Author: Staff Writer

Swiggy, India’s online food delivery platform, raises $1.25 billion or R18 billion funding led by Prosus and SoftBank. This investment will further accelerate Swiggy’s strategy of growing its core food delivery business and building new food and non-food offers in 2021 and beyond. To support this, Swiggy will enhance its capabilities in technology and AI, and strengthen teams across Engineering, Product, Data Science and Analytics as well as in business and supply chain for its newer initiatives. Founded in 2014, Swiggy is leading the hyperlocal delivery market in India, connecting consumers to over 150,000 restaurant partners and stores in over…

With the advent of electric vehicles in the mainstream, and the inevitable rise of EV population on South African roads comes some confusing terminology even the most avid petrolhead might grapple with. Jaguar South Africa deconstructs the alphabet soup and offers some demystification with layman’s explanations of five must-know terms in the EV sphere. kWh Forget about what these three letters stand for. Just know that a kWh is a unit of energy and in EVs it’s used to measure the storage capacity of batteries. Think of it as the size of your “fuel tank” in your electric vehicle. Where…

Johannesburg-based online marketplace for home services Kandua has announced that it has raised a significant Pre-Series A funding round from a consortium of investors that include Knife Capital and Allan Gray E-Squared Ventures (AGEV). The investment will enhance business development efforts, expand Kandua’s product offering and solidify profitable growth channels. Kandua provides a digital platform that connects small service businesses with customers in need of jobs done. Moreover, the platform provides these contractors with financial, operational, and marketing tools to improve their professionalism and access to digital financial services to improve their financial health. Kandua’s mission is to shorten the…

Zoom announced it has agreed to buy Five9’s intelligent cloud contact centre for $14.7 billion or R213 billion. The popular video conferencing firm said combining Five9’s Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution with Zoom’s broad communications platform will transform how businesses connect with their customers, building the customer engagement platform of the future. The company said the acquisition is expected to help enhance its presence with enterprise customers and allow it to accelerate its long-term growth opportunity by adding the $24 billion contact centre market. “We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our platform, and the addition of Five9…

Following the unrest in some parts of the country last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised the importance of transforming the economy, creating jobs and sharing in the country’s wealth to lift millions of South Africans out of poverty. In his newsletter on Monday, the President said South Africa is not only rebuilding after the destruction of the past week; but it is also rebuilding after the devastation of decades of dispossession and exploitation. “We need to fundamentally transform our economy and our society, deepening our efforts to create employment, lift millions out of poverty and ensure that the country’s…

It’s an amusing irony that, for many of us, the quickest way to find answers to questions like these is via the technology that inspired them. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become part of the fabric of our daily lives, with smart assistants and technology now in millions of properties around the world. According to Statista, sales of Amazon’s Echo units reached 32 million in 2018 and are expected to hit 130 million by 2025. Advances in technology also form the foundation of the world’s shift towards hybrid work, which has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Herding people to the…

Akiba Digital, a South African-based FinTech startup, announced on Friday it has raised over $1.1 million or R15.8 million in funding pre-seed funding to connect small businesses to lenders. Akiba Digital is lowering the barriers to entry to enable small businesses in South Africa to unlock financing through their lending partners. “This year we are launching a Mandela day campaign to help 67 SMEs in July to rebuild after the recent disruptions in South Africa. We are looking to partner with lenders who want to help SMEs rebuild their businesses,” said Tebogo Mokwena, co-founder and CEO of Akiba Digital. “Through…

ICT tech company Huawei has announced plans to invest $150 million or R2.1 billion in youth digital talent development over the next five years. “Today we are announcing Huawei’s Seeds for the Future Program 2.0. As part of our commitment to continuously developing talent, we will invest US$150 million in this program over the next five years and help university students and young people improve their digital skills. This program is expected to benefit another 3 million people,” said Huawei’s Chairman Liang Hua. The announcement comes as the world marked Youth Skills Day on July 15th, aimed at recognizing the strategic…

4 AX listed Heartwood Properties is spearheading in Somerset West new hybrid office development with innovative future-focused features. It’s no secret that Somerset West has fast become one of the Western Cape’s leading semigration destinations. The little town has a lot going for it which makes it incredibly desirable for people who are looking to move away from the city in search of a better quality of life. The pandemic, lockdown and remote working has only amplified the semigration trend, but now as many companies contemplate bringing employees back to the office, the big debate is about how. The new…

The DA will lay charges of treason and terrorism against the instigators of the unrest that led to widespread looting and destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng. Adv Glynnis Breytenbach, the DA Shadow Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, said in a statement today that DA has seen WhatsApp chats between individuals who have identified themselves as being part of a number of ANC branches in KwaZulu-Natal whose messages appear to indicate their intentions to destabilise and remove the current government. “Under South African law, treason is defined as any conduct unlawfully committed by a person owing allegiance to…