacation homes, announced it has closed a $100 million credit facility with Zürich-based Credit Suisse, a global investment bank and financial services firm.


StartupOS launches platform for early-stage startups
Published: 01-12-2022 | 10:08:00 | By: Pie Kamau
StartupOS announced it has launched a platform for early-stage startups that provides free access to the business tools, guidance, mentors, and investors that founders need to accelerate the growth of their company and raise capital.


Nigerian foodtech Orda raises $3.4m seed round to digitize African restaurants
Published: 01-12-2022 | 09:48:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Nigerian foodtech platform Orda announced has raised a $3.4 million seed round to further digitize food businesses across the continent.


AWARD selects 50 African women for fellowship on improving policy in the agri-food systems
Published: 30-11-2022 | 14:00:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Inspired by the flagship AWARD Fellowship Model, the Gender Responsive Agriculture Systems Policy (GRASP) Fellowship, aims to grow a pool of confident and capable African women to lead policy changes to improve African smallholders’ livelihoods.


New Adevinta Ventures report reveals that B2B Marketplaces outperform other tech segments in VC funding
Published: 25-11-2022 | 09:19:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Adevinta Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of Adevinta, an online classifieds specialist, is launching a new B2B marketplaces report.


[Column] Natalia Ahmadian: Four ways to accelerate tech transfer in Europe
Published: 23-11-2022 | 10:27:41 | By: Pie Kamau
The importance of university spin-offs has been recognized for decades. Several studies showed that Tech Transfer is beneficial for social welfare and entrepreneurial activity


Fintech emerging as Africa’s most vibrant sector, study
Published: 28-10-2022 | 13:42:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Fintech startups in Africa grew 81% in 2021, with South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya emerging as key hubs on the continent, found a Mastercard study on the state of fintech in African markets.


Meet female scientists who develop cellular and gene therapies in China, Jiang and Zhang
Published: 27-10-2022 | 12:16:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Inside Namtai Inno Park in Guangming District hides a low-profile biomedical development firm; Shenzhen Wingor Biotechnology company.


Novo Seeds portfolio company NMD Pharma reports positive top-line Phase I/IIa data in myasthenia gravis
Published: 11-10-2022 | 12:46:12 | By: Pie Kamau
Novo Holdings announced that its portfolio company NMD Pharma, reported positive top-line results from a Phase I/IIa clinical trial for its lead asset, NMD670.


London-based Pheon Therapeutics launches with $68m financing to advance novel ADC for treatment of solid tumors
Published: 28-09-2022 | 10:49:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Pheon Therapeutics (Pheon), an ADC specialist developing next generation ADCs for a wide range of hard-to-treat cancers has launched, following the closing of a $68 million Series A financing.


French biotech startup Tridek-One closes €16m to develop first-in-class immune checkpoint agonists
Published: 16-09-2022 | 12:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Tridek-One, a Paris-based biotech startup specialized in the research and development of CD31 agonists to restore the immune balance, announced it has closed a €16 million financing round led by the Swiss VC Pureos Bioventures.


Finnish biotech startup Onego Bio secures €4.5m additional funding to accelerate Research & Development
Published: 12-09-2022 | 11:57:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Business Finland, a public organization under the Finnish Ministry of Employment and the Economy, has awarded a grant of additional €4.5 million for Onego Bio's research and development work.


BioInnovation Institute announces new cohort of companies entering the Venture Lab program
Published: 07-09-2022 | 12:43:00 | By: Pie Kamau
BioInnovation Institute (BII), an international commercial non-profit foundation incubating and accelerating world-class life science research, announced the latest cohort of participants in its Venture Lab acceleration program for early-stage startups.


Early-stage startups don't stand to benefit from Inflation Reduction Act, Kruze Consulting
Published: 22-08-2022 | 13:01:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 doubles the R&D Tax Credit from $250,000 to $500,000, a popular tax credit used by unprofitable startups. However, an analysis by Kruze Consulting shows that the earliest-stage startups will likely not benefit from this increased credit.


Immigrants have started more than half of America's billion-dollar startup companies, study
Published: 27-07-2022 | 16:37:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Immigrants have started more than half (319 of 582, or 55%) of America's startup companies valued at $1 billion or more, according to a new study from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a nonpartisan research organization.


Alien Invasive Fruit Flies project comes to the rescue of Southern Africa mango farmers
Published: 20-06-2022 | 10:45:00 | By: Bob Koigi
In a bid to tame the voracious flies, the Alien Invasive Fruit Flies project in Southern Africa has come up with five technologies as part of an integrated pest management (IPM) package.


