Author: Staff Writer

Uprise.Africa, an equity crowdfunding platform, will facilitate fundraising for Reeva Steenkamp documentary. The company aims to raise R40 million. The documentary series dubbed ‘My Name is Reeva’, set to be produced by Director and Co-Producer Warren Batchelor and Co-Producer Tony Miguel. Reeva’s dreams were short-lived after she was brutally murdered on the 14th February 2013 by celebrity athlete Oscar Pistorius. As we commemorate Reeva Steenkamp’s birthday today, a law graduate, aspiring model and reality show contestant who was a household name in South Africa, let us remember her as an individual who had a voice, said Uprise.Africa. The documentary delves…

Rand Merchant Investment Holding (RMI), through AlphaCode, has awarded entrepreneurial packages valued at R16 million to eight of SA’s most promising financial services startups. All businesses are under two years old and at least 51% owned by black South Africans. Each business will receive a package valued at up to R2 million including R1 million in grant funding and R1 million in support services. This includes mentorship, monthly expert-led sessions, exclusive office space in Sandton, marketing, legal and other business support services as well as access to like-minded entrepreneurs, RMI’s extensive network of thought leaders, potential clients and capital. The…

Thanks to a partnership between Sasol, Mozambique Institute of Vocational Training and the Labour Studies Alberto Cassimo (IFPELAC), last week, twenty artisan learners graduated as professional welders from the Inhassoro Training Center in Inhambane province. The Inhassoro Training Centre, which has been in operation since 2014 and now offers training to young people in a variety of trades, including welding, scaffolding, steel fixing and painting. To date, over 320 artisans have been trained with a total of 460 expected to be trained within the coming years. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Ovidio Rodolfo, Managing Director for Sasol in Mozambique said:…

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest-growing investment zones for financial technology companies according to new research says Forbes. The GSM Association says in its Mobile Economy, Sub-Saharan Africa 2019 report that the region will remain the fastest-growing worldwide. Predicting a total subscriber base of over 600 million by 2025, which represents approximately half the population, Sub-Saharan Africa will become a flagship for mobile disruption. One of the driving forces behind this growth, according to Mike Smits, co-founder, uKheshe, a microtransaction platform, is unbanked. “Mastercard reports that while around 1.2bn adults opened bank accounts for the first time over the…

Meesho, a Bangalore-based social commerce startup, announced today the closing of a $125 million (R1.9 billion) fundraise led by Naspers, with participation from Facebook and existing investors SAIF, Sequoia, Shunwei Capital, RPS and Venture Highway. Former Vodafone Group CEO Sir Arun Sarin also participated in the round. Meesho is social commerce online marketplace in India that enables independent resellers to build small businesses by connecting them with suppliers to curate a catalog of goods and services to sell. The company also provides logistics and payment tools on the platform. These ‘social sellers’ then sell within their social networks on WhatsApp,…

JSE-listed technology group EOH announced on Friday it has appointed Fatima Newman as Chief Risk Officer. Newman joined the EOH management team and executive committee on 1 April 2019 and played a meaningful role in the forensic investigation lead by ENSAfrica and the interim report shared with the market on 16 July 2019. ENSafrica report has revealed evidence of a number of governance failings and wrongdoing at EOH. The report by the law firm unearthed wrongdoings including unsubstantiated payments, tender irregularities and other unethical business practices. The wrongdoings are primarily limited to the public sector business centralised in EOH Mthombo…

South African crypto firm Coindirect announced a new business to business cryptocurrency payment solution designed to facilitate borderless transactions within a secure and transparent environment. The company said the business to business (B2B) offering allows for merchants to receive payments in Bitcoin and a variety of other cryptocurrencies with only a small 1% merchant fee. The platform accepts cryptocurrency pay-ins and pay-outs both globally and locally allowing for the funds to be placed into the merchant bank account in either ZAR or Euros. “The South African market has had limited to no access to secure, transparent and cost-effective cross border B2B  payments…

MTN South Africa announced on Wednesday the launch of the 80GB Mega Deal at R299 per month. The mobile phone operator said the Mega Deal promotion is effective 1 August to 31 August 2019. It said that customers who sign up, or upgrade on the My MTNChoice 10GB data plan will receive 80GB Data (40GB Anytime + 40GB Night Express) every month for 24 months. In the first month of the customer’s contract, customers will also benefit from an additional 20GB promotional data and the 14GB Entertainment Pass. The Entertainment Pass includes social and content streaming data. MTN added…

AB InBev Africa is rolling out a Blockchain solution developed by BanQu, a US-based FinTech company. This technology enables farmers in the AB InBev value chain to have a line of sight of their barley, sorghum and cassava sales, and receive cash through a mobile money solution. AB InBev has also invested in BanQu, advancing an undisclosed amount to ZX Ventures, the company’s global growth and innovation group, in June 2019. “Our investment in BanQu is an investment in our future through empowering our farmers,” says AB InBev’s Solutions Africa Director of Innovation & Analytics, Sameer Jooma. AB InBev and…

Brainly, the world’s largest peer-to-peer learning community for students, parents and teachers, has announced a new funding round of $30 million (R422 million) led by Naspers, with participation from Runa Capital and Manta Ray. Combined with Brainly’s previous funding rounds, the latest investment brings total funding to date up to $68.5 million. The current round of funding will be used to enhance Brainly’s user experience and create the next generation of the platform. In addition, the funds will help further expand its user base in the United States, a key market for Brainly, which the company is already successfully monetizing.…