[Interview] Michelle Matthews, Director, Viridian, South Africa
Published: 14-06-2022 | 17:14:50 | By: Bob Koigi
Following the rising levels of unemployment among young South Africans, the UK-South Africa Tech Hub Launch League initiative undertook a research project.


African tech startup funding will double by 2025, research
Published: 14-06-2022 | 15:18:00 | By: Bob Koigi
African business leaders are forecasting a surge in spending on tech start-ups as foreign direct investment and improved internet connectivity helps establish the continent as a tech superpower, new research for blockchain-based mobile network operator World Mobile shows.


Birmingham-based startup Astound raises $1m seed round to improve university access to corporate-sponsored research funding
Published: 01-06-2022 | 09:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Astound, a Birmingham-based startup, secured $1 million in seed funding to develop the first marketplace to allow research institutions and universities to easily find corporate sponsors.


Biotech startup Transine Therapeutics closes £13.7m seed round to accelerate its platform and portfolio development
Published: 31-05-2022 | 12:01:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Transine Therapeutics (Transine), a biotechnology company, announced it has successfully raised £4.6 million in additional seed funding.


Breakthrough Properties raises $3b to develop next-gen life science ecosystems
Published: 03-05-2022 | 16:46:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Breakthrough Properties, a joint venture of Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital, announced the final closings for the Breakthrough Life Science Property Fund.


French AI startup Kryptview raises $650k in pre-seed to develop community-driven crypto research platform
Published: 25-04-2022 | 13:48:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Kryptview, a collective intelligence platform that provides peer-reviewed research for digital assets, announced the closure of its pre-seed round, raising $650,000 from crypto technology companies.


Startups increasingly use memorable, key-word rich descriptive domain names to stand out from competitors, study
Published: 20-04-2022 | 13:06:00 | By: Pie Kamau
TrueName, a global leader in descriptive domains, announced that more startups are choosing descriptive domains than in previous years per recent data by Marc Köhlbrugge.


What Africa requires to attain sustainable and effective food systems
Published: 07-04-2022 | 11:00:00 | By: Bob Koigi
A variety of factors constrain those who are reliant on farming for their livelihoods – particularly smallholders, including women and youth – from stepping up or stepping in to agriculture.


Swiss edtech startup Alphacruncher raises €1.45m for global rollout of research cloud workspace product
Published: 16-03-2022 | 13:36:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Swiss edtech startup Alphacruncher has raised €1.45 million funding from Austrian venture capital firm Alpine Equity, NGM, private investors and existing users, to enable the global rollout of its education and research cloud workspace product, Nuvolos.


Achieving inclusive cocoa and palm oil commercialization in West Africa
Published: 11-02-2022 | 11:30:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Abugre also noted that questions remain with regards to the future of cocoa production given global price trends, climate change, farmers stepping into the sector, and income distribution effects at the local level.


Israel tech startups raised $25.4 billion in 2021, report
Published: 03-01-2022 | 09:54:13 | By: Bob Koigi
The unprecedented figure represents a 136% increase over last year, which concluded with a full-year total of $10.8 billion raised.


African scientists make a case for home grown research on continent’s food systems
Published: 24-12-2021 | 12:00:00 | By: Bob Koigi
A storytelling event organized by African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), saw four accomplished African researchers working on agriculture and food security share their personal journeys in agricultural research, and discuss how they are working to transform farming on the continent.


Nigeria tech startups raised $1.7billion in 2021, report
Published: 20-12-2021 | 14:38:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Since the beginning of 2021, Africa-based tech startups have raised more than $2.9 billion with Nigerian startups which are creating new products, services, and platforms raising $1.7 billion of this total or about 60% of it, a new report has found.


The University of Nairobi and Elgon Kenya to develop agriculture technology and innovation centre
Published: 17-12-2021 | 17:40:11 | By: Bob Koigi
The agriculture sector in Kenya has received a major boost following a partnership between two leading institutions to set up a technology and innovation centre, the first of its kind in East Africa.


Netherlands emerging as 'Hottest Tech Hub' in Europe, not reaching its full potential yet, report
Published: 07-12-2021 | 15:31:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Atomico, an international investment firm that focuses on helping disruptive technology companies scale globally, announced that the Netherlands is emerging as Europe's hottest tech hub.


Agritech startup FarmSense receives $2.2m SBIR funding for development of biosecurity measures against native and invasive pests
Published: 24-11-2021 | 08:27:00 | By: Pie Kamau
FarmSense, the agritech startup and creator of Smart Flight Sensors, announced it has been awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funds in the amount of more than $2.2 million.


Retail media research startup Future Commerce announces launch of weekly podcast
Published: 20-11-2021 | 12:00:56 | By: Bob Koigi
Infinite Shelf recognizes that digital media and eCommerce tactics and strategies are no longer confined to traditional eCommerce channels and direct-to-consumer.


Illumina and Sequoia Capital select first startups to join Genomics Incubator in China
Published: 18-11-2021 | 08:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Illumina and Sequoia Capital China, an investment firm, jointly announced the selection of the first two startup companies joining the Sequoia Capital China Intelligent Healthcare Genomics Incubator, Powered by Illumina.


Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH joins Variantyx's $26m Series C funding round
Published: 17-11-2021 | 12:20:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH, the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, has completed an investment in Variantyx, to improve personalized oncology treatment.


North Carolina's SAS and Pappas Capital partner to propel agritech startups with analytics
Published: 21-10-2021 | 13:04:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Two North Carolina companies, analytics leader SAS and venture investment firm Pappas Capital, are joining forces to help advance the state as a global leader in agricultural technology.


Biotech startup Elevian raises $40m Series A to advance treatments for stroke recovery and age-related diseases
Published: 17-09-2021 | 12:24:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Elevian, an emerging biotech company developing medicines that restore youthful regenerative capacity with the potential to treat and prevent multiple age-related diseases, announced it raised $40 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Prime Movers Lab.


ITRI partners with Arm to provide resources for innovative IC design startups in Taiwan
Published: 15-09-2021 | 16:49:37 | By: Pie Kamau
To promote Taiwanese local IC design startups, the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is supporting the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Arm, in providing critical resources.


Israeli startup Quantum Machines raises $50m to make quantum computers ubiquitous and disruptive across all industries
Published: 07-09-2021 | 15:07:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Tel Aviv based startup Quantum Machines, creator of the Quantum Orchestration Platform, announced it has secured $50 million in Series B funding to expand its growth into quantum cloud computing and drive its worldwide distribution.


CB Insights launches algorithm to score the quality of startup's founding and management team
Published: 02-09-2021 | 13:05:15 | By: Pie Kamau
CB Insights, which enables world's leading companies to make smarter technology decisions, announced Management Mosaic, the first-ever algorithm to demystify the quality of a startup's founding and management team.


Next-gen research platform Litmaps closes $125K seed-stage investment from Quidnet Ventures
Published: 02-09-2021 | 12:55:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Litmaps, a Science software company based in Wellington, New Zealand has received NZ$125,000 in funding from Quidnet Ventures, a New Zealand-based venture capital fund with operations in Auckland, NZ, San Francisco and New York.


Financials, ICT remain the most attractive sectors for VC investment in Africa, report
Published: 07-07-2021 | 08:34:56 | By: Bob Koigi
Mapping Africa’s startup landscape between 2014 and 2020, the report provides data and analysis on venture capital (VC) deal activity in Africa in 2020 along with information about the types of investors that have participated in those deals.


AI startup LLENA (AI) partners with Southern University to support (USDA/NIFA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative
Published: 29-06-2021 | 14:24:00 | By: Pie Kamau
LLENA (AI) Health Solutions, announced a partnership with Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to support their "Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness, and Quality of Life" initiative to address diet-related health disparities.


The nexus between gender-responsive research and agricultural productivity in Africa
Published: 27-05-2021 | 11:15:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Smallholder farmers across Africa are looking to science to boost farm productivity and to tackle emerging threats, partiuclarly with regards to climate change and pandemics as demonstrated by COVID-19, the report further noted.


Fact.MR redefines the way startups access market research
Published: 21-04-2021 | 12:54:00 | By: Pie Kamau
The number one reason for startup failure isn't lack of funding or stiff competition. The main reason is 'misreading market demand'. Therefore, it becomes important for startups to thoroughly research the market.


CRIO secures Series A financing to accelerate growth, platform development
Published: 16-03-2021 | 15:10:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Clinical Research IO (CRIO), a Boston-based technology firm offering clinical research sponsors and sites a platform to streamline clinical trials, announced the completion of a $3.5 million Series A round led by Rally Ventures.


From grass to cash: Harnessing the power of climate smart forage grasses in Western Kenya
Published: 25-02-2021 | 08:45:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Kenyan researchers have been working with farmers in Western Kenya to test new varieties of fodder grasses known to have higher protein, low fiber and are fast maturing.


Investment in Forward BIOLABS paying off for bioscience startups
Published: 19-02-2021 | 12:02:04 | By: Pie Kamau
Forward BIOLABS, a co-working life science lab that helps bioscience startups grow, is celebrating early successes and honoring the companies that support the organization.


Boast.AI secures $100m to fuel R&D tax credit-based financing for startups
Published: 18-02-2021 | 09:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Boast.ai, a software innovator whose flagship product automates the complex process of applying for R&D tax credits, secured a $100 million credit facility from Brevet Capital, a leading alternative credit investment and specialty finance firm.


Kinyungu Ventures calls for changes to cut-and-paste VC strategy in Africa
Published: 18-01-2021 | 16:14:00 | By: Pie Kamau
A new White Paper published by East African venture advisory firm Kinyungu Ventures shows there continues to be a wide misalignment between traditional venture capital models and the African market.


US venture exit value achieved $290 billion in 2020 alongside record years for investment and fundraising activity, report
Published: 14-01-2021 | 11:10:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Though the past year had a lot of uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the US VC industry demonstrated its resilience and long-term mindset, achieving new records in total exit value, deal value and capital raised by VC funds.


Egypt’s life science startup Nawah Scientific raises $1m round for market expansion
Published: 13-01-2021 | 08:22:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Egyptian life science startup Nawah Scientific announced the the closing a second pre-series A round of $1 million in mixed equity and debt capital, raising its total funding to $2 million.


October Startup Sentiment Index shows three-month trend in advancing startup timelines
Published: 12-11-2020 | 12:57:50 | By: Pie Kamau
The number of respondents agreeing that now is a good time to start a business reached a three-month high at 60.6% in October.


Medtech startup Immertec partners with Orthopaedic Foundation to demonstrate effectiveness of VR surgical training
Published: 12-11-2020 | 12:42:56 | By: Pie Kamau
Orthopaedic Foundation has partnered with medtech startup Immertec, to conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of VR for remote surgical training.


Nearly 60% of startup founders say operating costs are their top spending priority in the first quarter
Published: 11-11-2020 | 14:03:00 | By: Pie Kamau
While the long-term economic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is still unknown, the remote work period has forced startups to adjust their spending priorities, according to a new survey from Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews platform.


Mohammed VI Polytechnic University partners with Plug and Play to launch accelerator programme in Morocco
Published: 09-11-2020 | 09:13:33 | By: Pie Kamau
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), an academic and research institution, has partnered with global innovation platform, Plug and Play, to launch an Open Innovation Hub in Morocco, with the support of OCP Group.


[Algeria] Sonatrach invests in university incubator for startups
Published: 22-10-2020 | 08:17:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Algeria state owned oil company Sonatrach has partnered with the National Agency for the Promotion of Research and Technological Development Results (ANVREDET), to establish a university incubator for start-ups.


Amsterdam based startup Zeta Alpha launches AI platform to help experts navigate new research
Published: 22-09-2020 | 13:00:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Amsterdam based startup Zeta Alpha is launching AI Research Navigator, a new deep learning-based search platform, to help AI experts navigate new research.


London based health tech startup Closed Loop Medicine secures £250,000 Innovate UK continuity funding
Published: 24-07-2020 | 15:46:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Closed Loop Medicine (CLM), London based therapeutics and health tech company has secured a £250,000 COVID-19 Innovate UK Continuity Funding award to support its ongoing clinical research programme.


Quantum technology startup Q-CTRL enters global partnership with Advanced Navigation
Published: 22-07-2020 | 10:40:33 | By: Bob Koigi
Q-CTRL, a startup that applies the principles of control engineering to accelerate the development of quantum technology, has partnered with Advanced Navigation, a leader in AI-based navigational hardware.


AI startup Deep Longevity launches with Series A financing
Published: 22-07-2020 | 10:31:00 | By: Bob Koigi
Deep Longevity, a biotechnology company transforming longevity R&D through AI-discovered biomarkers of aging, has come out of stealth from Insilico Medicine with financing from prominent investors worldwide.


Dutch online startup, scale-up community funds international research into COVID-19
Published: 20-07-2020 | 15:56:00 | By: Pie Kamau
Eighteen entrepreneurs from the Dutch online startup and scale-up community are joining forces to finance an international study by Erasmus MC into the clinical picture of COVID-19.